Shark Tank Success Story with Desiree Stolar Founder of Unshrinkit

Sep 29, 2016

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It's a Shark Tank success story this week, with Desiree Stolar, co-founder of Unshrinkit which is an emergency sweater saver. They have a patent-pending formulation that helps unshrink wool clothing back to the original size. They were featured on the hit TV show Shark Tank and got an investment offer from Mark Cuban. A wool expert was quoted saying "this could change the world of yarn." Desiree has an MBA from Harvard.

Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn:

[0:15] Jeremy's introduction of Desiree Stolar and this episode.
[1:15] The tough reality of being an entrepreneur.
[3:05] A huge despair moment for Desiree during the Shark Tank season.
[11:58] Tips for those going on a show like Shark Tank.
[16:08] Equipping the customer service team for a huge flood of interest and purchases.
[25:04] Advantages and disadvantages of selling products on Amazon.
[28:08] The preparation Desiree's team put into their Shark Tank experience.
[34:55] The state of the company prior to the Shark Tank experience.
[40:18] Shark Tank success and where the company is going now, without the buzz.
[46:14] How the team went about building a grassroots movement of interest.
[51:52] Things the team has tried that did NOT work (specific niches and advertising).
[58:59] The experience of working with Mark Cuban.
[1:03:04] What Desiree learned from the Shark Tank team of sharks.
[1:05:24] The creation and testing of their proprietary product.
[1:11:58] Desiree's software preferences.

In this episode…

A Shark Tank success story is always fun to hear because everything is so public. And it's even more fun to hear the story behind the story. Today we get that great opportunity on this episode with Desiree Stolar, co-founder of Unshrinkit. She is a stickler for details so you're not going to be left wondering what her team did to prepare for their appearance on Shark Tank or how it impacted their bottom line.

It's a common assumption that if your company gets is featured on Shark Tank you're going to experience an explosion of sales from being on the show at all, even if the sharks decide not to fund your company. After hearing this story you'll have nothing to dissuade you from believing that assumption. Desiree's company has doubled its annual sales since their Shark Tank appearance.

What is it like to be on Shark Tank? How does each of the sharks approach their consideration of a startup that comes to them for funding? And how do each of them work with a company they've decided is worth the risk? On this episode, you can hear the perspective of one of the co-founders of Unshrinkit, a company that was featured on Shark Tank. Desiree Stolar has some great insights to share.

Sometimes the things you assume are going to work to sell or promote your product simply don't, for reasons you couldn't have foreseen. On this episode of Inspired Insider, Desiree Stolar shares some of the niches and forms of advertising her team assumed were going to be a gold mine for them that were actually flops. You can learn some of their hard-learned lessons the easy way simply by listening to her story.

Toward the end of this episode, Desiree shares how she went about developing a proprietary product to sell online. The time, research, governmental hoops, and much more that her team had to endure will show you that where there's a will, there's a way. And success often follows.

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