Dozens and dozens of founders have pitched their businesses and wares to the investors on ABC's "Shark Tank" over the last 11 seasons — some have been clever and others memorable. And then there are the ones that are bringing in a ton of money. USA Today used sales figures provided by Sony Pictures, which produces the show, to rank the top 20 best-selling "Shark Tank" products ever, which had a total of $1.8 billion in retail sales.
One Shark in particular has stake in 10 of the top 20 companies: Lori Greiner. With companies like Scrub Daddy, a kitchen-sponge line with $209 million in sales, and Squatty Potty, a footrest for the toilet with $164 million in sales, Greiner has many interesting and profitable "Shark Tank" companies in her portfolio.
Here are the 10 top-selling products from "Shark Tank", according to USA Today:
1. Bombas
Bombas on Shark Tank.
Source: Bombas | Facebook
In a season 6 episode that aired September of 2014, the co-founders of sock company Bombas got a $200,000 offer from Daymond John for a 17% stake in the business. (In many cases, deals change after the episode tapes and due diligence is done.)
Now, the company has $225 million in lifetime sales.
In 2011, a Facebook post that said socks were the most requested clothing item at homeless shelters inspired Bombas co-founders David Heath and Randy Goldberg to create the most comfortable sock possible — and to donate a pair for every pair sold.
"How sad is it that — something I've never spent more than a couple of seconds thinking about [how to pay for] could be seen as a true luxury for somebody else," Heath, co-founder and CEO of Bombas, told CNBC Make It in April.
According to John, Bombas is one of his top three most successful "Shark Tank" investments.
"It's been a dream working with them, honestly. They're laser-focused," John told CNBC Make It in April. "I don't even know if they ever call me for anything more than a little bit of words of advice, and they go out and they execute, so it's not been a lot of heavy lifting on my part. They've also taught me about the value of when a consumer feels that you have a social cause that is really amazing and they believe in you, how they will support you."
2. Scrub Daddy
Craig Sjodin/ Disney ABC Television Group/ Getty Images
Since its launch, sponge company Scrub Daddy has done $209 million in sales.
But back in 2012, Scrub Daddy founder Aaron Krause was well prepared for his season 4 "Shark Tank" pitch, he told CNBC Make It.
"What I learned is if you're unprepared, you're the bait," Krause told Make It at CNBC's iConic conference in 2017. "And the Sharks will eat you alive."
On Krause's episode, which aired that October, Greiner offered Scrub Daddy $200,000 for a 25% stake in the company.
Grenier said in 2014 Scrub Daddywas one of the "best investments" she's ever made on the show.
3. Squatty Potty
Bobby Edwards demonstrates how the Squatty Potty works.
Jeniece Pettitt | CNBC
Squatty Potty, a bathroom footstool that helps create "healthy toilet posture" to prevent and help with constipation, has generated $164 million in sales since 2011.
"Everyone is like, 'Why didn't I think of that?'" Bobby Edwards, the creator and CEO of Squatty Potty, told CNBC Make It in 2018. "I have proven a lot of people wrong, and it's felt really good."
Edwards came up with the idea of Squatty Potty in an effort to help his mother's constipation troubles.
"There was nothing out there on the market that we could find to help us solve the problem," he told Make It. "So we made it."
When he took his invention to "Shark Tank" on season 6, Greiner offered Squatty Potty $350,000 for a 10% stake in the business. The episode aired in November of 2014.
4. Simply Fit Board
Simply Fit Board, a balance-board workout tool, is another successful investment by Greiner, with $160 million in lifetime sales.
In a season 7 episode that aired in November 2015, Greiner offered its mother-daughter co-founders, Gloria Hoffman and Linda Clark, $125,000 for a 20% stake in Simply Fit Board.
Just 24 hours after the episode aired, Simply Fit raked up $1.25 million in sales, according to Hoffman.
"When you're a mom that wants to show your kids that anything is possible — and overnight, my whole life changed," Hoffman said during a December 2016 "Shark Tank" update.
In 2016, Greiner revealed that Simply Fit Board partnered with Walmart, putting the product in each store across the country.
"To see the effect on Gloria, to see how much it has changed her life, that's why I do what I do," Greiner said in the update episode. "That's why I'm a Shark."
