Scott Jordan, creator and founder of TEC by SCOTTeVEST offered the most public battle between the Sharks and any entrepreneur appearing on Shark Tank. In fact, the action that appeared on television ended up in blogs, Twitter and Facebook as Mark Cuban and Scott Jordan took shots at each other.
The issue started when Mr. Jordan made his original offer for TEC(Technology Enabled Clothing), and not for his retail business, SCOTTeVEST. At the time of taping his pitch, SCOTTeVEST projected $24 Million in sales for the next year. Sharks ask for both TEC and SCOTTeVEST, but Scott Jordan is keeping the name off the table.
Scott Jordan on TEC by Scottevest during and after the show
The edited version of the TEC Shark Tank pitch appears as though Mr. Cuban wasn’t as concerned about Mr. Jordan’s strategy keeps each company separate, but is stirred up over the patent for the line of vests.
The patent covers the way earphone wiring is run through the clothing. We should note that Scott Jordan specifies TEC Clothing is prepped to be wired, which may represent more than just headphone wiring.
Mr. Cuban went off, even more so, after learning that Scott Jordan is a former lawyer. He’s been an activist against what he considers being questionable patents. On the other side, Scott Jordan states the TEC patent withstood 10 challenges in court, as well as passed re-examination.
They couldn’t agree on a deal during the presentation, although Mr. Jordan said he’d entertain an agreement, both sides weren’t even close. Right after the pitch, Mr. Jordan shook hands with Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Kevin O’Leary and Barbara Corcoran, but Robert Herjavec refused, and as Scott Jordan exited, Mr. Herjavec suggested he “show some respect.”
Scott commented “I just wanted to get a couple offers” in a live video as he watched the show. If we looked at that comment alone, we could surmise the appearance on the show was strictly a publicity stunt.
When you look at the whole picture, the experienced entrepreneur sees a guy who is on an emotional roller coaster.
Right after the show, another battle took shape. Mark Cuban and Scott Jordan went head-to-head on Twitter, podcasts, and blogs. Many followers took sides, and both Mr. Cuban and Mr. Jordan would claim victory, but did either win or was this a battle that finally got old?