Did you know that Paul (@ppedrazzi) and his lovely wife and children were on Shark Tank?
If you hurry, you can watch their episode on Hulu. If you decide to wait, they appear in Season 5 Episode 10. Paul and family are the very first segment, so you won’t have to watch the entire episode, although I did because I’ve never seen Shark Tank. It’s an interesting show.
The premise is simple; companies seeking investment pitch a panel of investors, who, if they’re interested, commit a sum of money in exchange for a stake in the business.
Now for the background. Paul founded this little team back in 2007, along with Rich (@rmanalan) and me. Many of you may know Paul, but you might not know that he and his wife started a little lunchbox business called Yubo in their spare time. I think that was in 2009.
Using their savings, they set out to solve a common problem for families, the lunchbox and the jumble of containers and baggies that go into it. Yubo comes with BPA-free, dishwasher-safe containers that fit snugly inside, along with a reusable cold pack.
Plus, the Yubo’s faceplate is customizable and replaceable. It’s an ingenious product. I bought one for my daughter; she loves it; I’ve known Paul for years, etc. Consider that your disclaimer.
I remember the inception days of Yubo. Paul told me about working with an industrial designer and taking late calls with manufacturers overseas, all in his free time. It all seemed very draining, but like every small business, they soldiered through it because they believed in the idea.
Anyway, it was oddly gratifying for me to see Paul and family on national TV, successfully pitching this panel of luminaries. I can only imagine how elated they felt when they struck a deal.
If you’re wondering, Paul recently left Oracle, again; this time for a small company called Achievers.
Good luck dude. Without you, we wouldn’t be doing cool stuff here.
