- 7 weeks ago
In Episode 8 of *Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch*, founders enter the elevator with nothing but their ideas and a dream — but only the sharpest can convince investors Kim Perell, Jon Bier and Dhani Jones.
You’ll see passionate pitches, ruthless feedback and the kind of raw boardroom energy that separates good entrepreneurs from great ones. From gourmet seasonings to future-thinking skincare, this episode is packed with insights on how to tell your story, frame your ask and win investor trust.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE:
0:00 - Intro
1:29 - Keith Lorren, founder of Spice King, which makes gourmet seasonings that are infused with aromatic essential oils, trace minerals and designed with ultimate precision
12:10 - Eli Zelmati and Noam Mark, founders of Gymati, a deodorant that combines zinc, a natural odor fighter, with postbiotics that balance your skin's microbiome, so you can sweat naturally and stay fresh all day
16:43 - Scott and Julia Morris, founders of Roshambo, which makes flexible, safe eyewear for babies, toddlers and the whole family
You’ll see passionate pitches, ruthless feedback and the kind of raw boardroom energy that separates good entrepreneurs from great ones. From gourmet seasonings to future-thinking skincare, this episode is packed with insights on how to tell your story, frame your ask and win investor trust.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS EPISODE:
0:00 - Intro
1:29 - Keith Lorren, founder of Spice King, which makes gourmet seasonings that are infused with aromatic essential oils, trace minerals and designed with ultimate precision
12:10 - Eli Zelmati and Noam Mark, founders of Gymati, a deodorant that combines zinc, a natural odor fighter, with postbiotics that balance your skin's microbiome, so you can sweat naturally and stay fresh all day
16:43 - Scott and Julia Morris, founders of Roshambo, which makes flexible, safe eyewear for babies, toddlers and the whole family
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00going up at the top floor three Titans of industry are searching for the next
00:12big idea that can rise above the rest what's happening I'm spiciest man in the
00:18world the one they crowned the spice king but in this building every second
00:22counts it looks good he's really nailed the pitch when the doors open who will
00:28be ready to reach the top you guys are conspiring against we're not this is
00:35entrepreneur elevator pitch presented by Amazon Business tonight in the boardroom
00:44Kim Perel CEO of 100.co John beer founder of Jack Taylor PR and serial
00:53entrepreneur Dhani Jones a former NFL player and serial entrepreneur okay guys
00:59John are you ready new day I'm excited let's do it maybe I'll get it to you how
01:03about that no I think it's your time you know the only person I feel like I'm
01:07getting supported by I believe in you I believe you're taking your time I'd be
01:12believe you're being meticulous and it's coming
01:16our first entrepreneur is hoping to spice up the boardroom with his royal line of seasonings
01:26I go by the name of Spice King now I know y'all came to see me but what y'all really want to see is
01:38how I do my damn spicy spicy spicy baby I'm Spice King is a movement it's a flavor it's a vibe
01:46it's all about having fun and eating real good and looking good while you're doing it
01:50hey I want to make my impact on the world so I decided to work with products so we
01:56can distribute them on a global scale and make everybody's lives spicy
01:59hello Keith welcome to the elevator going up your pitch begins in three two one
02:14what's happening I'm spiciest man in the world the Duke of Delicious the one they
02:19crowned the Spice King are you tired of having to mix and match a thousand different spices just
02:23to make something taste mediocre but what about your potato chips over salted and full of pesticides
02:28guess what Spice King is gonna get you right with a brand new flavor revolution introducing the world's
02:33best tasting spices these have essential oils and trace minerals with them and they're so potent
02:38they can make hot water taste like a meal full HD flavor precision and our plantain chips built like a
02:44whole meal in a bag I'm talking about flavors like Jamaican oxtail and garlic truffle butter
02:48no pesticides no seed oils since we've launched last November we've generated over $90,000 just with
02:54the spices alone and now Walmart and Cobra wants to put us in over 5,000 stores so we're seeking $500,000 in
03:00exchange for 15% equity and together we're gonna build out distribution our marketing and sales invest
03:06with Spice King and let's get extra spicy baby
03:08wow he's really nailed the pitch
03:20no he did come on I got all the information and I like the King outfit
03:27wait so honey you weren't into the pitch
03:29I don't know he's got $90,000 worth of sales I mean he's got to have a pretty strong and aggressive
