There aren’t many companies that get acquired on Shark Tank, and HyConn could have been one of them. The company provides a hose connector that could help firefighters save time. Its founder, Jeff Stroope agreed to sell the company to Mark Cuban but the deal never closed. HyConn isn’t operational anymore, and is worth $0 as of 2022.
About the Founder
Jeff Stroope is from Austin, Arkansas. After completing his secondary education at Lake Hamilton High School, he worked for an associate’s degree in computer drafting and design at Southern Technical College.
He works as a firefighter captain, but he has also tried his hand at different jobs. In 2001, he was hired as a commercial diver for the civil engineering firm PBS&J International Inc.
Four years later, he served as the Director of Engineering at the IT service provider Kellogg Brown and Root. In 2006, he became a supervisor at Remington Arms Company, a sporting goods manufacturer.
Founding the Company
As a firefighter, Stroope one day had a realization when he was helping with a house fire in Texas. In his job, every second counted, but he noticed that connecting the hose to a fire hydrant took too long.
To fix this problem, he designed the HyConn hose adapter fit for various types of fire hydrants. The Arkansas resident spent more than 11 years of his life making the final product, which was launched in 1999.
Traditional methods took about 30 seconds to properly connect with a hydrant, whereas his invention only took three seconds or less. Jeff marketed it to 11 fire departments, and four of them made hard purchase orders.
Shark Tank Appearance
Jeff Stroope believed the product had a million-dollar market waiting for it, but he needed money to improve distribution. In 2011, he appeared on season two of Shark Tank, asking for $500,000 in return for 40%.
The Sharks were very impressed with the demo and its benefits were clear. However, the atmosphere changed when the entrepreneur started talking about the business side of things. Stroope then pulled out a home hose adapter, which reignited a flame in the Tank.
This led Mark Cuban to quickly offer $1.25 million, a three-year job contract, and a 7.5% royalty for 100% of the company. Kevin O’Leary tried to intervene with a counteroffer, but Jeff went with Mark.
After Shark Tank
After Shark Tank, the deal with Mark Cuban didn’t close. Cuban reportedly wanted to change the terms of his original offer which Stroope didn’t like.
According to the fireman, Cuban wanted to monetize through a licensing deal with another firm. This would make the founder redundant at own his company, so he decided to part ways with the billionaire.
When the deal fell apart 101 Ventures stepped in and invested along with an economic development agency called Innovate Arkansas. However, it isn’t clear how these deals went. HyConn’s online presence started going quiet in 2019 and its e-commerce website has been shut down.
Sadly it appears they’ve gone out of business as selling to the government is tough due to budget constraints. According to his Linkedin profile, Jeff now works as a Tool & Die Shop Manager at D&M Holding Company.
