Because it can be difficult to get the necessary capital it takes to start a small business in today’s economy, sometimes you have to get creative. These three entrepreneurs jumped at the chance-of-a-lifetime to get their products in front of millions of television viewers on “Shark Tank”, an ABC reality show in which inventors pitch their products to skeptical investors or the “Sharks”, who just happen to be five self-made billionaires.

 

Jeff Cohen

 

Voyage-Air Guitar

 

voyageairguitar.com
 

Jeffrey M. Cohen is a serial entrepreneur who has created a new medical device that will change the future of women’s healthcare forever. Strangely enough though, he’s probably best known for his controversial appearance on “Shark Tank.”

 

Cohen, CEO of Nashville-based Voyage-Air Guitar was soliciting $500,000 for 5% of the company, which produces a one-of-a-kind guitar that folds at the neck and stays in tune.

 

The producers of the show had been shopping at an old guitar store called McCabe’s in Santa Monica, Calif. when they came across a Voyage-Air Guitar and they had asked the store manager how to get a hold of Cohen.
 

“I was actually in Chicago at a gynecology conference and the producers called up and talked to my sales director,” Cohen said. “They said they wanted to talk to the CEO of the company. I got off a plane from the conference and I get a call from my office saying you have to get here right away. The whole team came in my office and I called the producer and they told me about “Shark Tank.” I didn’t think it was a good idea at first.”
 

According to Cohen, the Sharks didn’t know anything about him or the guitar before they filmed the episode.

 

Cohen said it was easy for him to turn down a half million dollar offer that was for 51% of his patent. Cohen still wanted to produce the guitars while Shark Kevin O’Leary felt it would be better to license the patent. “There’s something powerful about saying no. I actually did want to do a deal with them if they would have made me a reasonable offer than it would have been great. The deal was just so bad. In fact, if you remember, I was sort of stalling for time trying to think of a way to make it acceptable. It was easy to walk away from. It was great. They called me the next morning and said it was great TV.”

 

Being on the show hasn’t changed the direction that Cohen would like to see his business go or the way he plans to go about marketing his product. “It hasn’t changed my plan other than it’s helping me grow faster,” he said. “We nearly doubled the number of dealers we have representing us. And it’s told me that I need to produce a lower cost product quicker. We need a $399-$499 price point. I’m getting a ton of calls and I’ve done interviews with a lot of media outlets which is helping the buzz but I’m convinced that I need to have an impulse buy price point.”