Even the notoriously aggressive Kevin O’Leary was eating out of Melissa Bartow’s hand like a playful little kitten following her energetic and fun Wanna date? pitch. She served up huge trays of samples to the sharks. “Oh yum!” Barbara Cocoron exclaimed. “Here’s a fact Melissa, you may not know,” O’Leary announced. “The date fruit, along with camel milk, can sustain a human being indefinitely. It’s one of the healthiest fruits on earth,” he mansplained.
Time for business. Bartow shared she’d pulled in around $31,000 in ten months. She explained she’d just graduated from NYU and thrown herself full-time into the company. Daymond John wanted to know how she could afford to live in Manhattan. It’s a conundrum that would’ve had even the Central Perk locals scratching their heads (Monica inherited her gran’s rent-controlled apartment, in case you’ve always wondered). Bartow also had a little help from her friends — well, family. “My dad supports me,” she admitted.
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Bartow said that each unit costs $2.40 to produce. “That’s a lot,” Mark Cuban interjected. She said the product sold for a whopping $12 a jar. The sharks of “Shark Tank” smelled blood and began circling. John was the first out. Lori Greiner was next. Cocoron followed but first, she schooled Bartow on being privileged and not enough hungry to succeed. Ouch. The entrepreneur was reduced to tears. Mr. Wonderful exited next. Cuban threw a lifeline, though, offering $100,000 for a 33% share. Deal done.
