Real Life Shark Tank: 12 of the Strangest Things I’ve Been Pitched
Throughout my time as a seed and accelerator investor at 500 Startups and my angel investing on AngelList via my syndicate, I’ve guided money in the direction of 174 startups for a total of $23M in venture capital.
Along the way I’ve seen and heard some strange things that I can’t unsee, unhear, or cover up with my Pokemon addiction.
Here are those stories…
#1 — Butt Mask
Two Taiwanese men call me on Skype to video chat. One holds up pieces of paper from a printed Powerpoint slide deck. The other begins opening a package, removing a white, wet-looking facial mask item. He says nothing. He begins applying it to the naked butt of a male mannequin. If it wasn’t for doing pre-meeting research and knowing that this was a gay men’s beauty company, I would have thought I logged onto the wrong video chat. Instead I thought this was one of the most well-formed and entertaining pitches I’ve ever seen.
Not only did I find a Unicorn to invest in. I also will now have a perfectly formed buttocks.
OUTCOME: CONSIDERING INVESTMENT
