What really happens behind the scenes of a Shark Tank pitch? We’re diving deep with Julie Goldman, the visionary entrepreneur who revolutionized the wedding industry with The Original Runner Company and its game-changing non-slip fabric aisle runners. In this explosive conversation, Julie pulls back the curtain, revealing how producers coached her to present false sales numbers to look “needy,” despite her business already having celebrity and corporate clients and millions in sales.
Discover the crucial entrepreneurship lessons from her intense face-off with the Sharks, including:
- The secret to identifying an untapped market problem.
- Why the number one death of a business is “lack of AIM (Always Market and Innovate)”.
- The critical mistake entrepreneurs make when calculating business valuations (hint: it’s based on profit, not just revenue).
- How Julie stood her ground against Mr. Wonderful’s demand for 51% control and why being first to the field matters more than a patent.
If you want the unfiltered truth about business, innovation, and what it takes to dominate a niche, fasten your seatbelts!
—
Watch the episode here
Listen to the podcast here
Runaway Bride Julie Goldman, Not A Goldman Sachs’ Deal
It’s your favorite Shark Tank episode on Exit Rich. Our Exit Rich episode is your favorite. We are interviewing Shark Tank guests, and we have a fascinating guest. Her name is Julie Goldman, not to be confused with Goldman Sachs. Too bad. Julie Goldman started a company and really revolutionized the wedding industry by her original company called The Original Runner Company that specializes in weddings.
I could see this for corporate events too, Julie. I’m very excited to have Julie on the show. Take a lot of notes, go back and read this because it’s going to be interesting, nothing you’ve ever heard before, and we’re going to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. Can you handle it? All right, Julie, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me. I’m psyched to be on Exit Rich. Thank you so much.
I’m happy to have you here. I’ve loved our conversations leading up to this point. Let’s go ahead and start the video. How long has it been since you watched it?
A few years, probably. Not my favorite thing to do, but I’ll do it for you. No problem.
Fasten your seatbelts, everyone. There’s going to be some good learning moments here.
—
Next into the Shark Tank is Julie Goldman with a business capitalizing on the lucrative wedding industry.
Shark Tank Pitch & Valuation
Hello, my name is Julie Goldman. I am the Founder and CEO of The Original Runner Company. I’m here today to present my business and request a $250,000 investment for a 15% stake in my company.
—
Julie, how’d you come up with that valuation? At $250,000 for 15%, you’re at $1.8 million. Let’s not share a lot of stuff here because we’re going to keep rolling through the show. How did you come up with that real quick?
Truthfully, even as I said in the show later, it was worth more than that. We had just landed a whole bunch of really great corporate contracts that we knew were going to come in in the next year. We believed very fully we were going to make $1.8 million the next year.
Let’s see what else happens.
—
The Invention Of Non-Slip Runners
I’m proud to say that I perfect life’s grand entrances, and I do this because I’ve created the world’s first non-slip fabric aisle runners for weddings and special events. When I was planning my wedding, I needed an aisle runner to cover the absolutely hideous carpeting in the ceremony venue. I thought it would be really easy. I would just go down to my local store and pick up an aisle runner. When I got there, it was actually more like going to a supermarket because my choices were either paper or plastic. Neither of these are really great options because if you’re wearing stiletto heels, it’s going to tear, rip, bunch.
—
How many of us wear stilettos? Pretty much everybody on their wedding day. What a great concept this is, Julie. I’d never thought about a wedding runner, which is odd because I do speaking events all the time. I always have a nice red or hot pink runway. When I got married in Jamaica all those years ago, it wasn’t the most prettiest turf. If I could have got one of Julie’s original runners, then that’s something I would have saved for the rest of my life. What a great concept. Anything you want to add here?
It was necessary. I couldn’t believe it didn’t exist when I needed it for my own wedding. That is the mother of invention and it was something needed in the industry. I’m psyched I was able to invent something that was well-needed.
Me too. I’m sure you made a lot of happy brides along the way.
—
There’s actually nothing else on the market that was safe and beautiful. I made my own aisle runner and The Original Runner Company was born. My very loyal wholesale and celebrity clientele has resulted in millions of dollars of my aisle runners being sold worldwide through my website alone. That’s going to change today because I’m presenting to you the walksafe aisle runner.