5. The Original Comfy
The Original Comfy, a company that sells a line of blanket-sweatshirt hybrids, has done $150 million in sales since its launch.
The founders' "Shark Tank" pitch, which aired in December 2017 on season 9, was Barbara Corcoran's "favorite pitch," according to USA Today.
"All they had was a sweatshirt-blanket contraption with a hood; I thought they were crazy," Corcoran said.
Ultimately, Corcoran believed the product could go viral and offered $50,000 for a 30% stake in the company.
6. Tipsy Elves
Tipsy Elves co-founders Evan Mendelsohn and Nick Morton met in college and are still great friends.
Jeniece Pettitt | CNBC
Tipsy Elves, a company that sells ugly Christmas sweaters, has done $125 million in sales since 2011.
Robert Herjavec told CNBC Make It in April 2019 that Tipsy Elves was his most successful "Shark Tank" investment.
"I didn't bet on the product, I bet on the guys," Herjavec told Make It. "They left these secure, cushy jobs to sell inappropriate, ugly Christmas sweaters online. Anyone nuts enough to do that must really believe in the idea."
Herjavec offered the founders $100,000 for a 10% stake in the company on the season 5 episode that aired in December 2013.
7. The Bouqs
The Florist Collection from the Bouqs Company.
Source: The Bouqs Company
The Bouqs, an online flower bouquet seller, did not receive any offers during the founders' season 5 pitch, which aired in May 2014 — but Herjavec later invested in the company.
Three years after the show, "Robert Herjavec reached out to me to ask if we could do the flowers for his upcoming wedding," The Bouqs co-founder John Tabis told CNBC in March.
"[Tabis] said, 'Come and see me. I'll explain the flower business to you.' [He] draws it out for me, shows me what they're doing. I'm like, 'I love it,'" Herjavec said in a blog post for The Bouqs in February 2017. "So I took part of their last round. We just raised $24 million."
Bouqs has done $100 million in sales since its launch.
8. Sleep Styler
Sleep Styler, a company that sells heat-free hair rollers, appeared on season 8 of "Shark Tank" and caught Greiner's attention.
"I knew I would really be able to help [founder] Tara [Brown] get this product out on the market in a fast and all-encompassing way where the Sleep Styler would become a household name within a year," Greiner told Success magazine in August 2017. "Within five minutes of watching Tara pitch, I had already visualized a great plan in mind."
Grenier offered Brown $75,000 in exchange for a 25% stake in the company on the episode, in an episode that aired in March 2017.
Sleep Styler has done $100 million in lifetime sales.
9. Lovepop
Courtesy of Lovepop
When Wombi Rose and John Wise, the co-founders of Lovepop, a pop-up greeting card supplier, appeared on season 7 of "Shark Tank" in December 2015, Kevin O'Leary offered them $300,000 in exchange for a 15% stake in the business.
Lovepop has now brought in $80 million since its launch.
Prior to creating Lovepop, Rose and Wise were naval architecture students with a love for ship design.
"It's so cool, and it's also exactly the same way you design a ship," Rose told CNBC. "You take a 3-D shape; you splice it into planes. The way that those planes intersect, you draw lines and then you cut out the pieces and assemble them by hand. And this is that same concept but miniature."
10. Cousins Maine Lobster
Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac of Cousins Maine Lobster
Source: Cousins Maine Lobster
Cousins Maine Lobster, a seafood truck business, appeared on season 4 of "Shark Tank" in an episode that aired in October 2012.
Co-founders Sabin Lomac and Jim Tselikis say the show changed everything for their business.
"Barbara's influence on the company was felt from day one," Tselikis wrote in a piece for CNBC Make It in June 2016, referring to Barbara Corcoran, who offered them $55,000 in exchange for a 15% stake in the company. "We were able to grow our fleet (one truck became two, which soon became four), and the roving lobster shacks were canvassing Southern California in a few months."
The business has generated $65 million in lifetime sales.
USA Today has the full list of the top 20 "Shark Tank" companies.
All sales figures are cumulative as of Sept. 10, 2019, according to USA Today.
Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to "Shark Tank."
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See also:
- Why this plant-based meat company turned down a $1 million from Mark Cuban on 'Shark Tank'
- Why Mark Cuban gave this entrepreneur an extra $50,000 (for free) on 'Shark Tank'
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