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Opportunity on the Line: Akeem Shannon
Manage episode 376722014 series 2934504
Το περιεχόμενο παρέχεται από το Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. Όλο το περιεχόμενο podcast, συμπεριλαμβανομένων των επεισοδίων, των γραφικών και των περιγραφών podcast, μεταφορτώνεται και παρέχεται απευθείας από τον Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis ή τον συνεργάτη της πλατφόρμας podcast. Εάν πιστεύετε ότι κάποιος χρησιμοποιεί το έργο σας που προστατεύεται από πνευματικά δικαιώματα χωρίς την άδειά σας, μπορείτε να ακολουθήσετε τη διαδικασία που περιγράφεται εδώ https://el.player.fm/legal.
Akeem Shannon was stressed. In three weeks, his Shark Tank episode would air, the episode where he’d pitch Flipstik—a novel cellphone attachment that doubles as a kickstand and a sticky wall mount.
He knew one thing with absolute certainty: Whether or not the “sharks” on the popular ABC-TV show offered him a deal, he was going to sell some Flipstiks. Probably a lot of them. And he didn’t have any. Or any money.
At the time, in mid-October 2020, Shannon’s startup was so young he sometimes sold only one Flipstik a day. One bright spot: He’d recently landed a commitment of $50,000 from Arch Grants, a St. Louis nonprofit that provides capital to startups willing to plant roots in the community.
With the Shark Tank air date weeks away, he contacted his manufacturer in China. “I need product. Lots of it. Right now,” he said. He mobilized his team to build a makeshift distribution warehouse. He upgraded his website’s software to handle the crush of transactions he expected. He maxed out his credit cards.
It wasn’t enough. Ultimately, he had to pick up the phone to Arch Grants, which was supposed to pay out its commitment in quarterly installments. “Is there any way I can get some cash up-front—right away?” Shannon pleaded. “I don’t have two weeks to wait.”
The cash arrived. The episode aired—with one more hitch. Ninety seconds into his segment, ABC broke in with news from the 2020 election. “I just cried when it happened,” Shannon said. But it didn’t matter. He’d set the hook. He reeled in Shark Tank fans, with orders totaling more than $100,000 in just a few days. When the episode repeated on January 1, 2021, sales spiked once again.
Ultimately, Shannon got an offer from one of the sharks—a deal that later fell apart off-air. Yet for Shannon, the episode was a turning point. The last-minute race to prepare, the 11th-hour request for cash, maxed out cards—it had paid off.
RELATED LINKS
- The Flipstik website
- Akeem Shannon’s segment on Shark Tank (including his rap)
- Akeem on Instagram
- Michael Wall’s faculty page at WashU Olin Business School
- The St. Louis Business Journal on the Inc. rankings
CREDITS
This podcast is a production of Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. Contributors include:
- Katie Wools, Cathy Myrick, Judy Milanovits and Lesley Liesman, creative assistance
- Jill Young Miller, fact checking and creative assistance
- Hayden Molinarolo, original music and sound design
- Mike Martin Media, editing
- Sophia Passantino, social media
- Lexie O'Brien and Erik Buschardt, website support
- Paula Crews, creative vision and strategic support
Special thanks to Ray Irving and his team at WashU Olin’s Center for Digital Education, including our audio engineer, Austin Alred.
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