—
One thing I love that Julie did that all of you entrepreneurs should be thinking about, what problems exist? It’s not always about inventing a better mousetrap, but it’s looking for a mousetrap that never existed. Julie recognized this when she got married and that there was nothing good, nothing pretty, nothing existed yet.
Look around you, all entrepreneurs. Look around you right now. What can you find? What can you do? How can you solve a problem that exists that nobody’s come out with any solution for? So well done. What I like about what Julie’s done is she invented this but then she came back and she’s making it better because your first invention shouldn’t be your last invention. Do you agree, Julie?
I do. I keep literally I keep a notebook with me with my ideas all day long. I have ideas constantly. I have a brain of an entrepreneur. I can’t help myself. It’s crazy. I’m sure you do the same. Ideas are always in.
You better write them down right then and there because as soon as they fly in, they fly out.
—
This is our 50-foot non-slip fabric aisle runner mass-produced and sold in retail stores for the very first time and through thousands of online wedding websites. They’re just plain white runners, which is the most popular aisle runner sold in the world. In addition, I’m introducing for the first time our home monogramming kit. This is going to allow the do-it-yourself bride to create a monogrammed aisle runner just like this at home for a fraction of the price that I charge in my studio. We think these two new retail-based options will make my brand much more accessible and affordable to the more than 2 million brides that are married in the US alone each year.
—
That’s 2 million brides. I didn’t realize.
There’s more now.
What year was this episode?
2011.
2 million brides in the US alone. That’s not even around the world. It’s a huge market. I love that brides can do it on their own because think about if you’re a second bride and you have children and they have children. You can even make something cute for the whole family.
We did that. Absolutely. We’ve done handprints and all kinds of things for families that are marrying after being a family. Wonderful things to do.
What a great idea.
Thanks.
—
Invest with The Original Runner Company. We’re going to make millions together.
What were the total sales for both businesses last year?
Last year was a down economy and we sold $550,000. Actually, before the recession hit, we were selling $800,000, and this year we’ll finish about $650,000.
You’re a great indicator of the recession coming back.
—
Sales Numbers Discrepancy
Okay, let’s stop right here. Julie, was that your real sales?
No, it was not. Those were not the real numbers. This was only the second year of this show. The show was still finding its way. I had been recruited to be on the show the year before, but I didn’t accept the first season because I would never be on a reality show I’ve never seen before. I did have friends that were on the first season.
I took a lot of clues from that as well. What I would say is that I gave them my real numbers because I was already eight years in business. I had celebrity clients and I had corporate clients. I was pretty far on my way. They wanted me to appear more needy for the episode because at that time, they weren’t having companies that were already successful on the show. It was really like very small businesses at the time.
Julie, that makes me think and really think about all the episodes I watch because I watch all the reruns, I watch all their new episodes. Is it real? Is it not real? What would you say?
I don’t think that’s really what happened eventually, to be honest with you. I’ve had friends that have been on every episode, and if you know a little bit about Shark Tank, we’re like a community. We have an alumni community, we have a Facebook group, and we help each other.
You all have a book, too.
It’s been amazing. We have reunions. It’s a really great thing that’s come out of all of this. We discuss these things at reunions and that was not something that carried on. I think it took them a few years to figure out who their ideal candidates would be on the show that they could actually invest in and blow up because that’s what people want to see. They want to see the brands that go on the show be successful like Ring or Scrub Daddy, where it’s in your store every day. That’s an important part, I think, of the whole process of the show.
$550,999, $600,000 was not your recent your true numbers?
No. If you think about this was 2011, we had to move our business out of New York City in 2010 because of the economy. It was the recession. Many of your audience might not even remember it, but it was a bad time for business and in New York City. At the time my rent in New York for our full floor loft, I could have bought a car every single month for the amount that I was paying. I had to leave the city, which is why my comment was so snappy when he’s like, “You’re a good indicator of the recession.” no.
What you’re talking about right now is just coming up. I think the sales were around $1.5 million?
I was around $1.5 million at that time and we were really projected to do $1.8 million that year. A big part of it is that we had a lot of things lined up that we knew was going to be there. It’s only so much you can say on these shows.
On that show, you were at $1.5 million at the time.
Already, yeah.
Let’s see what Mr. Wonderful has to say.
—
Now I’m a great indicator of rebuilding my business last year by moving it out of New York City, cutting my rent by 80%, reformatting how I was paying my salary structures, and introducing three new lines of product.