03:36growth strategy in order for it to be compelling for me but he had some big retailers asking to
03:42bring him into 5,000 stores I don't know if it's gonna be on consignment or if he's gonna actually get
03:48paid for this I mean every time I go to a farmer's market and there's a Spice King there I always buy it
03:54I'm a sucker for something new and interesting and those flavors were pretty good and those retailers
03:59are impressive I just have to process it clearly you all have one-year deals and I'm way behind
04:04so I would just take my time my process is voting are you ready let's vote
04:19attention Keith your pitch has been
04:29approved
04:34I love to see passion in an entrepreneur and he brought it and I liked his pitch so I'm interested in learning more
04:40I want to try the spices but I'm not convinced not at all nope I voted yes on the theatrics alone
04:48I probably would have voted him up but that's not why he had information he had delicious flavors
05:04he has a bunch of retailers he had $90,000
05:07Okay guys let's bring him in and ask the questions
05:09500,000 for 15% are you ready to bring him in yes
05:15okay
05:15I got my name
05:20it's a real honor to be here to get a chance to make people's lives taste better thank you all for giving us a chance really well I was very impressed
05:26with your pitch and that was even better 5000 doors that's a big number
05:31it is are you sure you can support that yes we have a whole team behind us
05:36of marketing professionals accountants logistics they're all ready for this opportunity
05:42it's a real honor to be here to get a chance to make people's lives taste better thank you all for
05:48giving us a chance really well I was very impressed with your pitch and that was even better 5000
05:53doors that's a big number it is are you sure you can support that yes we have a whole team behind us of
06:00marketing professionals accountants logistics they're all ready for this opportunity but are
06:07you wearing this oh we always extra spicy baby you know we dripped out it comes with the territory
06:12so why spices how'd you get into this spices are the foundation for the cuisines of the world you can
06:19decipher Mexican cuisine from Italian from African from Jamaican through the spices these aren't just
06:25your regular okey-doke spices these are made like a fine fragrance with essential oils top notes
06:30middle notes ending notes I need to try it let's try it okay sure I've never had an oxtail chip I call
06:37you spice king that's why you keep you know who gave me the title spice who did one of the shakes in
06:41Abu Dhabi he said you are the shake of spice that's why I'm taking that shake of spice I'm the spice king
06:45now that's right so we got Jamaican jerk ranch this is lemon pepper spicy lemon pepper parmesan garlic
06:51truffle butter Jamaican curry chicken okay and this one is the oxtail all right you haven't tried
06:57oxtail this one what's this one not viral online it's the number one search food here we go guys
07:10this is a meal it's 280 calories so am I full after I eat this you're satiated and you're getting
07:19micronutrients from the plant I really like the oxtail I gotta tell you it's delicious what else do
07:24do we got chips we got spices what else we're focused on this plantain chips and the spices
07:30but for $90,000 what have you sold the most of is it the spices or is it that so we have only done
07:36spices thus far but I had an idea from pitching my spices to Sandals Beach resorts and I put my
07:43ceviche on a lemon pepper plantain chip they wanted these chips in all of their resorts they said can we
07:49package it them with your help we can accelerate our distribution our manufacturing and our marketing what's
07:54a category that we would compare your product to spices and snacks we're known for flavor you're
08:01known for you're known for flavor for flavor what is what is he what is he known for this is our spice
08:05concierge ice concierge yes so you're saying if I go to a restaurant then all of a sudden wherever who
08:10doesn't have any good spice he shows up wherever spice king is we show up listen from a retailer
08:17perspective which was very impressive and why I wanted to learn more 5,000 doors yes are they buying the
08:24spices or the chips both but it's two different buyers yes so Walmart went on a nationwide search
08:31for all of the best products I competed against thousands of other entrepreneurs and they liked
08:36the product so much they gave me a golden pass and said that we're gonna put you in these stores
08:40Tony has he changed your mind you know I'm learning I see the spices I see the chips is there anything
08:46else we can try so far you've only tried the planted chips let me show you the magic that a spice king
08:52seasoning can do all right let's see it oh wow these are just plain cuts of meat okay we have shrimp a
09:03chicken wing a grilled steak seasoning we have some mashed potatoes the shrimp was cooked with our citrus
