Good hygiene is attractive to the opposite sex. That’s why men today are more focused on personal hygiene. Father-son duo Steve and Josh King are promoting this concept with their startup Manscaped. They landed a deal with Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner on Shark Tank. Today, Manscaped is valued at $750 million.
Founder
Although Steve and Josh King pitched the company on Shark Tank, Paul Chen is the co-founder. He is a Vietnamese entrepreneur living in Las Vegas. Chen attended USC and studied in the business and engineering schools.
He had a difficult childhood growing up as an immigrant who spoke no English, but even so he managed to advance his creative side and venture into multiple industries.
One of his most successful ventures is the innovation lab IDK, through which he partnered with Pipeline Funding’s managing partner Steve King and his son Joshua.
Building Manscaped
In the past decade, personal care products have been dominated by soaps and facial cleansers. The market also tends to target female consumers, and male products are often neglected.
Paul Tran saw a gap in the market and wanted to start a company that sold high-quality male grooming products. He stumbled upon the word “manscaping” and used it as the basis for his brand, which officially launched in 2016.
Chen started selling sanitation kits, which included products such as lawn mowers, crop protectants, and crop repairs. Paul was later joined by Steve and Josh King, who helped Manscaped sell 3,000 products in its first year and generate annual revenue of approximately $1.5 million.
Shark Tank Appearance
In 2018, Paul sent Steve and Josh to represent Manscaped on Shark Tank Season 10. They offered $500,000 for 7% of the company. They launched their own package that included eight different products.
NBA veteran Charles Barkley was a guest investor. This was a great opportunity to promote the product to the sports world, but Barkley was the first to reject the offer.
Billionaire Mark Cuban showed some interest and asked to join forces with Lori Greiner. Together they offered $500,000 for a 25% stake. After several discussions, the entrepreneurs accepted Lori and Mark’s offer.
After Shark Tank
According to Bloomberg, the contracts with Mark and Laurie were not completed after the show ended. Despite the setback, the exposure brought by the show has greatly increased their sales.
Manscaped has partnered with different sports to promote its brand, including the UFC and the Los Angeles Kings NHL team. In 2019, the startup received $500,000 in investment from Longley Capital, Gaingels, and Wharton Alumni Angels.
In 2021, Manscaped announced that it would go public through a SPAC deal with Bright Lights Acquisition, with the combined entity valued at up to $1.4 billion. On August 18, 2022, the two companies jointly canceled their IPOs, citing market weakness.
The business is not yet profitable, and according to Yahoo Finance, they had revenue of $297 million in 2021, but a net loss of $315 million. In 2023, Manscaped expects revenue to exceed $500 million. Currently, Manscaped is valued at $750 million.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: dut.edu.vn
