Oct 13, 2024
The Pitch Deck
Could Amber Be The Shortest & WORST Pitch EVER? | Shark Tank US | Shark Tank Global
Summary
Business Model and Market Potential
Amber offers a free, secure phone charging solution for public spaces, potentially driving revenue for venues like bars, restaurants, gyms, and arenas by enhancing customer experience and encouraging longer stays.
Technology and Security
The device uses biometric fingerprint scanning to secure phones in 7 compartments, but concerns exist about the scanner's reliability in dirty or wet environments and potential for fraudulent use.
Financial Considerations
Amber's high unit cost of $2,000 or $150 monthly lease is seen as a significant barrier to adoption by potential venue owners.
Product Limitations
The finger scanner's unreliability in certain conditions could lead to security issues and customer frustration, potentially undermining the product's core value proposition.
Business Viability
Sharks expressed skepticism about the long-term viability of Amber's business model, particularly due to the high upfront costs and reliance on a leasing strategy.
Timestamps
00:00 College grads pitch Amber, a solution to keep phones charged in public spaces, seeking $200,000 for a 20% stake.
00:38 Amber offers a free, secure mobile phone charging solution using biometric scanning, aiming to enhance customer experience and drive revenue in various public venues.
01:31 A recent college graduate pitches a phone charging unit for bars, offering a purchase or lease option, highlighting its convenience and addressing the risks of lost phones.
02:14 The pitch is criticized for its unrealistic reliance on a low-cost fingerprint scanner for door security.
03:02 A college startup struggles with high production costs and doubts about their business viability.
03:36 Bars are unlikely to pay for a charging device when free alternatives exist, and the product's cost needs to be significantly reduced to be competitive.
04:15 A pitch for a festival product is met with harsh criticism and disbelief from the investors, who deem it one of the worst ideas they've encountered.
05:01 The pitch fails to impress the sharks due to competition and unresolved issues, leading to unanimous disinterest.
Transcript
00:00 Next up are recent College grads who believe they have a better way to stay recharged sharks. My name is Bill Shuan the co-founder and CEO of Amber and my name is Kyle Byrd I'm head of products and a co-founder at Amber sharks. Today we are raising 200 000 in exchange for 20 stake within Amber sharks how many times you've been at an airport and had your phone tragically. Die In Your Arms you know our paying all too well. The fact is. We didn't want to walk around with charters in our pockets or give our phones to bartenders to charge our phones. In a public space.
00:38 We saw a problem and we came up with a solution sharks. Amber is a mobile phone charging station that is completely free to use. We secure your device in one of our seven compartments. Using biometric scanning namely fingerprint scanning. We made it super super simple. Let's show you how it works simply walk up scan. Their fingerprint choose one of the available compartments and whenever they're done they simply rescan their finger and one of the doors will unlock. We realized that Amber wasn't just a free secure way for people to charge their phones in a public space but could also Drive revenue for venues by keeping people around longer and heightening. The overall customer experience we want to put Amber in bars restaurants. Gyms movie theaters Arenas really anywhere the list goes on and on sharks by securing an investment. Today. We can make our first big push into seeing Amber and venue Across the Nation who wants a secure deal with Amber.
01:31 What's up is the product shipping. So we are pre-revenue. I love that word pre-revenue. We just graduated a few weeks ago from college where'd you go to school James Madison University in Virginia. Bill walk me through the premise you walk into a bar sure. I'm a bar owner how much are you going to charge me. So we will either charge you two thousand dollars outright for the unit or you can lease it either on a six nine. I buy for two thousand. That's it or you can get it right on your wall for 150 right there. And it's it's a monthly 150. It's a convenience for the bar but it's not something they have to have well so actually right. Now people are charging their phones in bars right. They're giving the bartenders to waitresses and waiters that's a liability. It's like hey can I get my phone will that waiter waitress may have left got enough work and now they have a lost phone guys.
02:14 You said a door locks. I didn't see the door lock so the locks in here is what we're using for testing. We're actually currently sourcing our locks through Master Lock okay so there will be a door on there yeah. Yes Bill have you tested the fingerprint scanner. We have we test it all in the back end because I'm in the cyber security space and here's what I know about fingerprint scanners. They can be very finicky very except for the very very high-end ones with all due respect to you the idea of you walking up once putting your finger in there and it recognizing you and the door coming down is ludicrous. We have a big security Center. The fingerprint scanner that we pay for people to get into that. Center was well well over fifty thousand. There's no way for that price point you're gonna buy fingerprint scanner that's right that quickly so here's how it's going to work someone's going to come up. They're going to go once they're going to go twice.
03:02 They're gonna go three times and then they're gonna pull it off the wall yeah and this is before they've had something to drink tell us how much you've invested right because you've got to build prototypes so on our College budgets uh we are sitting um. I think we're right around eleven thousand dollars. What does it cost you to make a unit right. Now. We can make the unit for a thousand dollars with a thousand dollars. This is going to end so badly that is such a bad business. What are you you're saying you're saying the cost of it. Two thousand dollars right oh.
03:36 It's a it's 150 a month or two thousand dollars outright. Why would a bar pay you 2 000 when you go to the airports. Those guys who have the big charges. They issue it for free because they want to do their advertising. Why wouldn't a bar put one of those free devices behind the bar. I mean why does anybody really need this. I think there's so many personal charging devices and actually I'm in the space right. Now we're creating something that is light years ahead. Of this I'm out the cost is horrible guys. I mean you've got to get this down under a hundred dollars and that's exactly what we're trying to do um right and I feel bad because you put in a lot of Blood Sweat and Tears.
04:15 Wait wait no sweat and tears just blood in the water blood. We've actually had a lot of interest from festivals um and say larger scale venues conventions so we actually we developed the products like putting it on a stand um and having say 14 units whenever you have a lot of people. One of the things you don't want to do is create a reason for them to congregate in one spot waiting for something all you're doing is creating more lines and then the finger scanner something was wet. Someone was grimy you're at a festival. It's not going to be a clean environment. This is definitely not for me I'm out there's only one answer to this I have to hire you both. So I can fire them. This is so horrible how do you think this has any chance of surviving and working. I hate this so much it's incredible. It's one of the worst ideas.
05:01 I've ever seen. I'm out. I have absolutely no interest in this business. I'm out so we do have competition. There are a few yeah. There's a lot of competitors right. Your biggest competitor is free. You've come out with an incredibly elegant solution. True free look. I'm at good thank you guys very much for your time. Horrible put your glass there and fill it up. The cost was an issue. The security was an issue. I know it works. We've tested it a million times. I mean I would probably go rail Hershey back in the tease. I mean that's not that's right you should want to be to be honest. I'm being honest um before you go don't forget to subscribe to the Shark Tank Youtube channel and ring the notification Bell to keep up with everything that's bubbling in the tank.