For more than a decade, Shark Tank has given entrepreneurs from all over the United States the chance to take their businesses to the next level. Every time someone enters the Tank, they have the opportunity to earn an investment from a very wealthy and well-connected Shark. During season 12, Atlanta-based entrepreneurs Bob Mackey and Michael Green were ready to take full advantage of that moment. They came to the show in hopes of securing investment for their product, the Yono Clip.
The product was designed to provide a simple and convenient way for people to avoid having to put their bags and other items on the floor. This concept was especially appealing during the COVID-19 pandemic as the virus has made people much more mindful of trying to avoid germs. Essentially, the Yono Clip is a device that can be attached to almost any surface and pulled out into a small hook that people can hang things on. It uses a suction cup to attach vertically, horizontally, or diagonally to all kinds of surfaces. Like most other things that appear on Shark Tank, the Yono Clip got a lot of attention immediately following the show, but did the founders manage to capitalize on the success of the episode and become a household brand?
The Yono Clip’s Pitch
Anyone who knows anything about Shark Tank knows that, in some ways, the pitch is more important than the product itself. We’ve seen lots of awesome products not get deals because entrepreneurs simply didn’t have all of their information together. On the flip side, several questionable products have been successful thanks to very persuasive pitches.
Luckily for Yono Clip, it was a great product with a great pitch. Bob and Michael made sure that they found the perfect balance between humor and professionalism as they asked for $150,000 in exchange for 15% of their company. They had the Sharks’ attention from the moment they started talking. However, once the conversation got to the numbers, it was clear that Yono Clip was still a long way off from becoming the household name the founders hoped it would eventually be.
They’d sold just over $14,000 worth of merchandise, which is hugely impressive in itself, but it was clear that the stake being offered was far too low. At a $150,000 investment for a 15% stake, that would value the company at $1 million. But, with only $14,000 in sales and the product still being 3D printed out of their garage, Yono Clip was a long way off reaching that valuation. Because of this, the Sharks all dropped out except one.
Daymond John chimed in to save the day with an offer of $150,000 for 30% of the company. To everyone’s surprise, Bob and Michael countered, asking if he’d be willing to go down to 20%, which almost cost them the deal. The other Sharks quickly let them know they were putting themselves in a position to miss out on a good deal, and they ultimately accepted the offer. This is one of the better pitches that I’ve seen on Shark Tank, and I kind of want a Yono Clip myself after watching it. Check out the pitch below.
What’s Been Going On With Yono Clip
Getting a deal is truly a life-changing experience for anyone who goes on Shark Tank. With the money and support from the Sharks, we’ve seen several businesses quickly start bringing in millions of dollars in sales. Unfortunately, however, it’s unclear how Yono Clip has been doing since going in the Tank. The official Instagram account for the Yono Clip has less than 2,000 followers and hasn’t had any activity in about 6 months. It is unclear whether the business is active as the URL connected to its Instagram is a dead link, and the business has moved from a .com to a .net domain. However, the product pages still have generic text on them from when the site’s page theme was installed, which is not a good look, especially for a business connected to a Shark.
We weren’t able to find any direct information on how much money the product has made since the show or if Michael and Bob have any plans to ramp things up in the future. It appears they haven’t done any press since the months immediately following their episode. One thing is for sure, though, Yono Clip certainly isn’t as popular as many of the other products we’ve seen on the show. Hopefully, Yono Clip is just in a rebuilding stage at the moment, and we’ll see and hear more from the company in the future.
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