09:09herb butter seafood seasoning the collard greens were made with our collard green seasoning the fried
09:14chicken was made with our buttery fried chicken seasoning and the mashed potatoes were made with
09:18our garlic butter all-purpose seasoning so mashed potatoes yeah they're excellent spice king is gonna
09:26get you right spice king is gonna get you right how much of the sales already are online so we've only
09:32sold spices online and so far we've generated $90,000 and what's the repeat rate a 75% return rate
09:38wow it feels like your products are incredible the flavors are especially incredible it's not an
09:45investment for me those are you know having factories having distribution having people
09:50to me right now it's just five fingers I'm gonna pass guys wow I really like when an entrepreneur is
10:00solely focused this early on on one thing and knowing the industry of CBG very well trying to do
10:08spices and chips at the same time I feel like I would want you to just focus on one of those and just go
10:15in I get that they overlap but for me at this early I'd like to see that focus so unfortunately I'm gonna pass
10:22you know when you came up in the elevator I wasn't necessarily sure
10:29and when you came out I wasn't still that sure and then all of a sudden I tried the product and I
10:36thought it was great I think it was fantastic much like him I think oftentimes companies can have too
10:42many skews and have too many choices and burn through cash too quickly the fact that you believe in yourself
10:48so much that you burnt your last penny in order to invest in this business for that I admire you
10:53but where you currently stand in the business it's not just for me so I'm gonna pass thank you for your
11:00consideration keep it spicy baby let's go spicy good luck I feel great even though the judges didn't see
11:08what we were selling I still have distribution and we're still in demand they're gonna regret not
11:12invest in me because once we hit that billion dollar mark they're gonna wish they had you didn't want
11:17to vote the guy up and I feel like you were you were teetering you were you were close on that one
11:21I really think that he is trying with too many different skews and he's gonna get kind of lost in this
11:28wide ocean and he just really needs to lean in on one flavor like lemon pepper something that people
11:34know so that they can know the product and they can know him yeah I like to nail it and then scale it
11:39that's what he needs to do entrepreneur elevator pitch is presented by Amazon business for every
11:53organization at every stage of growth our next entrepreneurs have a fresh take on inclusive personal
12:04care my name is Elis Elmati I'm the founder and CEO of Jimati my name is Noam I'm the co-founder and the
12:14CEO of Jimati Jimati it's a luxurious deodorant with the plant-based ingredient that keep you smelling good
12:19when you sweat so me as an athlete I participate in many type of sports it's an opportunity to be the
12:24best version of myself and to smell really good but one workout it wasn't the case I noticed that my
12:28fragrance smells really bad with sweat and I was like what if I can have my expensive fragrance in a
12:34whole body the deodorant one that can hold up no matter how bad I sweat be healthy and I can use
12:39it for any occasion either I go to the gym or I go out hello Eli and Noam welcome to the elevator
12:48going up your pitch begins in three two one hello we are here to disrupt a 30 billion global deodorant
12:59market starting with a fast-growing 3 billion natural segment there's someone to trade a heart and sweat a
13:04lot I've tried counter to natural deodorant but it always fade away the moment you sweat and smells
13:09like cucumber and coconut which was never my style I'm Eli founder and CEO of Jimati after testing with
13:15over 700 athletes we created the first plant-based deodorant spray built for sweat we use in complex to
13:21fight value door and pair it with luxury fragrances that last all day and my name is Noam co-founder of
13:27Jimati and COO in the past 12 months we generated over $300,000 in sales and half of it just in the
13:34last four months we are located in 150 stores of anthropology and urban outfitters 90% of our
13:41business is direct-to-consumer and 10% b2b we are here seeking $500,000 investment on a five million post
13:48money valuation safe note with 20% discount in order to achieve two million dollars in sales in the next 12 months
13:53months thank you so much it's a good pitch it was a great pitch you know I was thinking about it I
14:00can kind of like read between the lines that their business is doing quite well and they're in a lot of
14:07different stores they just need a little bit more cash in order to kind of propel them to the next level
14:12the market's also very powerful there like it is a very fast-growing category it's also a busy category
14:20yeah I invested actually in a great coconut deodorant how they do killing it but I invested
