Enjoying beach time is always a great way to relax. However, carrying around bulky folding chairs and umbrellas can be a hassle. The Sunflow chair is an all-in-one piece of beach gear that solves this problem. The product was made by husband and wife team Leslie Hsu and Greg Besner, who struck a deal with Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary. By 2024, Sunflow is expected to be worth $16 million.
Founder
Leslie Hsu and Greg Besner live in Short Hills, New Jersey. Both have extensive business experience. Greg received his BA from Rutgers University and his MBA from the Wharton School. His wife graduated from Pennsylvania State University.
Greg started his career as an associate at Goldman Sachs before moving to Merrill Lynch as a vice president. He previously founded two companies: CultureIQ and Restricted Stock Systems.
Ms. Hsu started out as a fabric specialist for Elie Tahari and Calvin Klein. Later, she became a handbag designer and businesswoman. She founded fashion brands such as Leslie Hsu New York, PUNCHCASE and LesliesFinds.
Building Sunflow
As a busy couple, Greg and Leslie love to go to the beach regularly to relax. However, going to their favorite seaside spot requires a lot of preparation, and Leslie was not happy with the quality of their beach chairs.
One day, the two decided to tackle the problem. After brainstorming, they came up with Sunflow, a beach chair that comes with all the essentials, including a sunglass holder, cup holder, and sunshade.
It is easy to fold, install and carry. The founders spent three years making the final product and launched it in 2018. A year later, the startup had revenue of $2.9 million.
Shark Tank Appearance
In 2019, Leslie Hsu and Greg Besner were looking to take their business to the next level after seeing their business flourish. They appeared on Season 13 of Shark Tank and asked for $1 million for a 6% stake.
The valuation was high, but the sharks were impressed by the performance of the one-year-old company. They also expressed concerns about the price: At $198, the beach chairs were too expensive for the average consumer.
One notable moment in the speech was when Xu mentioned that her father had recently passed away. Kevin O’Leary, not interested in hearing a sob story, got the speech back to the point by saying, “Let’s get back to reality and talk about numbers.”
Guest investor Daniel Lubetzky offered $1 million for 22.5% of the company, but the entrepreneurs rejected the offer because it was a bad one. Kevin O’Leary made several offers later, and finally he agreed to $1 million for 5% of the company, with a royalty of $5 per unit. As fans of the show know, Kevin loves royalty deals!
After Shark Tank
Soon after Sunflow’s Shark Tank appearance, the startup saw a surge in orders. Leslie and Greg had to cancel travel plans to handle the shipments. Unfortunately, the deal with Mr. Wonderful didn’t close, but the company is doing well.
They didn’t get $1 million from Kevin, but they did raise $3.5 million in a round led by Great Oaks Venture Capital and FOD Capital, which helped them increase sales on Amazon and their e-commerce store, GetSunflow.com.
On their website, these beach chairs have a 4.9-star rating out of 195 reviews. Sunflow has annual revenues of approximately $3-4 million and a valuation of approximately $16 million.
Given the recent economic situation, selling $200 beach chairs to consumers will be a difficult task. Hopefully, as the business scales, they can reduce costs. Sunflow plans to launch more products and build a stronger beach brand.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: svlsf.edu.vn