On Season 12 of Shark Tank, entrepreneur Akeem Shannon from St. Louis, Missouri makes a dramatic entrance. He walks into the Tank wearing a space costume, sticks his phone against a glass window and launches into a rap. He describes his product, Flipstik, as “a kickstand on demand” and with it “gravity is under your command.” And he promises to “deliver ROI on your 100 grand.”
Flipstik is a paper-thin device that lets you prop your phone up on the move. It can stick to almost any surface — glass, tile, vinyl, marble, leather, wood, etc. (You remove your phone by giving it a little twist.)
The Sharks love Akeem’s rap pitch. Barbara Corcoran yells “great job, great job” and Daymond John says, “I gotta say that rap was one of the best raps we’ve ever seen on this stage.” Mark Cuban chimes in and says, “best rap on Shark Tank ever.” [Related: 27 Favorite Shark Tank Products]
In the Tank, Akeem seeks an investment of $100,000 in exchange for 20 percent equity. Not many phone-related products have landed deals on Shark Tank — although Daymond John did invest in SoundBenders, a magnetic sound amplifier that clips on iPads, and Mark Cuban (with Robert Herjavec who’s not on this episode) invested $500k in PolarPro, the company known for snap-on filters for GoPros and drones.
Check out rapper Snoop Dogg at the AT&T panel event above touting Akeem as a “branding genius.” He even got Shark Tank shaved into the back of his head for his audition! See below.
Shark Tank airs Fridays at 8 pm on ABC.
