Shark Tank Ideas That Never Should’ve Been Funded

Sweet Ballz 

Cake pops are delicious and quite trendy right now. A company called Sweet Ballz wanted to enter the cake pop business and make a fortune. They pitched their tasty cake pops without the sticks on Shark Tank, hoping to make a deal. While cake pops are delicious, they seem like a trend that could likely fizzle out at any time, much like the cronut or cupcake tower wedding cake. It’s risky to do an entire business around a sweet treat that doesn’t necessarily have the longevity of, say, the donut or fruit pies. The name is also slightly unfortunate and harkens back to SNL’s Schweddy Balls.

The duo who started Sweet Ballz received a $250,000 investment from Sharks Marc Cuban and Barbara Corcoran for a 25% equity stake. In a dramatic turn of events, one of the founders sued the other for breach of contract. He even redirected the Sweet Ballz website to a new site where he sold cake pops. It’s no surprise this company did not flourish thanks to the internal instability. A business cannot thrive if there is financial and managerial strife between the co-owners. Amazingly, they made it to Shark Tank with those kinds of underlying issues.