14:2710 years ago so it's definitely gotten crowded can I just say that I don't normally wear deodorant
14:33you don't wear deodorant what do you wear I like to go au naturel wow but what are you wearing
14:37the entire time wait are you wearing deodorant right now it's me I put a little on today because I knew
14:43I'd be sitting next to you see right you didn't even notice but was it natural deodorant it wasn't
14:49I mean I've worn my wife's on occasion and it does the job yeah what do you guys want to vote I think we should vote
14:55attention Eli and Noah your pitch has been denied
15:17I feel a little surprised but it's okay it's another no we're gonna keep going like we did
15:25until now I mean there is a little disappointed uh obviously but we know how to move it from here
15:30and we know how to do it by ourselves you know same like we did until now and we sure we're gonna
15:35explode with that Dhani I don't want to talk to you guys you guys know you give me a chance
15:38it wasn't that for me what are you talking about this is deodorant everybody uses deodorant
15:42I love I actually love the idea but I'm not gonna invest he's talking about in two competing
15:49companies it's a it's against my investment thesis why would I do that you can build a whole portfolio
15:54of deodorant like businesses I mean John's over there sitting without deodorant let's be honest
15:58this is the type of thing that he might mean I'm sitting here without a deal it looks good
16:02yeah it's beautiful look it doesn't look special to me he is a branding genius it looks what about me
16:08I've done some brands too I'm a brand doesn't look special in a really busy category where there
16:13are a lot of special products you guys are conspiring against me we're not there'll be
16:18another deal Dhani I guarantee it and you I guarantee it that's what you're gonna do
16:23I guarantee there's gonna be another deal for you just not this one
16:27next up in the elevator a pair of entrepreneurs with an unbreakable vision
16:36I'm Julia I'm Scott and we are the co-founders of Rochambeau eyewear Rochambeau is the other name for
16:46the game rock paper scissors it just had that nostalgic kid feel for me and we ran with it
16:51our girls are definitely the inspiration for why we do this our oldest daughter can't believe how big
16:56she's gotten she's been through this whole journey with us from being an inspiration as a baby model
17:01and now she's inspiration as the pre-teen model
17:04hello Scott and Julia welcome to the elevator going up your pitch begins in three two one
17:19we are Julia and Scott Morris husband and wife co-founders of Rochambeau eyewear learning your
17:25child needs glasses can be a confusing and expensive experience we ease the stress of navigating
17:30and prescription glasses for all families but particularly special needs and neurodiverse
17:34kids where durability and affordability is everything we make eyewear for all it started
17:39with wanting stylish polarized sunglasses for our own baby that were not made in China covered in
17:44harmful paint and easily breakable so we went to Italy to create our custom flex light frame material
17:50we love our sunglasses but recently we found our calling with direct-to-consumer prescription glasses think
17:56Warby Parker for kids with a twist this year we're projecting a profitable three million in revenue
18:02we've got over 15 million in historical sales and 4.9 overall star rating across thousands of reviews
18:08our ask is 300,000 for 10 percent who's ready to help our small eyewear brand make a big impact
18:15oh my gosh she used to work for me like probably 15 years ago wow wow i love when people that work for me become entrepreneurs right so she not only read your book she lived the lifestyle wow what an amazing success story they're doing so well i know sunglass industry is especially for kids so difficult because kids are just breaking stuff throwing stuff and
18:45tearing things apart and to have that social component to it as well is
18:48absolutely fantastic and 15 million dollars so far right I profit I love
18:53when someone says profit no one ever says it anymore it seems like we all
18:58have an idea in our head we got to just vote on it let's vote
19:03attention Scott and Julia your pitch has been
19:17approved yes welcome in
19:29Julia and Scott welcome just give us some background of how this partnership came
19:46together and then obviously you know the business that you're building currently
19:50well really the inspiration for it was when we had our oldest daughter and we
19:54were living by the beach in San Diego and looking for stylish sunglasses she should
19:59have you know be protected out in the Sun just like the adults we couldn't find
20:03anything that wasn't made out of the hard plastic and covered in paint so we
20:07started doing some research and we landed on a manufacturer in Italy who was
20:12producing eyewear but previously had produced children's toys so they knew
