If you are a beverage lover then I’m sure you know PepsiCo, the largest manufacturer of soft drinks/soda globally, but have you heard of something called “Chill Soda”?
No, that’s very fine even though I didn’t know about it. But the Shark Tank show addicts must have known Chill Soda remember? Yeah, that man Dan Mackey in 2008/2009 episode 9 season 1.
Chill Soda is considered to be the healthier alternative line in beverages that tastes good and reduces calories to half as compared to other Sodas and is also nutritious.
Dan Mackey, the inventor of Chill Soda brought it to the market who is a self-described marketing person and admitted being a novice entrepreneur. Chill Soda is a low-glycemic organic drink with vitamins that contained only agave nectar which made it tastes sweeter and has no corn syrup.
Chill Soda at a glance:
- A healthier and nutritious beverage that tastes good and reduces calories.
- Founder: Dan Mackey
- Asked For $50,000 for 10% at a $500,000 valuation on Shark Tank.
- Received $50,000 for 20% from Barbara Corcoran.
Index:
Founders Story:
Dan Mackey of Sausalito, California is the founder of Chill Soda Company which is based in California. He is a self-described Marketing guy though he admitted himself as a novice entrepreneur, belonging to the family trout farm his problem-solving skills and work ethic could be seen.
The idea behind founding Chill Soda came from Mackey’s sister who was a teacher at a school in California where traditional sodas were being banned due to their harmful effects and were replaced by other beverages which still were more in calories and with loads of artificial sweeteners.
Dan Mackey then saw the opportunity of founding Chill Soda something unique which will help teenagers and adults. Chill Soda has four variants/flavors namely Kola, Pome, Guava, and Limon. All of these are rich in Vitamin C with a balanced level of spices and nuts. Dan Mackey called Chill Soda “the revolution is here” in terms of sodas.
How was the Shark Tank Pitch?
After selling 250,000 cans throughout California via fairly a large number of distributors which earned him a total revenue of $175,000 he entered into the Shark Tank show for 10% equity shares in Chill Soda in return for an investment of $50,000.
The four sharks (investors) were quite impressed by his product initially but one big mistake turned Mackey’s luck upside down.
He told them about his lack of knowledge in the beverage industry as he was a marketing person so he does not know about this industry Kevin, Daymond, and Robert backed out immediately knowing his lack of direction and knowledge in the beverage industry.
Barbara was the only shark left, she shocked other sharks by accepting Mackey’s deal of 20% equity share for an investment of $50,000. Barbara Corcoran was the only investor in Chill Soda Company as she was impressed by Mackey’s honesty.
Chill Soda valuation:
Chill Soda’s valuation stands at $250,000, the company was never seen after the investment of Barbara Corcoran. There are no public stores available yet in California for Chill Soda if one has to buy he/she has to email the company about the order. In a recent interview, Barbara said that she lost the investment in Chill Soda Company though she did not elaborate it further.
The company to our knowledge is out of business while Dan Mackey didn’t even mention the name of Chill Soda in his resume on LinkedIn though it indicates that he is working on his other company SecondTrades.
Investors:
Chill Soda has an angel investor Barbara Corcoran who invested $50,000 for 20% equity shares in the company. She is an American businesswoman with a net worth of USD$80 million she founded The Corcoran Group a real estate brokerage in New York which she sold to NRT for $66 million.
Barbara has appeared in ABC’s Shark Tank show in all the seasons as a shark and invested in more than 50 companies/startups.
Chill Soda was a mere failure for Barbara as the company as well as the founder did not do well in terms of generating revenue. The company is off now though it still has a web presence where people can place their orders.
Competitors:
Currently, the company stands nowhere in terms of giving competition to any other beverage company. Though PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Red Bull, Nestle, and Parle are among the major manufacturers in the beverage industry.PepsiCo: The leading brand in terms of beverages globally was founded in 1965 PepsiCo was merged with Frito-Lay, headquartered in New York.
As per the 2017 fiscal year, PepsiCo reported earnings of USD$4.857 billion with annual earnings of USD$62.525 billion, an increase of 1.2% over the previous fiscal cycle.
Other Competitors of Chill Soda are:
- Luma Soda which also appeared on The Shark Tank owned and run by Jim Otteson only contains 4g of sugar with no preservatives. Luma Soda is doing good in the market.
- Jones Soda is also an American company that sells soda with great flavors doing good in the market.
What Happened After Shark Tank?
Chill Soda appeared in 2009 but still has not come up with any good business model it is not available in any online store and no updates of the company are provided on its official website. In fact, Barbara Corcoran said in one interview that she had lost her investment in chill soda.
The company never took off after its appearance in the Shark Tank Show in 2009 also it is reported that there are no official stores of Chill Soda in California except for its mere presence on the web.
The company rests with just a $50,000 investment from Barbara while Dan Mackey is heading towards his new company. Therefore the company made no such profits lately while we hope for its come back!
Interesting Facts:
- Dan Mackey was a marketing guy who had no prior knowledge of doing any business.
- The Chill Soda was the idea of Den Mackey’s sister who saw her students consuming unhealthy beverages.
- It is still unknown how Dan Mackey invested his $50,000 investment.
- Dan Mackey started another business in 2019 named Second Trades.
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FAQs:
What is Chill Soda?
Chill Soda is considered to be the healthier alternative line in beverages that tastes good and reduces calories as much as half compared to other Sodas and is also nutritious
Who founded Chill Soda?
Dan Mackey of Sausalito, California is the founder of Chill Soda Company which is based in California. He is a self-described Marketing guy though admitted himself as a novice entrepreneur, belonging to the family trout farm his problem-solving skills and work ethic could be seen.
