Ryan Frayne concluded his pitch for Windcatcher by answering a variety of questions from the sharks, explaining that he wanted to establish his own business while also licensing the quick-inflation technology for other products sold outside of the Windcatcher brand. The sharks were heavily impressed by the demonstration, with Kevin O’Leary, in particular, saying it could disrupt the entire air mattress industry. The sharks quickly began a vicious bidding war to see who could acquire a piece of Windcatcher Technology.
After some initial offers didn’t meet Frayne’s standards, venture capitalist Mark Cuban was the first to match Frayne’s original ask of $200,000 for 8% equity in the company — additionally offering a $10 million credit backup for Windcatcher’s purchase orders. Not wanting Cuban to run away with the lead offer, shark Robert Herjavec offered the same deal plus the credit backup for just 6.5% equity. Kevin O’Leary then revised his initial offer, dropping all the way down to $200,000 for just 1% equity, but requiring a royalty of 6% until he profited $800,000 from their deal.
Lori Greiner eventually won Frayne over with an offer of $200,000 for 5% in the company, in addition to the $10 million credit backup Frayne was asking for. Greiner made this shocking offer after dropping guest shark Chris Sacca from the negotiations, further proving just how invested she was in this particular product.
