In the Season 8 finale of Shark Tank, husband and wife team Patrick and Harriet Mills from Raleigh, North Carolina pitched their Wine & Design franchise. To sell the idea of their art studio where customers paint and sip wine, they brought Richard, a nude male model with them. And yes, he dropped his robe in front of the sharks. (Richard was there to demonstrate the Wine & Design Bachelorette Night package.) It was one pitch the Sharks would never forget. The Mills eventually accepted Kevin O’Leary’s offer of $500,000, with $350,000 as a line of credit at 12 percent interest, for 10 percent equity. (The Mills went in the Tank seeking a $500k investment for 10 percent.)
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After Shark Tank, Mills told News & Observer that the deal they agreed upon was not the final deal, and the terms of the exact deal are confidential. Mills also reported that after the Shark Tank episode aired, Wine & Design received almost 400 leads for potential franchisees. Watch Mr. Wonderful talk about Wine & Design, which serves his O’Leary brand wine, about their partnership, below. “Wine and Design is just killing it,” he says, “And it’s going to grow like a weed.” Shark Tank returns for its ninth season on Sunday, October 1 on ABC.
