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The “Shark Tank” reality competition series is known to produce heated exchanges between its investors, such as Kevin “Mr. Wonderful” O’Leary, and aspiring entrepreneurs.
O’Leary, 70, did not hold back when blasting Pavlok founder Maneesh Sethi in 2016. The 29th episode of the seventh season featured Sethi pitching his $200 wearable device that he claimed helped consumers break bad habits such as nail biting.
“Shark Tank” judge Kevin O’Leary goes off on contestant for refusing his “good” deal. (Photos: @Shark Tank Global/YouTube)
O’Leary was joined on the “Shark Tank” panel by Dallas Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban — Cuban was the sole Mavericks owner in 2016 — real estate broker Barbara Corcoran, QVC personality Lori Greiner, and The Herjavec Group CEO Robert Herjavec.
Sethi was seeking $500,000 for a 3.14% stake in Pavlok. Just moments into his presentation, the Sharks began laughing as he explained that the product provides a “mild electric sensation” to change the user’s behavior.
“You can laugh, but it’s actually very serious,” Sethi said in response. O’Leary then fired back, “I am laughing.” Sethi’s inability to provide evidence to back up his claims that Pavlok actually works caused Cuban to call him a “con artist.”
After O’Leary’s fellow Sharks all turned down the chance to invest in Pavlok, Mr. Wonderful admitted he was “interested” in Sethi’s habit-breaking watch that essentially works as a dog shock collar for humans.
“I believe this technology works because I’ve seen it work. Your valuation is crazy. I’m sorry it’s not worth $15.9 million now,” O’Leary told Sethi before offering a deal consisting of getting 3.14 percent equity in exchange for a 24-month $500,000 loan at 7.5 percent interest.
Sethi then told the Sharks he was not “focused on the money,” before telling Mr. Wonderful, “I can’t work with you.” He further irked the “Shank Tank” stars by saying, “I would take an offer from anybody besides Mr. Wonderful.”
Following a stunned reaction from the Sharks, O’Leary exclaimed, “Maneesh, you’re an assh—! Get the f— out of here! F— you!” Sethi walked off the set and admitted in a confessional interview, “I have a tinge of regret for rejecting the deal with Mr. Wonderful.”
The Shark Tank Global YouTube channel uploaded the segment with O’Leary cursing out Sethi to the video-sharing platform in April 2022. The clip has amassed more than 6,000 comments over the last three years.
“It’s understandable that he doesn’t want to work with someone, but he shouldn’t have disrespected the only guy who was willing to give him a hand,” one YouTube commenter wrote.
A second person sarcastically stated, “I like how he gets defensive about the laughs instead of rolling with it. Classic pitch technique, getting needlessly confrontational with the investors.”
“Can we appreciate this guy is talking about the ethical side of his company being bigger than the profit, but prices the watch at $200?” someone added.
Additionally, a commenter offered, “This guy was an absolute clown, lol. I’m glad Kevin handled that exactly like he did.” Another “Shark Tank” fan commented, “I would pay to see the unedited version of this. Absolutely the funniest pitch of all time.”
Sethi penned a Medium article about his experience on “Shark Tank” and further explained why turned down O’Leary’s $500,000 loan.
“I was interested in making a deal with the other sharks — particularly, Lori or Mark. I’m disappointed that Mark thought I was a con artist, and that we didn’t see eye to eye,” Sethi wrote. “I made some mistakes in my presentation style and content that I think I would approach differently if given the chance.”
He added, “Because we already had revenue and happy customers, I didn’t need to beg for money. I knew that we could hit our goals organically, but an investment with the right partner would add gasoline to our engine and speed up growth.”
Sethi also laid out several reasons why he did not want to work with Mr. Wonderful. His bulletpoints included calling O’Leary “consistently rude and demeaning” and taking issue with the outspoken investor focusing “too heavily on profits, and not enough on customer happiness.”
As of this writing, Pavlok products are available for purchase, selling various items like the Shock Clock, Shock Clock 2, Shock Clock 3, and Shock Clock MAX, which cost between $99 and $140. The Pavlok ring sells for $249.
