No matter how small they seem, bad habits like nail-biting and smoking can have an impact on your life. Pavlok is a smart wristband designed to prevent this by gently zapping users if they’re about to perform a bad habit. The device’s creator, Maneesh Sethi, pitched it on Shark Tank but didn’t get a deal. As of 2023, Pavlok is worth $2 million.
About the Founder
Maneesh Sethi is from Miami, Florida and growing up he was passionate about entrepreneurship and programming. At 16 years old, he published a book titled “Game Programming for Teens.”
Maneesh was a bright student, he attended Stanford University, where he studied society, technology, and computer science. After graduating, he served as the editor-in-chief of a blog called Hack the System. Sethi was also a web designer, but decided to try something new after getting tired of his initial career path.
Founding the Company
Maneesh’s addiction to social media was the thing that sparked the idea for Pavlok. To tackle the problem, he hired someone to watch him work and slap him if he browsed social media. This method worked for him but it was an usual method.
In 2013, he invented the Pavlok wrist device, which creates different levels of shock when users try to indulge in a specific bad habit. Users can set up what habit they want to break in the gadget’s app. It is considered a type of aversion therapy.
Sethi officially launched the company in 2014 after raising $283,827 from an IndieGoGo campaign. Then, he reportedly made a whopping $800,000 in sales.
Shark Tank Appearance
In 2015, Maneesh Sethi pitched Pavlok on Shark Tank and offered 3.14% of the company in exchange for $500,000. Unfortunately, the pitch went poorly and he came across as very arrogant.
Maneesh had no reputable studies to demonstrate that his technology actually worked. Therefore, the Sharks came out to attack and they were also skeptical about the firm’s sales. Robert Herjavec then pointed out that Sethi’s valuation was way too high.
However, Kevin O’Leary was interested as he had experience with aversion therapy. Thus, he proposed $500,000 in return for 3.14% equity, as a two-year loan at a 7% interest rate. Sethi rudely rejected the offer and stated he would “take an offer from anyone but Mr. Wonderful.” Kevin’s offer was fair but it appears Maneesh wasn’t serious about closing a deal.
After Shark Tank
Even though Maneesh didn’t get a deal on Shark Tank, the pitch was memorable and has attracted millions of views on YouTube. The controversy helped drive more publicity and sales to his website. This also helped him turn to new investors to raise capital.
Maneesh was able to raise $200,000 in three funding rounds, with IncWell and MassChallenge as the leading investors. The money was used to develop more physical and digital products. They released a Chrome browser extension to boost productivity and launched the ‘Shock Clock’, an alarm clock that shocks you awake.
Sales at Pavlok have grown steadily, while monthly expenses have been reduced by more than $100,000. In 2022, Pavlok made $371,000 in revenue according to getlatka.com. In 2023, the business should make around $400,000 in sales. As a result, the company is valued at $2 million. Personally, Maneesh Sethi has an estimated net worth of $2.5 million.
