Michael Szymczak and Jason Lucash are the two guys behind OrigAudio, the company that makes portable speakers. The first product they launched was Fold and Play, foldable speakers made from recycled materials inspired by origami. The second product was Rock-It which can turn any object (a plastic cup or tipped-over canoe) into a speaker. Szymczak and Lucash pitched their business on Shark Tank in 2011.
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On the show, then new-to-the-show investor Mark Cuban tried to get the entrepreneurs to lower their valuation and to give him another offer — but without listening to the other Sharks first. Cuban’s tactic prompted Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran and Robert Herjavec to pitch individual offers. (Since the entrepreneurs listened to the other offers, Cuban went out.) OrigAudio accepted Herjavec’s offer for $150k for 15 percent. But after the show, the entrepreneurs changed their mind (there is a 90-day grace period) and based on the growth the company experienced between taping and airing the episode, “they no longer felt that giving up fifteen percent equity made sense.” OrigAudio has launched several products since Shark Tank including headphones.
