Deaf man’s family business gets deal on “Shark Tank”
[Transcript] A Deaf man, Kobe Johnson, and his father and sister pitched their “Tailgate N Go” business concept on “Shark Tank” on ABC last Sunday.
It is a portable outdoor kitchen and dry box that has everything you need to cook in the outdoors. You can attach a grill or a sink to it.
After some back and forth with the sharks, the family accepted shark Matt Higgins’ offer of $250,000 for a 20% stake and a royalty of $50 per unit until the $250k is repaid.
There was an interpreter during the show. Here is an interview with Kobe.
ALEX:
Hello, can you introduce yourself with your name and what your business is all about?
KOBE:
Hi, my name is Kobe Johnson. *Signs name*
Our business is called Tailgate ‘N’ Go or TNG for short.
ALEX:
Okay, you and your family made an appearance on ‘Shark Tank; just last Sunday. It was cool seeing that and also you ended up getting an actual deal done with Matt Higgins! What was that experience like for you being on the ‘Shark Tank’ show?!
KOBE:
Well, to be honest, there’s nothing that could ever compare to what I was feeling. You know, when I showed up and we were ready to start filming, I was in a small standing room, with my father and my sister, waiting for the doors to open. I was getting really nervous then the doors finally opened. I couldn’t even feel my legs moving as I walked out! It was almost like I was floating towards the judges. It was like I had come to haunt these people with the smile I put on my face as I “levitated” towards them. Especially with all the staff running the camera and lights everywhere, it was really overwhelming for me! When I finally stopped walking, I locked eyes with all the Sharks. They put on this serious face, with their hands at rest like this, while being introduced to us. The three of us had an interpreter there too and the interpreter walked to the right of the judges. At first, we had to stare at each other until the cameras started rolling. Then the host introduced the audience to the show and then we introduced ourselves. And we shared our story right there. That was an experience I’ll never forget.
ALEX:
I’m sure you’ll never that experience and you even have it all on film too! Now that you’ve gotten a deal done, can you explain a little bit about how you and your family invented a Tailgate kit? You said you’d been having frustrations with forgetting things to bring and organizing for camping trips, but I’m curious about your father and your background with welding? How did you develop these skills that led to this invention?
KOBE:
Well, you know what businessmen do? They meet people and make connections. So my dad has a lot of experience with heavy machinery like, for instance, excavators. So he knows people who also work with heavy machinery, but for everything else, we had to learn through research. The board had to do a lot of study, but B is also a fast learner.
ALEX:
Wow, how long does it take for your company to produce one unit?
KOBE:
Well, for us to produce one unit, it takes about 25 minutes.
ALEX:
25 minutes.
KOBE:
It takes 25 minutes because there are a lot of components involved like the rivets, the handles and many other parts. We also place orders for powder coating services and also for a waste management service from Denver.
ALEX:
After you’ve imported the parts you need then it’ll take you 25 minutes to assemble the parts. That’s cool! That’s pretty fast too! I thought it’d actually take a little bit longer than that. Only 25 minutes!
KOBE:
Yes, the board had to learn a lot and fast so we could keep on fine tuning our process.
ALEX:
I know that you had 2 offers from two Sharks, one from Kevin O’Leary known as “Mr. Wonderful”. He offered a little more out of his deal yet you chose the other Shark. What kind of stress did you experience? How did you come to the decision of choosing Matt’s offer?
KOBE:
Well, while we were considering Kevin’s offer, I admit that we didn’t think it was as good of a deal, the reason being is he could’ve killed our margins. The hard work we put into getting the profit margins would be fruitless. So the board decided to not take that deal and instead chose Matt’s offer. The board decided that Matt offered the better deal. After we got to meet Matt, we thought he was a wonderful, a very cool guy. The board had already met Matt in New York. We already thought he was an awesome guy!
ALEX:
And now you’re ready to get going with your business?! What has the business been like since making that appearance on ‘Shark Tank’? I’m sure you’ve been getting many orders?
KOBE:
Oh yes! There’s been so many orders that we’re struggling to keep up, but the board has always been ready to take on the challenge!
ALEX:
Cool and you’re the first deaf entrepreneur to make an appearance on the ‘Shark Tank’. So, moving forward, what are your goals for yourself and your family?
KOBE:
For myself, when it comes to the deaf world, I’m not satisfied with the current status quo. I want to make changes so we can improve on connecting with the hearing world and I guess making the appearance on the ‘Shark Tank’ was a small step towards that goal. Being the first deaf ‘Shark Tank’ contestant has shocked a lot of hearing people.
ALEX:
Congratulations!
KOBE:
Thank you! There’s a lot of hearing people who are shocked to see a deaf entrepreneur on the show. So we’re going to keep trying to improve how hearing people perceive deaf people. I want to create technology for deaf people because technology we have nowadays are old and outdated. I want to update and modernize the technology we have now for deaf people.
ALEX:
I’m sure you have many dreams to pursue now that you have a business with a growing network that now includes one of the Shark judges! That’s impressive and we look forward to seeing what else you’ll be able to do moving forward!
KOBE:
Thank you.
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Thank you, Kobe, for your time. If you want to check out what the Tail N Go merchandise looks like, go to the link in the transcript.
https://tailgatengo.com/
https://abc.com/shows/shark-tank/video/most-recent/vdka13908798
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Supported by:
Convo [https://convo.click/2mVhM8h]
Gallaudet University: [gallaudet.edu]