While the goal is important, the journey is too. We got great feedback from our team, our friends, family, business colleagues and the Sharks about our business and about our product development and marketing. Some of the best comments, suggestions, and advice, came from the most unlikely sources. It’s important to be open minded and listen to it all.
As a part of our series about the ‘5 Important Business Lessons I Learned While Being On Shark Tank’ I had the pleasure of interviewing Ron Scharman.
Ron Scharman is the Co-Founder and CEO of FlyWithWine, the exclusive marketer and distributor of the VinGardeValise, the wine travel suitcase that safely and securely transports wine and personal effects while flying to or from wine country and other travel destinations. He calls his recent appearance on ABC Shark Tank the highlight of his career.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a bit of the backstory about how you grew up?
I was born and raised in New York by holocaust survivors as a first generation American. My father spoke 9 languages, and my mother 5. My brother and I bore the brunt of new immigrant fear and uncertainties, but we learned a lot in the process from my parents’ survival instincts, hard work and dedication to family and community, and the luck of being in the right place at the right time. This always stayed with me. And so I went far away to college while my friends stayed close to home. I went overseas for 4 years after college to work (Peace Corps in Philippines and Ag Business in Japan) and see and learn about the world, but more importantly about myself. This made it much easier for me to take calculated risks in life, most of which have made my life more meaningful.
Can you share with us the story of the “aha moment” that gave you the idea to start your company?
I travelled with my wife to Burgundy, France in 2015, visited several wineries, and had to ship home the wine I bought by Mailbox etc. I thought there had to be a better solution. I then searched and found an inventor in New Mexico who had created and patented the VinGardeValise wine travel suitcase but had no marketing expertise. I negotiated exclusivity to market his products to the wine industry. I then met with a co-founding partner to launch our new company in 2016. To my surprise, after searching GoDaddy for 3 hours trying to find the right name for our company, a light bulb went off and I was able to
secure FlyWithWine for our URL and company name. The name of the company says what the product does.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
Meeting casting directors from SharkTank at a trade show and being encouraged to apply for the intense application process to be on SharkTank Season 15.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When we started our company, our business strategy was not to create a wholesale business by selling to wineries and retailers. We had a direct-to-consumer vino-tourism model in mind where we would work through hotel concierges, tour operators, and limo drivers to build an affiliate referral network to drive traffic to our website and Napa showroom. We spent a year soliciting every hotel concierge and tour operator in the Napa/Sonoma valleys including creating individual FlyWithWine cards for each affiliate partner. Our offer was simple: earn $40 for every suitcase sold through a referral. For a large tour group, the referral fees would be substantial and meaningful for people in jobs where tips were an important part of earnings.
The net results after a year were shockingly dismal. Very few referrals came through and we couldn’t understand why the network affiliates we had created had no motivation to help market our products. In diving deeper into the problem, we were told that concierges and tour operators and drivers “are not salesmen” and feel uncomfortable with pushing other products.
So a major pivot in our business was required and we soon launched our wholesale business which now includes more than 500 winery tasting rooms and numerous national retail accounts including Macys, Neiman Marcus, Williams Sonoma, Dillard’s, Total Wine, and more.
Sometimes, your best ideas just don’t pan out. And rather than fight reality, strong and decisive pivots are necessary to survive and prosper.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
We originally launched our company in 2016 with its core line of VinGardeValise wine suitcases. This past holiday season we launched a line of personal carriers for wine, spirits, and stemware. They are not for checking in on an airplane but for other personal wine & spirits travel and gifting. We also launched the VinXplorer Wine and Beverage Backpack last year which are expanding into a bigger product line this year.
Ok, thank you for all that. Let’s now move to the main part of our interview. Many of us have no idea about the backend process of how to apply and get accepted to be on Shark Tank. Can you tell us the story of how you applied and got accepted? What “hoops” did you have to go through to get there? How did it feel to be accepted?
