The Hype Company Custom Shoes Update | Shark Tank Season 15
Cheng Kue and Marc Herzberger pitched their shoe company during
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick overview of what happened to The Hype Company after
Entreprenuers Cheng Kue and Marc Herzberger appeared on
| Shark: | Result: |
| Barbara Corcoran | Accepted deal for $100,000 as cash, $250,000 as a line of credit, for 25% equity |
| Kevin O’Leary | No offer |
| Lori Greiner | No offer |
| Mark Cuban | No offer |
| Michael Rubin | No offer |
Shark Tank The Hype Company Update
- Entrepreneurs: Cheng Kue, Marc Herzberger
- Business: Custom shoes
- Ask: $125,000 for 5% equity
- Result: $100,000 cash, $250,000 line of credit for 25% equity
- Shark: Barbara Corcoran
According to Cheng and Marc, fan gear has become stale and overdone. That is, until The Hype Company came along, where they make custom and licensed slides.
They’ve taken a comfortable slide-on shoe, and created a platform for fans of all kinds to create custom or licensed slides to enjoy. That’s not all, because their slides are also interchangeable!
That’s right! You can actually change out the straps with different designs, teams, logos, to meet your needs. So you can go from watching your favorite college team, to rooting for your little leager at their game later that day.
Possibilities are endless for The Hype Company slides. Even if you’re not a sports fan, you can create custom designs for whatever it is that you want to hype up.
At this point in the pitch, Cheng and Marc present the sharks with custom slides.
In terms of how the slides are being sold, they currently sell direct to consumer through their website, but also through whole sale. Additionally, they also drop ship through Fanatics, Finish Line and Target.
Further, they also have a utility patent, which Cheng says covers everything. He should know, because he’s actually been designing shoes for decades.
Barbara Corcoran asks the entrepreneurs to elaborate on their backgrounds. Cheng starts by sharing that he is the son of immigrant parents, who owned a restaurant.
He eventually went on to school at Georgia Tech, where he got a degree in industrial design. He then spent the next 20 years working for big brands such as Fila, Adidas, Crocs, People Footwear, and Keen.
Marc adds that he spent 10 years also working at Crocs, where his job focused on supply chain and value chain analysis.
Getting down to business, Marc shares that in the last 5 years, they’ve done around $500,000 in sales. While they have two products, the original Slider, which is not made up of two components, their Slider Pro is their interchangeable slide.
Marc shares that they are moving away from the original Slider, and shifting their focus onto the Slider Pro.
Back to sales, YTD, at the time of filming, they’re at $60,000 in sales. While that’s not bad, the guys admit that sales were only around $50,000 in the previous year.
In terms of customer acquisition, costs are relatively non existent at this point. They are also planning to expand their licensing over the nest year, by about 20 plus teams just in the NCAA alone.
They’re also beginning to branch out into other venues for licensing.
As far as cost goes, the slides retail for $60, and wholesale for $30. Manufacturing is right around $10 per pair.
Lori Greiner likes to be in markets where there isn’t much competition. For this reason, she’s out.
Kevin O’Leary isn’t convinced that Marc or Cheng understand how much customer acquisition will cost them. He ultimately goes out next.
Mark Cuban basically thinks that the company is having an identity crisis, not knowing if they are in the slides business or the customization business. However, since he doesn’t want to be in the slides business, he goes out as well.
Guest shark Michael Rubin likes the guys and thinks they have an opportunity to do well. Although, he doesn’t think they will do well enough for it to be a good investment for him.
Michael ultimately goes out as well, leaving Barbara Corcoran to speak up. In fact, Barbara is indeed interested and especially loves the customization opportunities.
She offers $125,000 for 25% equity. That said, half the $125,000 will be in cash, and the other as a line of credit.
Marc counters Barbara with $350,000 for 25% equity. However, Barbara counters back with $100,000 in cash, and $250,000 as a line of credit, for 25% equity.
Cheng and Marc quickly accept her offer. Keep reading The Hype Company update to find out what happens next!
We have good news to share in The Hype Company update. Now that The Hype Company has appeared on
A look at The Hype Company website, reveals that options are endless for customizing your very own pair of slides. Whether you’re into supporting a professional team, your child’s team, or want to make a pair of non-sports related slides, this company has you covered.
Check out their website for more!
If we learn anything new about The Hype Company, we will certainly let you know. In the meantime, you can check out our other company updates from Season 15, Episode 21, by following the links below!
For even more on companies and products, be sure to stop by our Season 15 Products Page before you go!
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!
