How Do You Roll (HDYR) was a fast-casual approach sushi restaurant business founded by Yuen and Peter Yung. They pitched their franchise on Shark Tank and inked a deal with Kevin O’Leary. Fast forward to today and How Do You Roll is worth $0. HDYR was acquired in 2015 but are no longer in business as they went bankrupt.
After Shark Tank
The brothers spent months trying to close the deal with Kevin O’Leary but couldn’t reach an agreement. The royalty aspect of the deal would’ve taken too much cashflow out of the company and wouldn’t be a good idea in the long-term.
Despite the setback, the business continued growing and opened up over 100 locations in the US, Canada and Middle. In June 2015, HDYR was acquired by a private restaurant group. Even after the sale, the brothers still operated Maki Maki, L.L.C and provided equipment, training and supplies to the franchisees.
The new management team failed and HDYR closed down a few years later. Afterwards, Yuen Yung served as the CEO of two firms including Halbar Partners and Apex Landmark. His brother has kept a low profile online but is now working as the Director of Operations at Bella Restaurants Group.
The Yung Brothers’ Background
Yuen and Peter Yung grew up in Chinatown, Manhattan. Peter started working at his parents restaurant from the age of eight. Here he mastered the art of cooking Japanese cuisine.
Yuen studied finance and earned a BBA from The University of Texas at Austin. The Manhattan local worked as a financial planner at Kenty, Yung, Ozias & Associates for over seven years. Then, he returned to his alma mater and served as a CFP Instructor for four years.
Founding How Do You Roll
The brothers noticed that there were only two ways to eat sushi in their area. One was through high-end restaurants, and the other way was grocery stores.
They wanted to change things and planned to build a restaurant serving sushi based on the ingredients requested by customers in real-time. Furthermore, they provided a fast-casual service.
The restaurant launched in 2008 and was initially called Maki. A year later, it was rebranded to How Do You Roll. After building a headquarters in Austin, Texas, they started franchising in 2010 and signed up 40 franchisees in two and a half years.
Shark Tank Appearance
In 2013, HDYR was expanding rapidly but Yuen and Peter Yung needed capital to grow via franchising and required help managing costs. The Yung brothers appeared on season four, seeking $1 million for a 12% stake.
After a strong start to the pitch, Barbara Corcoran was invited up to order custom-made sushi. They also gave special sushi to the other Sharks, and the group loved the food.
The guys revealed 15 of the 40 franchises were open and they were profitable. From royalties alone, Yuen was forecasting $250,000 in revenue per year and they had received an offer of $6.6 million for 75% of the company.
Kevin O’Leary was the last Shark left once Barbara dropped out because the presentation was too polished. Kevin offered $1 million for 22% but wanted a royalty check every. The founders countered and a deal was agreed at 20%. This was the biggest Shark Tank investment at the time.