—
I’m so much nicer than that.
They’re coming at you and sometimes, the Shark Tank guest take a step back, they get shocked, and you didn’t. You pounced. Now some of these episodes make you look extremely aggressive. To me, it makes you look like you know your business and you know what you’re doing. They say you could probably soften it up a little bit but I like the fact how you bounce back and you’re like, “No, it’s this and this and this and this.” I thought that was great on your end.
Know your business and know what you’re doing. Share on XWhat’s interesting about that is that obviously there’s editing involved. The question he asked me was more sharp or whatever. Truth be told, I am a well-educated entrepreneur. I know my business. At that time, that was my second business. I’m now on third business. I know what I’m doing and so I definitely was more defensive as I might have been in another situation.
I would also say up until then, women that had gone on the show really presented in like prairie dresses and there was a lot of crying. When I was filming in in LA, there were a lot of people at the hotel at that time they let us all hang out together. I don’t think they do that anymore. The whole hotel was Shark Tank candidates and we hung out all week and we pitched to each other and all that stuff.
I realized I needed to be a certain character because there were too many people there. I said, “I’m going to take what I am. I’m not that way. I’m nicer than that, for sure.” I think TV guide called me an aggressive wedding designer or something. It was pretty funny. I knew that’s how they were going to cut it before I even saw the show. Not surprised. It’s okay. I own it.
Okay. Good. See, that’s the thing.
—
What does that cost you to make?
This is going to cost me $25 to make. I’m going to sell it to the retail store for $37.50 making a 52% profit on it.
That’s not the correct margin.
The margin on it’s going to be 33% is the profit margin.
Not enough.
Okay, it’s not enough.
Well, actually, it depends on the where you’re selling it in stores like large craft stores that margin’s actually it’s really common. It’s much lower.
—
Were you already in retail stores at this point?
We were not. There was a time where I actually thought that was the business. When I launched, I was like, “I’m going to sell it everywhere.”
I think everybody thinks that, Julie. I don’t think you’re the only entrepreneur that thinks that. Sell everywhere and be everything to everybody.
Absolutely. I’d say the big thing is not all products should be sold in stores. I say that because my product was heavy and bulky due to the non-slip backing and the fabric and the core. The build-out of the end caps that you have to build out to carry a product like this was very expensive. If they don’t sell the product, as you well know, they incinerate it.
Not all products should be sold in stores. Share on XThere’s a lot of other costs involved and I would say for a product that has very lean profit, it’s not great idea, clearly. We had played out those numbers, but this is the avenue that we chose to pursue for the show as an idea because I wanted to see, honestly, if they could make it work. Do you know what I mean? I knew I couldn’t make it work. I was like, “Maybe they have a way to make it work that I’m unaware of.”
You also have the educational piece. Somebody’s got to train these brides on why it’s there, what it’s for.
Where’s the advertising so when people come in, they know what that is. Tricky.
—
With our side of the business, you have to at least make a 60% margin on that.
If we were to actually invest more and make more of them, we can drive the price down significantly.
Is this proprietary? Something special about that one you want to make over there?
We make the only non-slip fabric runners in the world. If you actually do not want to have paper or plastic, you have to go buy fabric, have it hemmed, and made.
Can your competitor make the same thing?
I don’t have any competitors that are doing that. No.
You’re saying nobody else makes runners but you?
They do not make non-slip fabric runners. No.
Can they make non-slip if they wanted to after they see you as doing something that’s successful because you do or don’t have a patent? Can they make the same thing?
You can’t patent fabric.
—
That’s the one that made me crack up the most. I don’t think Daymond was your biggest fan in that moment.
He hated me. No, he hated me the whole time. He never spoke to me. He was not a fan. That’s okay. You can’t patent fabric, but you can do lots of cool things with fabric and trademark. Very different animal.
You can get a utility patent, though.
No, because what I was using as the backing is, quite frankly, what they use to line bras and other things. It already existed in the world. I just repurposed it. You know like when bras have a little lining in them? That is the same material that I used on the back of my runners to make them non-slip. It also shows up in a lot of other places but it’s interesting that you can repurpose something that already exists. No one would have thought to walk on it. That’s really where I think creative genius comes from.
I don’t know that. I’ve ever thought about walking on my bra lining. Who would think to take a bra off and walk on it?
