You Kick Ass - Shark Tank Update

Entrepreneurs Keri Andrews and Alesia Glidewell appeared on Shark Tank Season 6 seeking $100,000 for 10% equity in You Kick Ass, valuing their personalized action figure company at $1 million. The inspiration for You Kick Ass came from the unique partnership between Alesia Glidewell, an actress and voice talent who learned the action figure and animation business while serving as the voice and body model for the Portal and Portal 2 video games, and Keri Andrews, a former Microsoft program manager, who combined their entertainment and technology expertise to create custom superhero action figures.

You Kick Ass revolutionized the action figure industry by developing innovative 3D printing technology that could create personalized superhero heads from a single photograph, then attach them to pre-fabricated generic superhero bodies, offering customers the ability to transform themselves or loved ones into custom action figures for $60 each with a 4-6 week delivery time. The business addressed the growing demand for personalized gifts and promotional items by making custom action figures accessible and affordable, targeting consumers who wanted unique memorabilia and companies seeking distinctive promotional products, while leveraging advanced 3D printing technology that was still emerging and expensive at the time.

At the time of their Shark Tank appearance, the entrepreneurs had successfully completed a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $45,000 on a $15,000 goal in summer 2014, though they faced some initial challenges fulfilling orders to backers before getting on track with production and shipping, demonstrating both market validation and the operational challenges of scaling 3D printing manufacturing. The business model focused on direct-to-consumer sales through their website, with production costs of $15 per unit and retail prices of $60, while requiring significant investment in 3D printing equipment ($45,000 for new printers, though they purchased used ones for $20,000 each) and facing production limitations of approximately 100 heads per day per printer, making scalability and efficiency key challenges for growth.

During their Shark Tank presentation, Keri Andrews and Alesia Glidewell created custom superhero action figures of each shark and demonstrated their 3D printing technology and software that could transform a single photograph into a personalized action figure head, impressing most sharks with the novelty and quality of their products while facing some criticism about facial likeness accuracy from Barbara Corcoran. The presentation generated competitive offers, with Barbara dropping out due to concerns about product quality, Robert Herjavec offering $100,000 for 25% equity, Kevin O'Leary proposing a complex royalty deal with $100,000 plus $10 per unit royalty until recouping $500,000 then dropping to $2.50 in perpetuity plus 5% equity, and Mark Cuban offering exactly what they requested at $100,000 for 10% equity, which they immediately accepted, recognizing Mark's technology expertise and strategic value.

Following their Shark Tank appearance, You Kick Ass faced significant disappointment and challenges when the deal with Mark Cuban never closed, leaving them without the shark investment and expertise they had counted on to scale their innovative 3D printing business in the competitive personalized products market. The company struggled with the fundamental challenges that had made the investment risky, including the technical limitations of creating accurate facial likenesses from single photographs, the disconnect between the 3D printed heads and pre-fabricated bodies in terms of color matching and overall quality, and the substantial capital requirements needed to scale 3D printing operations while maintaining quality and reasonable delivery times.

Despite the entrepreneurs' innovative vision and successful crowdfunding validation, You Kick Ass ultimately went out of business approximately one year after their Shark Tank appearance, with the technology Mark had been interested in already existing elsewhere and the domain eventually being acquired by a different company that offered similar services at much higher price points ($375-$465 compared to You Kick Ass's $60), though the company later rebranded to HeroBuilders and is currently in business, demonstrating that even promising technology-based businesses require not just innovation but also sufficient resources, operational excellence, and market timing to succeed in competitive industries where established players can quickly adopt new technologies.