People buy and store old vinyl records for their love of vintage music. However, they don’t get used as much nowadays because record players have become expensive. Fortunately, Logan Riley created a small portable record player RokBlok, which landed a massive deal on Shark Tank. As of 2023, RokBlok is estimated to be worth $5 million.
About the Founder
The Founder, Logan Riley is from San Francisco and studied communications at the College of Southern Nevada and SFSU. After college he worked as the Chief Audio Engineer for Studio 58. Through watching videos on YouTube, Riley taught himself electrical engineering.
He worked at Apple as a Mac specialist and Creative Lead for nine years. The California left the tech giant to launch his inventions. In 2015, he founded Pink Donut, an idea company. In the early days, Logan had several creative products that didn’t work out. The portable music player was his first breakthrough product!
Creating RokBlok
The serial inventor noticed that many music lovers craved an affordable way to revive their vintage records. As a result, he developed the BLOK, a portable music player that spins around a disc as the sound amplifies through its speakers.
His device is wireless and compatible with Bluetooth. Riley used $2,000 of his savings to create a prototype for the product. When the product was ready, he applied for a patent to protect the idea.
In 2016, after realizing he needed additional financing, Logan started a Kickstarter campaign and raised over $350,000 for the project. Still, he believed his startup needed more capital and publicity to grow.
Shark Tank Appearance
Logan appeared on season nine of Shark Tank in 2017, seeking $300,000 for a 15% equity stake. He made a spectacular entrance, and after demoing his small music player, all the Sharks were amazed, especially Robert Herjavec and Barbara Corcoran.
The investors had an insightful discussion with Logan. Still, most of them expressed concerns about the product’s small market and the risks that come with it.
This didn’t stop Kevin O’Leary from making a surprising offer of $300,000 for 50% of the company. However, he was overshadowed by Robert Herjavec’s proposal of $500,000 for 100%, $5 per unit royalty, and a two-year work contract. Logan accepted the offer without much hesitation.
After Shark Tank
After initially agreeing to buy the company, Robert Herjavec later pulled out of the deal. RokBlok has received negative reviews as it’s similar to Soundwagon, another product that has been on the market for years.
Appearing on Shark Tank was a change changer for the business, once the episode aired, RokBlok went from 10-15 orders per day to over 100 per day. Thanks to the hype, RokBlok made more than $959,000 in total revenue. Despite the jump in sales, the product isn’t a big seller because it targets a niche market.
The device has a substantial profit margin and is advertised as a substitute for old vinyl players, which sell for an average of $500. RokBlok is valued at $5 million and can be purchased on its website or Amazon but is currently out of stock.
There is limited information available online about Logan Riley. Logan hasn’t tweeted much since 2018 and the Pink Donut website only shows old projects.
Recently, Logan launched a new product called Snapbacks, thin decorative backplates for iPhones that can be swapped out easily. He ran a Kickstarter campaign hoping to raise $7,500 but didn’t manage to hit that milestone. The creator canceled the project on December 16th 2022. Despite the failure, he still managed to raise $7,358 from 220 backers. Also, in more recent news Logan got married!
