MuteMe Illuminated Mute Button Update | Shark Tank Season 13
The age of remote work has brought a lot of technology problems to light — namely, you don’t know when you’re muted. On
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick overview of what happened to MuteMe after
Parm Dhoot and Tye Davis appeared on
| Shark: | Result: |
| Mark Cuban | No offer |
| Lori Greiner | No offer |
| Daymond John | No offer |
| Kevin O’Leary | No offer |
| Peter Jones CBE | No offer |
Shark Tank MuteMe Update
- Entrepreneurs: Parm Dhoot and Tye Davis
- Business: Illuminated mute buttons for conference calls
- Ask: $200,000 for 10% equity
- Result: No deal
- Shark: None
Entrepreneurs Parm Dhoot and Tye Davis saw an opportunity in the new work-from-home market with MuteMe. Many people, especially those who aren’t familiar with computers, have problems easily muting and unmuting their microphones during a conference call.
Confidently take virtual calls without second guessing if you're on mute or not with the MuteMe. With just a simple tap, toggle yourself on and off mute and avoid the dreaded “You’re on Mute!” or “Please Mute Yourself” in virtual calls for good. MuteMe indicates instantaneously whether you’re on mute with red and green visual toggles, and takes away the stress that often comes with virtual meetings.
Either you’re talking and no one can hear you or your entire work team can hear your dog barking or your baby crying.
To avoid those awkward moments, Parm and Tye created a large, illuminated mute button that connects via USB and controls your microphone.
The light is green or blue when you’re live, and turns red when no one can hear you. It’s a simple idea, and the sharks are a little on the fence about it.
However, the numbers do sway them — just not in the way that the entrepreneurs want. Parm and Tyereveal that the MuteMe button has done a lot of fundraising on Kickstarter, although they’ve only done about $61,000 in sales since they launched.
If this wasn’t disappointing enough for the sharks, Parm and Tye reveal that they’ve been in every Staples store in the US for four weeks and have sold a total of 150 units.
It doesn’t take long for the sharks to start dropping out. Mark Cuban thinks that they need to find a way to sell the product with social media. Since they haven’t done that and they’re not even close to being investable, he’s the first out.
Kevin O’Leary agrees, saying that retail is not the place for this button and that it should be sold online. However, he doesn’t want to invest in it. He’s out.
Guest Shark Peter Jones is a little gentler with his critique. He says anyone could make this button, as no part of it is proprietary. They have a provisional patent as the only mute button that isn’t a microphone, but it isn’t enough.
He owns a company that does online gadgets and says he could easily make this tomorrow. He wants to make an offer, but he just can’t decide if it’s worth it.
Daymond John wants to redo the business. He’s taken all of the sharks’ critiques into account — the price is too high, the manufacturing cost is too high, and it’s not marketed correctly.
He needs more of the business to make it worthwhile. He offers $200,000 for 50% of the company, but the entrepreneurs hesitate.
Lori Greiner sees the benefit, but she doesn’t think it’s for her. She drops out as well.
Peter is still torn and doesn’t know if it’s too simple. On hearing his critique, Daymond is out as well. Peter decides not to invest, leaving MuteMe without a deal.
So, is all hope lost for the illuminated mute button? Keep reading our MuteMe update to find out where the company is now.
Departing
They’ve also introduced a new product, the MuteMe Mini, which is a smaller version of the original and financed through Kickstarter.
In a recent MuteMe update, the team told their local newspaper the Appeal-Democrat that products sold out completely after receiving national press exposure, and in 2022 they successfully surpassed $1 million in sales.
With remote work becoming the new norm, it seems the potential market for MuteMe isn’t disappearing anytime soon. There’s plenty of time for them to continue scaling their business, and we can’t wait to see what the next MuteMe update will be.
Before you go, be sure to check out updates from the other companies featured on
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Andrew Smith is the founder and owner of Shark Tank Recap. He is a longtime Shark Tank fan that has been watching it for years and has seen every episode multiple times. His friends know him as the Shark Tank expert, because he can answer any question about the show! His favorite Shark Tank products are Bertello's pizza oven and Bug Bite Thing!