![]() Although some business owners cover various startup expenses out of their own pockets, not all entrepeneurs can afford to do that.Īnd even when they can, ponying up personal savings to fund a startup is unsustainable. "From the exposure side, we knocked it out of the park," Sakezles says.How the 'Shark Tank' Approach Is Better Than Borrowing for Your BusinessĬreating and establishing a business can be costly. But he admits publicity for the company was also a major motivation. He specifically wanted Herjavec or Mark Cuban, another shark who specializes in technology. Sakezles, who notes Shark Tank's producers deftly edited his more than 2 hours with the investors panel into just a 10-minute segment, says he went on the show truly looking to land an investment partner. SynDaver's products have popped up in many TV shows, including Grey's Anatomy and MythBusters. There definitely is a market," Sakezles says.Īnd although he may not personally be a great salesman, his company's artificial cadavers-the flagship model costs about $40,000-have been a boon for publicity. Medical device companies, medical schools interested in surgical training, and companies doing ballistic tests are just some of SynDaver's customers. The company now markets some 100 artificial body parts made from materials that mimic the mechanical, thermal, and physicochemical properties of live tissue and can replace the use of animals or human cadavers. He started developing tissue analogs first, only later moving onto organs and then whole bodies. I'm the tech guy." But Sakezles was able to scramble together money from friends, family, and his own bank account to push ahead with the company. Sakezles did eventually write a business plan for a synthetic tissues company that he pitched to potential investors. I never thought of it as a standalone business." He found they were interested in his experience building realistic models of tissues and organs. in 1998, Sakezles eventually began consulting for medical device firms. ![]() I had to essentially build my own model." So he and colleagues crafted a trachea from multiple polymers, realistically simulating cartilage rings, muscles, and a mucosal layer.Īfter getting his Ph.D. I took one look and threw it in the circular file. Sakezles recalls it as being little more than a plastic tube. The team couldn't afford to test it on animals, so they bought an artificial trachea from an outside company. The company's history traces back to the 1990s, when Sakezles, a graduate student at University of Florida, set out to evaluate a new endotracheal tube his lab had designed. Sakezles predicts SynDaver will expand from its current 100 employees to 500 within 3 years. SynDaver is on track to make $10 million this year, he says, adding that the company has lined up investors who place an even higher valuation on the company than Herjavec did. (Herjavec doesn't comment on deals that aren't completed, one of his publicists says.)ĭon't feel sorry for Sakezles, however. "They wanted to replace me as CEO and this is not something I will allow at this point," Sakezles says. One sticking point was obvious on the show, as the investors challenged Sakezles's plan to invest SynDaver's immediate profits back into the company for further product development. After Sakezles and Herjavec traded further information and initial terms, the partnership fell apart. With a life-size synthetic cadaver as a prop, Sakezles persuaded technology entrepreneur Robert Herjavec to pay $3 million for a 25% stake in SynDaver Labs, a firm that Sakezles founded a decade ago to create realistic artificial tissues, organs, and whole bodies for surgical training and other purposes.īut as fans of Shark Tank know well, not every deal struck on the show lasts once the cameras turn off. Despite a perspiration-drenched presentation on 8 May in front of the show's five celebrity investors-he ignored his wife's suggestion to spray his face with antiperspirant-the polymer scientist landed the biggest deal in Shark Tank's history. Last month, millions of people watching ABC's prime-time television show Shark Tank learned what Christopher Sakezles says his wife already knew-that he can sweat a lot when nervous. ![]() This story is a bonus online element for the package on science entrepreneurship that appears in the 12 June issue of Science.
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