There is a lot of proprietary information that we are not permitted to disclose due the NDA we signed with the producers of Shark Tank and Sony Pictures. Here’s what I can say. We met show casting directors at a trade show who encouraged us to apply. The application process was extensive and grueling, but exciting, and involved written materials and video presentations that went on for several months. It was, in fact, quite a mental distraction from our business, but well worth it in the end because we got on the show for filming and it aired right before Christmas, which was perfect timing. Making it on the show is one of the highlights of my professional career, and a personal highlight as well.
I’m sure the actual presentation was pretty nerve-wracking. What did you do to calm and steel yourself to do such a great job on the show?
Because we held rigorous and ongoing regular practice sessions of our pitch and likely Q & A well in advance of the show, we knew we could handle the pressure because we were extremely well prepared. But a few diet Cokes, coffees and dark chocolate bars while waiting to go on the show got us pretty “steeled” up.
So what was the outcome of your Shark Tank pitch? Were you pleased with the outcome?
Very pleased. It felt like a lifetime achievement award for just making it on the show which was a grueling experience. We did not close a deal, but we got good advice, and it was like having a Super Bowl commercial promoting our products. We had a huge bump in website and Amazon sales following the broadcast.
What are your “5 Important Business Lessons I Learned While Being On The Shark Tank”?
Much of my learning took place after the show was filmed by digesting what just happened.
- Think about possible exit strategies early on in a business to make sure your corporate structure and business model are most attractive. This was the main reason we did not close a deal with the Sharks. They did not like the fact that our primary investor also exclusively controlled our manufacturing and could dictate pricing to us.
- Having ownership of intellectual property is very important if you can manage it. The fact that we only partially controlled the IP for some products made us less attractive to some investors.
- I really nailed my presentation with the Q & A on our financials and the economics of our business. This came out of massive preparation for the show. But much of what I did to prepare, I should have been doing regularly for ourselves.
- If you set your mind on something truly important, and work tirelessly for it, the satisfaction is immense when you achieve it. That is how I felt about the journey to get on Shark Tank in front of 5 million people.
- While the goal is important, the journey is too. We got great feedback from our team, our friends, family, business colleagues and the Sharks about our business and about our product development and marketing. Some of the best comments, suggestions, and advice, came from the most unlikely sources. It’s important to be open minded and listen to it all.
What advice would you give to other leaders to help their team to thrive and avoid burnout?
Always put life in perspective. Life is not just work. Make sure to have other outlets to explore life’s journey with family, friends, outside interests, travel, hobbies, commitments to the community, etc. And be a mentor to those who can learn from your experiences, both good and bad. Giving back does give perspective on who you are as a person. Also, always remember that things are never as great as they seem on your best day, or as bad as they may seem on your worst day — it’s somewhere in the middle. So just know that the “lows” will get better.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Early on in life I developed a philosophy of “planned randomness” — never stay in the same place or do the same thing day after day the same way. Expose yourself to new people, make new friends, go to new places, listen to different music, read alternative books, eat new foods, and expose yourself to new opportunities. That’s where good luck has a chance to come your way. I have passed this on to my children, who have followed in my footsteps.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Life is not dress rehearsal”
No matter how old you are, or how limited in resources you are, you can be a risk taker and find a way to start a business if you have a great idea, product, or service and are committed to it. Staying put and unhappy in your job as the years go by with all the excuses one can find, will never match the thrill and energy derived from building your own business. It’s only when you look back one day and see what you have created and accomplished that you can finally achieve true happiness and satisfaction.
That’s why I started FlyWithWine. I never wanted to work for anyone else ever again, except for my employees and my customers.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
Lex Fridman, podcaster and computer scientist. Born in Russia and emigrated to the U.S. early in life. He is a fascinating individual who interviews some of the most interesting public and private figures in the world. His questioning style is non-threatening and engaging, he is a great listener, and he brings out the most insightful sides of the people he interviews. I would love to pick his brain.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Ron Scharman of FlyWithWine: 5 Important Business Lessons I Learned While Being On Shark Tank was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.