Squatty Potty - Shark Tank Update

Mother and son team Judy and Bobby Edwards appeared on Shark Tank Season 6 seeking $350,000 for 5% equity in Squatty Potty, valuing their innovative toilet footstool company at $7 million. The inspiration for Squatty Potty came from Bobby's research into natural bowel movements after Judy struggled with colon problems and hemorrhoid issues, discovering that the human body is naturally designed to squat rather than sit while eliminating waste, but modern toilets force people into an unnatural position that causes straining and related health problems.

The Squatty Potty was a specially designed footstool that elevates users' feet while sitting on the toilet, placing the body in a more natural squatting position that reduces strain and helps relieve constipation, hemorrhoids, and other colon-related issues. At the time of their Shark Tank appearance, Squatty Potty had achieved remarkable success with purely online sales, generating over $1 million in their first year, $2.2 million in their second year, $2.7 million in the first half of 2014, and projecting $7 million for the full year, all without any retail store presence or big-box distribution.

The product cost just $4.50 to manufacture while selling for $25, creating healthy profit margins, and they had already secured celebrity endorsements including Howard Stern, demonstrating strong market validation for their "bathroom solution" that changed the way people think about natural elimination.

Bobby Edwards opened the Squatty Potty pitch with a full anatomical presentation - diagrams, colon models, and a clinical explanation of the puborectalis muscle that had Robert Herjavec exclaiming "holy crap!" when the sales figures landed after the science lesson. The room was both amused and immediately attentive.

Kevin O'Leary offered $350,000 for 10% equity. Lori Greiner made a competing offer of the same amount for 10% and positioned her QVC platform as the key differentiator.

Mark Cuban expressed interest in participating alongside one of them. Then Bobby committed one of the classic Shark Tank negotiating errors: he tried to play the offers against each other in a way that came across as unfocused and indecisive, prompting Cuban to withdraw in frustration.

Barbara Corcoran followed, expressing that she had lost confidence in Bobby's negotiating instincts. Bobby regrouped and accepted Lori's original offer.

The post-Tank trajectory became one of the show's defining success narratives. The Shark Tank Effect sent Squatty Potty's website into near-collapse and drove immediate placement in Bed Bath & Beyond chains across the country, with floor-to-ceiling dedicated displays in a product category that had never had dedicated retail space before.

Lori's QVC relationship generated millions in direct sales. Then in 2015, Squatty Potty released a viral marketing video featuring Prince Doodie, a rainbow-defecating unicorn narrated in faux-medieval style, that became one of the most watched online advertisements in history with over 140 million views, transforming a functional health product into a pop culture phenomenon.

By 2019, Squatty Potty had accumulated $250 million in lifetime sales. In May 2021, Aterian, a tech-enabled consumer products company, acquired Squatty Potty for $31.1 million, retiring Lori's equity stake and bringing the company under professional consumer products management.

As of 2023, Squatty Potty has exceeded $260 million in lifetime sales and sits among the top ten revenue-generating companies in Shark Tank history. In February 2026, co-founder Bobby Edwards was federally indicted by the U.S.

Attorney's Office for the District of Utah on federal charges unrelated to the business operations; the company continues operating under Aterian's corporate umbrella, with Edwards having divested his ownership years prior to the legal proceedings.