Good hygiene is always attractive to the opposite sex. That’s why more men nowadays pay attention to their personal hygiene and physical appearance. Father-and-son duo Steve and Josh King promote this idea through their startup, Manscaped. They secured a deal with Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner on Shark Tank. As of 2023, Manscaped is worth $750 million.
About the Founders
Though it was Steve and Josh King who pitched the company on Shark Tank, its original founder is Paul Tran, a Vietnamese entrepreneur who currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tran attended the University of Southern California where he studied at the business and engineering schools.
He experienced a tough childhood growing up as an immigrant in the United States and didn’t speak English. Even so, he managed to enhance his creativity and dive into multiple businesses.
One of his most successful businesses is an innovation laboratory called IDK. Through his many endeavors, he became partners with a managing partner at Pipeline Funding named Steve King and his son, Joshua.
Establishing Manscaped
In the past decade or so, self-care products seemed to revolve mainly around soaps and face washes. The market also leaned more toward targeting female consumers. Thus, men’s products were often ignored.
Paul Tran carefully observed this gap in the market, so he wanted to start a business to provide high-quality male grooming products. He came across the term “manscaping” and used it as the foundation of his brand, which was officially launched in 2016.
Tran started selling a hygiene kit with products like the Lawn Mower, Crop Preserver, and Crop Reviver. Steve and Josh King later joined Paul as co-founders. They helped Manscaped sell 3,000 products and make around $1.5 million in annual revenue during its first year.
Shark Tank Appearance
In 2018, Paul sent Steve and Josh to represent Manscaped to appear on season ten of Shark Tank. They came in requesting $500,000 for a 7% stake in the company. They introduced their package, which has eight different products.
During the pitch, NBA veteran Charles Barkley was a guest investor. It would have been an excellent opportunity to promote the product to the sports world, but Barkley was the first to turn down the offer.
Billionaire Mark Cuban was the first to show interest, so he asked to team up with Lori Greiner. They joined forces to offer $500,000 for 25%. After a few discussions, the entrepreneurs accepted Lori and Mark’s offer.
After Shark Tank
According to Bloomberg, the deal with Mark and Lori didn’t close after the show. Despite the setback, the exposure from the show gave their sales a nice boost.
Manscaped has collaborated with different sports to promote its brand, including the UFC and the Los Angeles Kings NHL team. In 2019, the startup got a $500,000 investment from Longley Capital, Gaingels, and Wharton Alumni Angels.
In 2021, Manscaped announced that it was going public via a SPAC deal with Bright Lights Acquisition that would value the combined entity at up to $1.4 billion. On 18 August 2022, both companies mutually decided to cancel the IPO, citing weak market conditions.
The business isn’t profitable yet and made a net loss of $315 million in 2021 as reported by Yahoo Finance. Currently, Manscaped is worth an estimated $750 million.