I didn’t think of it that way. I went around and looked for different backings that I think could work. Wouldn’t leave remnants on the ground at the places, there’s a lot of factors. I would say that a big part of it is being first to the field and doing it better than anyone because you can have competition, but if they’re not as good as you, then it doesn’t really matter.
You need to be first to the game and you’ve got to come to market hot. You’ve got to dominate the marketplace.
It’s that but you also have to keep reinventing and keep coming up with new product and all that. You can’t just sit on your laurels as we’ve seen a lot of legacy companies now close because they sat back and they didn’t learn what was coming. As we progressed to the end of my time at Original Runner, we were doing all different types of products. It was really amazing. I loved the idea of continually creating and creating new.
You have to keep reinventing and developing new products. You can’t sit on your laurels—many legacy companies fail because they didn’t adapt to what was coming. Share on XFocus On Continuous Innovation
You just hit the nail on the head. You have to continue to reinvent. Most businesses or owners will start an invention or start a business and they think it’s going to be that way all day every day. Competition’s going to pass you by. The number one death in business, I always say the number one death of a business is lack of AIM. AIM is Always Market and Innovate. You stop marketing, you lose market share. You stop aiming and inventing, your competition’s going to come and sweep you up. You have many competitors now, Julie?
Basically, like some Etsy people that do it on the side. No, there really is still no competition for The Original Runner Company, which is pretty cool.
Let’s see what else we got to say here.
—
I’m asking a very simple question. Can somebody else make a non-slip runner after they see that you are doing well?
They could, but I’m already doing well. I’m first to the field and very successful.
That’s all I’m asking.
—
Did you not want to answer that question, Julie?
No, I just think that’s the answer. As we just said, the answer is being first to the field, being the most innovative, and doing it better than anyone.
You just wanted a yes or no.
He just didn’t want any part of me. He really did not like me. That’s okay. You’re not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. It is that, though. It is true. It’s understanding the market and being able to meet it where it is. People who copy people don’t have original ideas. They don’t understand the market and how to keep innovating for that market, in my opinion, unless they really come to know their client. As people popped up and tried to compete with us, they closed rapidly because they didn’t understand how to make it profitable but also how to be original. Copying other people, yes, it works on maybe Amazon resales, but it doesn’t work for weddings.
Why didn’t he like you?
I don’t know. He never looked me in the eye, didn’t and after this, he didn’t talk with me again. He was pretty quiet the whole time.
Maybe you were too assertive for him.
Maybe.
This a good lesson for you, guys, because if somebody’s not if you’re pitching a board and somebody’s not your cup of tea, focus on the ones who are. You got to be careful because just because they don’t show interest doesn’t mean they’re not interested.
Absolutely. What you said in the beginning about me being a little confident, I had already, at this point, been in business for like eight years. I had won so many pitch competitions. I had this pretty down. I think that’s why I was like a little overly confident. It’s because I had done this a lot and I had been fortunate to win competitions from Dell, Comcast, American Express Open, I won Make Mine a Million. I had a lot of steam behind me so I think I felt a little maybe a little arrogant maybe a little too cocky.
That’s good that you can go back reflect and now make that statement because there’s a fine line of being confident and then being a little too egotistical.
I think you don’t know how you come off on TV. I had been on TV before on for my business like on wedding shows and my super sweet sixteen. I had never been on like a one-on-one confrontational show. I’d been interviewed but nothing like this. I think this was the first time I’d ever had my ideas dissected and thrown back at me.
You came ready to pounce. No doubt about it. You were ready to pounce.
I think the word’s defensive. I was a little too defensive on some things. I’ll explain that in the next time we break. I’ll tell you what I was doing.
—
How is this business worth $1.8 million today?
It’s actually worth more than that.
I love that answer. It’s worth more.
No, evaluation can actually be obviously determined in lots of different ways. You can do projected incomes, you could do current revenue. If you base it even on current revenue alone, if we’re making $650,000 this year, if you’re using a 3 to 5 ratio, it falls very nicely in the $1.8 million.
A-ha.
This thing you’re standing on, how much would it cost?
—
We have to stop here. I want to educate my audience on evaluations. Julie’s right on some. I just want let the businesses are not evaluated on revenue. There’s a lot of businesses with high revenue but they’re not making any profit whatsoever and they will never support the debt service, nor will they afford your lifestyle. Also, businesses are not typically valued on projections because in order to reach the projections in many cases, not so much in Julie’s case because Julie had big contracts and she had things coming her way.
