Barbara Corcoran made a $200,000 'Shark Tank' offer on one condition: Power to revamp the CEO's entire business
Angie Cella was a "Shark Tank" investor's perfect candidate, according to the show's judges: a big dreamer and go-getter with a powerful backstory.
The only catch, the investors said on Friday's episode of the ABC show: Cella's business needed a major overhaul, and Barbara Corcoran wanted to be the woman for the job.
Cella and her daughter Cambria went on the show to pitch Blinger, a patented hair styling tool that uses medical-grade adhesive to add crystals and pearls to your strands. An adult version retails at $49.99, and a kids' version sells for $29.99.
The Avondale, Pennsylvania-based entrepreneur said the idea came to her in a dream in 2014. Creating a prototype took four years and put her $1.7 million in debt, she added: "I couldn't get any more loans and no one wanted to invest."
Cella sold her house to cover the costs, she said — moving herself and her four children into a rented townhome, while working virtually with a factory in China to bring Blinger to life.
By the time of filming last year, the product was projected to bring in $4.2 million in annual sales, Cella said. She asked the show's investor judges for $200,000, in exchange for 5% of her product, which she sold through a parent company she named GEMC².
But her backstory's twists and turns weren't over yet.
'I have no business experience'
In 2018, after getting Blinger manufactured, Cella got a booth at a toy fair in Dallas. She struck a licensing deal there with a company called Wicked Cool Toys, which placed Blinger in retailers like Target, Walmart and Amazon.
"In 2019, they did over $20 million wholesale," said Cella. "But Covid happened [and] sales went down, so my income went down."
Wicked Cool Toys was also acquired by a company called Jazwares in 2019, and the new owners weren't as interested in selling Blinger, Cella recently told the "Making It In The Toy Industry" podcast. Copycat products emerged, eating further into the product's dwindling sales.
She asked Jazwares to give her the product's license back, and the company agreed, she said.
On her own, Cella inked deals with CBS and QVC to sell Blinger on television, she told the "Shark Tank" investors. Her company was profitable, she noted, but she'd put all the profits — an estimated $2.5 million — into unused inventory.
Cella was also drowning in responsibilities. Her team consisted of Cambria — a college student and part-time National Guard soldier who manages Blinger's social media — and two other "phenomenal ladies that are full-time with me," she said.
She lacked a chief financial officer and a bookkeeper, she said, making it hard to keep up with business operations as Wicked Cool Toys once did.
"I just want one of you to help me because I have no business experience," said Cella. "We don't have a CFO and I really need a bookkeeper ... I would love to not be CEO. I need someone who knows what they're doing."
'What a mess you've got on your hands'
For Kevin O'Leary and Mark Cuban, Cella's lack of organization made it hard to want to invest in her company.
"I really think what you have to do is find someone to take over your operations," O'Leary said. "Wow, what a mess you've got on your hands."
"You need somebody to just run this whole thing," Cuban added. "You're not even in a position to take an investor yet because everything's a mess."
But Corcoran made an offer of $200,000 for 25% of the Blinger. It came with a catch. "You come to New York ... And you spend a few hours with me laying out your business on index cards," Corcoran said. "I'll reorganize everything."
Robert Herjavec and Lori Greiner bowed out of making offers, saying the company needed Corcoran for its survival. Cella still wasn't convinced, asking Corcoran to go down to 20% and fund all of her purchase orders.
"I won't take the 20%, but I will fund whatever you need as long as you have the purchase orders," Corcoran responded. Cella accepted.
"I have a deal with an incredible businesswoman that saw me for who I am," said Cella.
Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to "Shark Tank."
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