The Basics
- Company: Terra-Core Fitness
- Owner: Greg Nigro
- Product: Air-filled exercise training equipment
- Asking Price: $300,000 for 15% equity
- Final Deal: $300,000 for 22.5% equity
- Shark Who Took The Bait: Lori Greiner
- Season/Episode: Season 11, Episode 8
Terra-Core Before Shark Tank
Greg Nigro calls himself the “Sultan of “Sweat” because he’s spent more than 20 years in the fitness industry. For many years, he was a Gold’s Gym franchisee and acted as an equipment salesman, a trainer, and a consultant.
He’s coming to the Shark Tank to pitch his new fitness product to make workouts more effective. The TERRA-CORE is an air-filled device that can make traditional exercises and moves work harder for you.
Before appearing on Shark Tank, Greg initiated a Kickstarter campaign for his product that did very well, but he needs a shark to help him take his business to the next level.
Terra-Core On Shark Tank
Greg, accompanied by two fitness demonstrators, walked up to the stage, looking like he had just escaped from one of the Zoltar fortune-telling vending machines. After asking for $300,000 in exchange for 15% of his business, Greg held up a crystal ball that he said would show the future of fitness.
But he quickly took off his costume and said he didn’t need a crystal ball to see that fitness trends are changing. Today, people want interactive apps and live-streamed content and versatile and easy-to-use equipment that will provide fast results and fun experience.
Greg then pulled down the sheet that was covering his product, called the Terra-Core. This one piece of equipment weighed only 28 pounds and was 46 inches long, but it could allow you to perform 100s of exercises in the space of only 3 square feet. The Terra-Core’s patented, dynamic, air-filled surface was comfortable and activated four times the muscle tissue as conventional exercise methods.
His two associates then demonstrated the range of exercises you could do using the Terra-Core – including bench presses, dead-lifts, bent-over-rows, burpees, planks, squats, lunges, and balance exercises.
All of the sharks wanted to try it. Lori and guest shark, Anne Wojcicki, thought it was much more comfortable to do a plank on an air-filled surface. Anne asked about Greg’s background, and he told the sharks how he had worked in fitness for over 20 years as a franchisee for Gold’s Gym. When he finally decided to develop what he thought would be a better product for working out, he initiated a Kickstarter campaign in 2016 and started selling the units in 2017. The Kickstarter raised about $95,000, and his total sales to date were $2.1 million.
Lori asked where he sells his product. Greg told her that 38% of his sales were commercial, 38% were direct-to-consumer, and the remainder were International.
Mark wanted to know about costs – both the price and what it costs to make. Greg said he had been able to drop the price from $279 to $199. He had found that sales were much better when the price was under $200. The cost to make each unit was $73. All the sharks indicated they thought his costs were too high.
Lori asked if it was made in China. Greg replied that it was and that tariffs were built into the cost. He thought he might be able to get the cost down to $40-$45.
Kevin asked if he had made any money this year. Greg revealed that he had earned $850,000 in sales that year and had been able to break even. Next year, he projected $1.4 million in sales and a $200,000 profit. His company had an issue with cash flow, which was why it took longer to grow. Lori asked about his patent. Greg told her he had a patent for design and one pending for utility.
Daymond made the first offer. He would give Greg $300,000 for 40%! Kevin called that offer “savage,” but Daymond said he had seen many entrepreneurs come on the show and not ask for all of the capital they needed upfront.
Kevin then wanted to make an offer, but Lori interrupted him and asked if Greg had done any promotional marketing on social media. Greg said he would answer her question but first wanted to hear what Kevin would offer. Kevin said he would offer $300,000 for 15%, but he wanted a royalty of $20 per unit. Greg immediately seemed disappointed by Kevin’s royalty demand, but Kevin said the royalty would go away once he had made $1 million. That’s when Mark called Kevin a greedy savage.
And greedy savage he may be, but doesn’t he look great on the Terra-Core?
Daymond jumped in again to try to justify his offer, but Greg cut him off. He thought 40% was way too high. Daymond told Greg he could counter, but when Greg came back with 20%, Daymond laughed and didn’t think that was enough movement.
Anne spoke up. She told Greg her concern about the fitness industry was that fads come in, get big, and then just disappear. Did Greg have an app or a subscription coming?
Greg did have an app that includes workouts designed by his team. But there was also a highly engaged community that wanted to upload their own workouts. He was working on creating premium content and would like to eventually change to a subscription model.
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Out of nowhere, Daymond blurted out that he would go down from 40% to 30% in his offer. But Greg was still trying to defend his product against being called gimmicky. Lori jumped in to talk about her Simply Fit Board that made $100 million in one year and $180 million to date. Some of the other sharks thought her product was faddish, but she brushed them off.
Lori told Greg he could be tremendously successful if he made an infomercial. Then she made an offer: $300,000 for 22.5%. Daymond again repeated his counteroffer of $300,000 for 30%, which was odd because it was a worse deal than what Lori had presented.
Then Anne came in with an offer: $300,000 for 17%, but she wanted $10 per unit in perpetuity. When Kevin heard that, he tried to contrast his offer with hers, saying that his royalty would eventually expire.
But Greg wasn’t happy with the idea of offering royalties and pointed out that there were two offers that are simply straight equity deals.
Lori said she liked Greg and wanted to make a deal. She told him she thought her offer was a good one. Greg agreed and decided to accept Lori’s deal.
Final Deal: $300,000 for 22.5% equity
Terra-Core After Shark Tank
The Terra-Core episode aired in November 2019. It’s a bit too early to get a long-term sense of how the company is faring post the inevitable sales jump that occurs after appearing on the show. It is an expensive product, so that’s an additional burden for fast sales growth.
But with over 50,000 Instagram followers, the company is in a strong position to keep current and potential customers engaged. The Terra-Core “Tribe” has just over 1,900 members, and they keep in touch via a private Facebook group. If the company can find a way to develop premium content that would motivate people to accept a paid version of the app, that’s one way it can spur growth without having to rely on selling an expensive product. Perhaps Terra-Core could use some QVC help from Lori or maybe an infomercial, as she suggested.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is strictly informational; INSIGNIA SEO is not affiliated with Terra-Core Fitness, SharkTank, or any of its subsidiaries.