Obvious Wines’ presentation on “Shark Tank” in 2019 emphasized making talking about wine accessible to everyone. Bringing along a mime — who Mark Cuban hilariously cites as creepy and his reason for pulling out of the deal — to entertain the judges, CEO and founder Brice Baillié initially sought $150,000 for 5% equity in his company. Presenting them with the company’s two wines, one red wine and one sauvignon blanc, Baillié highlighted how the “simple, straightforward, and educational” label helped give consumers the information to be fluent in wine-speak. “You don’t need a Ph.D. to drink them,” the entrepreneur persuaded. He revealed the company had $100,000 in sales and distribution in over 100 stores in California, but needed the help of a shark to grow past the Golden State.
Right off the bat, QVC Queen Lori Greiner loved the taste of the sauvignon blanc. She pointed out women are some of the biggest consumers of wine and thought the branding would appeal to that audience. Investor Kevin O’Leary declined the deal due to having his own wine brand, and the others weren’t interested in building up the relatively-new brand.
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After negotiating back and forth over the valuation of the company, Greiner offered Obvious Wines a deal for $160,000 in exchange for 12.5% equity. The CEO accepted, and he and the judges raised their glasses in celebration together. With the support of a shark behind them, what did Obvious Wines do with this momentum?
