The Vermont Butcher Block & Board Company Update | Season 4
David Glickman creates premium wood kitchen products. Will his company earn a deal on
Shark Tank The Vermont Butcher Block & Board Company Update
- Entrepreneur: David Glickman
- Business: Premium wood kitchen products
- Ask: $400,000 for 25% equity
- Result: No deal
- Shark: None
When David started his company, The Vermont Butcher Block & Board Company, he had been working in New York City and felt the “rat race” was too much. He left New York with his wife and headed to Vermont, where they decided to open their company, and sell premium wooden kitchen products. David also decided never to wear a suit and tie again, trading his business attire for tie dye.
David shared that his company had grossed $2.9 million since its inception in 2004. The previous year, they grossed $800,000, while they projected to finish the current year between $1 and $1.5 million.
Kevin O’Leary asked how much would be profit, and David said about 20% would be profit. Lori Greiner asked what he wanted the sharks for, and David said he needed money, to meet customer demand, and guidance on scaling the business.
Daymond John pointed out that David valued his company at $1.6 million, which was too high based on the sales. David argued that he figured it was appropriate to value the company at one-and-a-half sales, but Robert Herjavec too seemed iffy about the valuation.
David started rattling off his client list to justify the valuation. It included Daniel Boulud, Orvis and Frontgate catalogs, and talks with Fleming’s and Williams-Sonoma. Daymond joked if it was actually Williams-Sonoma or a guy named William Sonoma, but David said they were offered to sell twenty-five pieces in Williams-Sonoma’s top twelve stores but the deal fell through because David couldn’t fill the order.
Kevin asked why David was bothering with salad bowls and serving spoons, when these items could be made inexpensively in Asia. He felt the chopping block was the only useful item. David disagreed, and Lori defended David saying the company needed to offer a variety of SKUs instead of just one thing.
Mark Cuban agreed with Lori, and reminded Kevin that David had a retail store in Vermont where he needed to sell much more than just chopping blocks. Daymond joked that David could “sell tie dye” there.
Robert Herjavec asked why David needed the money? David answered that he needed to increase production by investing in a bigger facility, machinery, and staff.
Lori then said she had to bring up what might be a “crushing blow” to his company– the antimicrobial board. She said that consumers were doing away with wooden cutting boards in favor of plastic ones that didn’t allow salmonella and E. coli to seep into the board and contaminate food. David adamantly disagreed, stating an article in Cooks Illustrated alleged plastic cutting boards are more dangerous, while wood has a natural propensity to kill bacteria.
Mark told David to ignore the comments. In his opinion, David had done a great job and needed capital to grow, but the business looked to be in good shape. Mark’s issue was that, in order to be an effective partner, he would need to learn a lot about the business, and he didn’t feel inclined to do that. For that reason, he was out.
Kevin was next, saying he is “always right” and his gut was telling him that the spoons, bowls, and other items would be David’s downfall. David disagreed. However, Kevin felt their visions for the company were too different, and so he was out next.
Daymond felt David was a smart guy with a lot of passion, but he simply wasn’t excited about the product and, for that reason, he was out. Robert went to speak next, stating that the valuation and amount of money David was asking was just too risky for an investor. For that reason, Robert was also out. Next to share was Lori, who said the products were beautiful, but she felt antimicrobial boards were the next big thing and, for that reason, she was out.
David wouldn’t leave. He offered Mark 40% equity, then turned to Daymond and Robert with the same offer. He went up to 45% equity and focused on Robert, who repeated it was too much money to take the risk. David told Robert he could go in with Mark then, $200,000 and 22.5% equity each, but Mark told him David was actually hurting his case, not helping himself.
Kevin, smugly, asked him how badly he really wanted the deal. He offered to take 51% equity with the agreement that David stop selling spoons. David wouldn’t take it, and Mark was finally able to convince David to leave after telling him he was “overselling” now.
It was an awkward exit for David. Did he manage to make his company successful, despite not landing the deal? Keep reading The Vermont Butcher Block & Board Company update to find out!
We have interesting news to share in The Vermont Butcher Block & Board Company update! Things went well at first, however, David would wind up declaring bankruptcy in 2017. He was left with $800,000 in unpaid debts. A businessman named Lucas Jenson would follow in David’s footsteps, opening a business under the same name selling similar products. The Vermont Butcher Block & Board Company remains active today, but David has vanished from the public eye after an embarrassing departure from the business world.
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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!