When people try to sell and say, “It’s worth all this potential,” buyers don’t buy potential. Buyers buy steady income. They buy recurring revenue. They buy history. They will not buy your business if you don’t have potential, but they’re not going to pay the owner for that potential and go out and have to pay for marketing, for more employees. Whatever it is that they need to obtain that potential, they’re not going to pay twice.
Buyers don’t buy potential. They buy steady income, recurring revenue, and a proven history. They won’t buy your business if you don’t have it. Share on XJulie told me what her real numbers are. Julie told me her numbers were around $1.5 million and her EBITDA was probably between $200,000 to $300,000. Is that true, Julie?
It was a long time ago with regards to my percentage in, but yes, we were about $1.5 million. That move from New York City really kicked my profit up a lot because we had been spending a fortune to be in New York. Being in New Jersey was a big deal as far as our profit margin, but revenue-wise, I think at that time, we just landed Kim Kardashian’s wedding and we just were booming.
Which one was that to?
The TV wedding, the one she was married to for a short amount of time. Made a gorgeous runner on that. That was a really beautiful runner, though. Shark Tank, in the place where it was in the second season, they really had people on who needed the money. Maybe they had orders and they didn’t have the money to fill them or whatever it was.
That was not my case. I didn’t need money. I was making money, but I also I had dreams of being bigger and I think this was the opportunity I took to get more exposure for my brand nationally and internationally. I would say, unfortunately, that’s television. Everything I said was true, but they did finesse the numbers a little bit so it looked like I was not so successful.
When you said you did $550,000 to $600,000, you’re really doing $1.5 million when you were on the show.
That’s why I asked for $250,000 when I applied for the show. I asked for like $800,000. Season 2, you couldn’t ask for $800,000. That was not a thing. It’s changed a lot now. Now you can go in with a semi-successful business and they want a chunk of it. This was like people doing businesses at home who just fell upon something in the first couple of years. It’s an interesting change. I think it’s been really great. I love watching it and seeing what people come up with.
It’s like everything. What did they do? They had to reinvent, they had to evolve, they had to change some things up. At $1.5 million revenue, now just make sure this, my entrepreneurs, she won’t be worth $1.5 million based on revenue. It would be based upon a multiple. She was doing $200,000, $300,000, it would be based upon that multiple. She was doing $300,000 then it would be based upon that multiple. She could get a $500,000 because she’s the only one, she’s the original one, she didn’t have any copycats at that point. She invented it and she’s doing and shipping all over the country and doing celebrity weddings. That’s what I want to be crystal clear on evaluations.
—
That’s a higher end of our line. This is a 75-foot runner. It’s hand-painted and hand-crystal-ed and hand-glittered. This one exactly as you see it here would be about $750.
Okay, so after all of that cost, what’s your margin? What did you make?
My margin on this is actually about 200%.
—
Now that’s a good margin. Even though the Sharks made it sound like she was going into retail and you’re going to hear more of that, that was not her desire. You want to stick where the margins are the highest. This is a good margin, 200%. Most businesses never operate at that. Of course, you have operating expenses, etc., but it’s a good margin.
For sure, and a big staff. Overhead.
—
Making $750 on this, I’m paying about $250 to make it, so I’m making about $500 on it.
I’m confused. If people at weddings are spending $700 and for custom, why a drop down to a $60 product?
It’s a very good question. Truthfully, my current clients are spending $50,000 or more on their weddings. The average wedding is $27,000.
—
The Need For High-Margin Niche
I don’t even know if that’s accurate because let me tell you, I got married in 2002 and I used to do wedding events and I used to have wedding publications. Back in 2001, 2002, we always said the average cost of a wedding was $40,000.
It might have been by then. Yeah, I don’t know. I haven’t researched it in a while.
That was back in 2001, 2002 so it might have went down. Let’s go because this gets really interesting here.
I know what he’s going to say.
—
They’re not buying these aisle runners. They can’t fit it in their budget.
Julie, what’s great about a wedding is nobody cares about money. This is the time to hit them. I don’t want to give them a cheap runner, I want to get the $500 to $700 profit on every wedding when people aren’t looking at what they’re spending. You’ve got a fantastic business that makes phenomenal margins. You’re capturing the high end. You want to go play in the toilet bowl wedding.
