A local entrepreneur swam with the sharks on ABC’s hit show “Shark Tank” in hopes of securing investors to fund his product for man’s best friend. Dog lover Abe Geary, 35, is the founder of PetPaint, a Calabasas company that makes spray paint to dress up four-legged friends. Yes, spray paint. The product has its origins in Geary’s attempts to do something nice for his schnauzer, Billie Holiday, who would rip off her shirt every time Geary attempted to dress her. “She didn’t like it. She was conscious of it and didn’t want it on. So I thought to myself, ‘How can I create a costume for her that she isn’t aware that she is wearing?’” he said. The washable temporary color paint comes with stencils such as hearts and stars. The paint dries within 30 seconds and wears off within a few days. On the Nov. 8 “Shark Tank,” Geary sought $200,000 for 20 percent equity. It was not a pleasant experience. The sharks peppered him with questions about his sales approach, and wondered why he was not using more social media to boost online sales instead of focusing on brick-and-mortar sales. “Didn’t it cross your mind that retail could be the worst possible side of the business for you?” remarked Mark Cuban. Geary left the show having only received one offer from Barbara Corcoran, owner of a $5 billion real-estate business. She wanted a 60 percent stake. He turned it down. “I didn’t think it was a fair deal for me, especially this early in the game,” Geary said. Geary, who had a business that designed and built trade show exhibits, founded the venture in February with $240,000 of his own money and help from friends and family. The paint, manufactured in Germany, sells at petpaint.com for $9.99. Determined to take the sharks’ advice, Geary is now partnered with Bigcommerce.com, a website that helps businesses increase online sales. PetPaint now has nearly 16,000 fans on Facebook, and Instagram and Twitter numbers are improving. But the business may get its biggest boost yet in February, when sales start at PetSmart Inc. stores. The result could prove the sharks wrong. “We put all of our effort into the pet industry because they have to trust it and like it and have it on their shelves before any type of public awareness will do us any good,” Geary said. – Champaign Williams
Spiffing Up Pooch – With Spray Paint