20:17exactly what we're after in terms of a material that would be safe non-toxic we
20:21had a feeling these would end up in kids mouths so that was the direction of the
20:25company for the first couple years and then based on customer feedback more
20:29recently we branched into prescription glasses how do you do the prescription
20:33yeah we have our own optical lab in our facility so we like she said
20:39originally it was hey we love these frames can we put prescription lenses in
20:42them and we'd say sure take them to your own optician optometrist and then we got
20:47wise like why can't we do that ourselves and sure enough could I try up here on
20:51absolutely absolutely well we started first originally just with the baby size
20:56and then we had to branch into the adult sizes so Scott can match our
21:00daughters all right so these are the baby this the baby size these are adult
21:05size yes we started the business as just sunglasses and then we pivoted I know
21:10Kim you like a good pivot we've pivoted to the prescription glasses and it's just
21:14grown from there literally the business has grown baby size all the way to the
21:19large size and I like that color on you I don't know if I can get my
21:23prescription in these glasses they can really accommodate quite a thick lens I
21:27can't see you right now you'd be surprised we've done I know we've done plus minus 12 I would say well yeah
21:35oh you'd be amazed the market for kids classes we were shocked honestly how
21:40big is the market for kids classes the dressable market got five billion in
21:43direct to consumer prescription glasses for kids and growing as parents are
21:47getting more comfortable with the idea of ordering their glasses online we have
21:51eighty percent of our revenue comes right through our website so you're a
21:54profitable business already why seek investment like why not just get a loan if
21:59you needed cash for something yeah it's a great question we funded the
22:02business with SBA loans we've done the whole thing ourselves to this point SBA
22:06seven a loan that's it yeah it's a great idea a lot of people don't even know
22:09about that no doubt about it it should honestly I think should be the first stop
22:12for any young entrepreneur generally not much of revenue sort of needed it's you
22:18know personal guarantee kind of thing so if you've got decent credit you can
22:21generally speaking get get a loan and they're generally better rates than market
22:26rates and I would say this with the personal guarantee that's probably the
22:30hardest hurdle that so many people have to cross but you have to bet on
22:34yourself and that's exactly what you guys did you bet on yourself got this
22:38loan and now they're not a profitable position I appreciate that yeah so we're
22:42really proud to answer your question John sure we could go get a loan
22:46probably frankly we kind of know what we don't know we were not e-commerce
22:52people we're we're learning on the fly so you really don't need the money you
22:55need the mentorship you know we need money it's just a matter of we need a full
22:59website refresh to support better support our prescription journey for
23:04our customer journey we need to inflate our marketing budget and with that we
23:09need inventory to support that so that is where we come with came with about 300 if
23:13you think about it most of our cost of goods sold on prescription glasses comes
23:18after the purchase has been made that's the expensive parts the lens we order those
23:22they come courier to us next day we have the equipment we cut it there in-house we
23:25don't pay for that until we've received the order I mean this is amazing guys you
23:28understand probably when did you start this company probably a decade ago maybe
23:32more as soon as she walked out of the door saying I'm gonna go and do something
23:38else from you Kim she just decided to start no I remember it was an idea and I
23:42was like this great idea it's kids glasses but I didn't even have kids back
23:45then I know I know right yeah yeah yeah John I was wondering yeah what do you
23:49think about the name so Rochambeau do you know what it is no I don't know I
23:55before I weigh in I know I know what Rochambeau is what is it as it relates to
24:00eyewear we grew up both of us in California so we knew it as the other
24:03name for the game rock paper scissors coincidentally I had a cousin who worked
24:09in special education and she said it was a game that she would play with her
24:12students on the spectrum it's kind of like a quiet game they can play in the
24:15classroom and even when we found this company we knew that we wanted to have a
24:18charitable give-back portion of the business and so we love that kind of tie and
24:23it's like the game the children's game and then the charitable give-back that
24:28we do I can tell you we get daily now these incredible heartfelt notes and
24:32honestly if you indulge me I have one I sort of picked out yeah let's hear it
