The Season 5, Episode 25 of the Shark Tank series included four product pitches by entrepreneurial businesses. The first product pitch was by iLumi Solutions, who introduced their version of a smart light bulb. The LSD light bulbs are intelligent and tunable, working on wireless control through a downloadble mobile phone application, which is Bluetooth based. The device therefore allows not only for control of light bulbs, but specific lighting settings, all compatible with existing lighting fixtures. The product’s strength arguably lies in its direct linking of lighting products to the already ubiquitous presence of mobile apps, a technology which has a cutting edge in the current market.

The light bulbs therefore emphasize customer control according to latest technologies, an important feature that makes something mundane such as lighting fixtures up-to-date and fresh. Arguably, the key drawback to the presentation was the cost of the item: although it will last for twenty years, it will cost approximately fifty times more than a generic light bulb. The question of pricing was rightly emphasized by the “sharks” analyzing the proposal, who also stressed that this essentially is a lighting system as opposed to a light bulb. This was one of the weaknesses of the presentation: it did not clearly state the fact that this was a lighting system, thereby mitigating concerns with the cost. The pitch could have been further strengthened in two main regards therefore: emphasizing the lighting system aspect of the product, which in turn would justify the extreme cost of the product in comparison with light bulbs. The product’s competitive market is not other light bulbs, but other lightning systems: this should have been stressed in the presentation.

Zoobean is a book subscription platform with a highly specialized focus and search engine that adheres to the company’s vision. Arguably, the presentation underscores various minority dynamics of families, as shown by the presenters themselves, who are the mother and father in a mixed-race family. The presentation effectively communicates the highly personal nature of their sorting platform, looking to match the correct books with the correct families based on interests or the structure of the family themselves. At the same time, one of the faults of the presentation is that it is not highly specific in terms of book platforms: what would make someone choose the Zoobean product over more strong market presences? The presenters question this objection by emphasizing the highly personal nature of their book selection project and use of the platform. As one of the sharks noted, the customer target audience is difficult to acquire: the Zoobean presenters failed to successfully answer this question, as their current subscribers were too low. They should have emphasized the start up nature of this business and its special qualities.

The Intelli-stopper is a wine cork device that provides various smart features, such as evaluating quality of wine and how much wine is preserved, as well as preserving wine itself. The pitch was structured around showing the benefits of the product, as well as demonstrations of the product in action. Clearly, one of the problems with the product is that winemaking is a traditional business that emphasizes traditional methodologies. Electronic devices associated with wine will not be associated with the market. In this regard, the pitch was weak for not truly considering the nature of the wine market. The presentation could have accordingly better underscored the sense in which it contributes to the traditions of the wine market.

The final product in this episode was Fort Magic, a fort constructing toy. The presentation effectively demonstrated how multiple designs are possible, thereby helping facilitate the child’s imagination. Nevertheless, one of the weaknesses of the presentation is that the product’s logic seems flawed: forts built by children are improvised devices using random items, and the notion that a fort kit as opposed to random items somehow better serves the child’s imagination appears illogical. Accordingly, the kit perhaps should have been pitched in the style of something such as Lego, where basic building blocks are used to foster the imagination.