24:36okay so this summer we found out our 18 month old had to start wearing glasses my
24:40emotional acceptance of her diagnosis was hard after hours of research and
24:43trying on the brands we found Rochambeau and they truly changed our
24:46lives finding a pair of glasses that feel like my daughter where I still see her
24:50first and the glasses second has taken away all the fears and anxiety around her
24:53future with glasses so thank you for making a difference for me my daughter
24:56and for everyone else's lives you've impacted it will be forever grateful
24:59we get one of those I'm not kidding you John almost every day is there any issue
25:05that you think that if people think it's a product for people with special
25:10needs that people without special needs won't buy it honestly I don't we have
25:14styles shape sizes for everyone that's why our tagline is eyewear for all and they
25:19really really don't break they really don't break I mean come on to honey I'm
25:25trying don't try these with your you just like step on I don't try it with your
25:30how does the lens don't break so our sunglasses are especially made lens for
25:36us if you notice actually that when you bend and play with the material they
25:39don't pop out it's a special material that's got also to it you have a patent
25:43around that as well because I can only imagine like most glasses when you bend them
25:47like this it's yeah we don't have a patent on the material it was a custom
25:52bled material that we worked with our Italian manufacturer produce we call it
25:56flex light and are you in any retail yes we are 85% of our sales are done
26:00through our own website but we do have individual practices reaching out and
26:05saying I'd love to carry 10 to 20 of these frames maybe I have the numbers
26:08wrong which happens you're doing eight figures through your own website yeah I'm
26:17impressed because when you started this more than a decade ago it was a
26:21lifestyle brand and it wasn't going to be churning out a lot of cash and there
26:25was I couldn't see where it was going but actually pun intended pun intended my
26:30friend but it's interesting now that you have pivoted and 99% of great
26:35entrepreneurs pivot their businesses and you found that that's where the big
26:39opportunity lies which is amazing and leaned into it I think that's really
26:43exciting so I'd like to make an offer of 150k at your valuation to help support
26:50your growth thank you really appreciate it appreciate it and I like looking at
26:56your company pun intended but I also look at the business and see a bit of
27:04competition within the market I understand that they're indestructible but I
27:08also think about the choices that so many people have when it comes to their
27:12child and glasses wear so it's a little bit more of a crowded marketplace for me
27:18so I'm gonna unfortunately have to pass appreciate that so I really believe in
27:23this I really like it you're already successful which is somewhat rare for us
27:28to have people coming in here already profitable you have a great vision but I
27:32actually don't think that I'm the right person to help you get to the next
27:37level and I like to get my hands a little bit dirty and some of these
27:40things so for that reason I'm gonna pass
27:42so Kim is a center of your attention right clear in your eyesight what do you
27:50guys say is it a deal I don't want to speak for Julia and you guys are great
27:55but we had our sights set on Kim
28:00that's a deal
28:01it's a deal
28:02a while away
28:04oh thank you
28:05welcome home
28:06thank you
28:07oh I'm so proud of you guys I'm so excited
28:09thank you so much
28:10oh let's see oh I had a matching pair
28:12oh my god Kim see you soon we are looking forward to working with you we won't let you down
28:20this is why we do what we do to see people that we touch along the way I love it I'm so
28:26proud of her right a lot of husband and wife duos that we're seeing here it's an
28:32interesting thing I mean it's amazing right here in the boardroom we're
28:34stitching the family together we're stitching these businesses together by
28:39the way that SBA 7a loan a lot of people don't understand it's one of the
28:43greatest products that the government has in order to allow an entrepreneur to
28:47really reach their potential I think that was phenomenal and I'm I just I was
28:50excited just to see that I'm impressed and I'm so excited to be involved now
28:54huh take it to the next level congratulations it was another
29:02competitive round in the boardroom tonight as Scott and Julia from
29:06Rochambeau secured a high-flying deal with Kim while Keith from Spice King and
29:12Eli and Noam from Jamadi were sent home empty-handed in the high-stakes world of
29:20business to ascend to the top you must rise to the challenge to apply for the
29:26next season go to entrepreneur.com slash elevator pitch
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