—
That’s where Julie looks like she’s about to jump across the stage. I could not believe what he was saying.
I wanted to tie and choke him.
Let’s continue on.
—
I disagree. I would never consider any wedding to be a toilet bowl wedding and I think my brides would be highly offended by that comment.
What he’s saying is dominate a category and sometimes, it’s better to be the best in a niche.
—
This is great or Mark Cuban because he is right and you said it earlier on, Julie, that when you guys start your business, ladies and gentlemen, you don’t want to go out there and be all things to everyone. You’ll never survive that way and you’ll be too torn in too many different aspects of your company. You want to pick a lane. You want to identify your ideal client and who that is. You don’t want to be everywhere to everybody. I think, Julie, you knew that going into this, but the show led you down this direction to talk like you were going into retail. Am I correct?
There’s a little bit of each. When you start a business, you think you know who your clients are going to be or how you’re going to sell it. To be frank, when I started this company, I absolutely thought I was just going to sell to brides and I was going to sell to every bride, they’re going to come to my website, order for themselves. That I still did, but it was 25% of my revenue. I sold mostly to vendors and wholesale, and I never thought that was the business I was in.
When you start a business, you think you know who your clients will be and how you’ll sell your product, but you have to stay open to changes and unexpected developments. Share on XYou have to be open to what changes and happens. With regards to wanting to be everything to everyone, I wanted to be the only non-slip fabric aisle runner company. I didn’t want competition so I did want to be able to make solid-colored runners that could be used at $27,000 weddings. I did want to be a little bit of everything to everyone. I wanted to have something for everyone could afford. That was what my message was trying to be.
That’s the idea of getting into retail was something we had considered because I wanted it to be available to everyone. I thought maybe we could get a cheaper model made or something with other people’s connections. Obviously, I could only produce so much at a time and store it and pay for it, have it all that. I ordered fabric and had it laminated maybe 5 or 6 times a year. If I had more money in my actual coffers and an investor, I probably would have done it once to twice a year. Would have saved a ridiculous amount of money.
We do need to move on. You did make a decision and pick a lane later on, I believe. You picked to go after the higher-scale weddings, correct?
I don’t want to say anything extra. I’ll tell you what happened after.
I’m letting the cat out of the bag this time.
I’m taking notes of what I’m supposed to remember to tell you later. Don’t worry.
—
Compete with all other products and so you’re taking on risk for infrastructure, risk for internal management, and risk in this retail market. Why?
It’s an opportunity. I’ll tell you why. I can answer this.
I don’t think it’s an opportunity.
Actually, I disagree and I can explain why.
Let her answer.
Product Exclusivity Due To Safety/Liability
Actually, most churches and synagogues no longer allow aisle runners because they only have seen the paper and plastic ones. What generally happens is my clients will request free swatches, which we send out around the world, and they take it there and we get permission. We’re permitted in large cathedrals that don’t allow any other aisle runners but mine because of the liability.
Why do you want to go to retail? That’s a beautiful thing.
I disagree.
Julie, what they’re saying is you have a website, you have all this exclusivity, all you have to do is tell the churches and synagogues go to the website.
The churches aren’t buying them. The brides are buying them. The brides have to know they exist and the fact is in the internet it’s hard to get them to know we exist.
Julie, you want to take on all this incremental risk, lower margins because it’s retail. You’re talking about 33% margins.
Wait until the stores start asking for incentives, everything.
I’m sorry, if she can’t see that herself.
Julie, if you don’t listen to us then this is the best of all situations and will have us solve the problem before.
—
Not a fan of that comment. Sorry. I think I was just standing there and I was like, “What?” It was ping pong. It was crazy. It went longer than that.
Actually, that’s the only one that I’ve ever seen them make fight amongst each other like that.
It went longer. It was crazy. I kept looking to the side like, “Do I do something?” They just kept arguing and I was no part of it. It was really interesting, actually. I loved Mark. Mark had so many awesome ideas and he was really good to me as far as in there. What they’re saying is not incorrect. It would have been great if I could have made something that was less expensive that could have been accessible to everybody because if you go to your local craft store now, you’re still only going to find that dryer sheet aisle runner, unfortunately.
People still don’t know that they can have a better option unless they’re online and they find it. I think that’s what my message was trying to be here. I just wanted brides to have a better option because I usually say to people, “Don’t have an aisle runner at all if you can’t have an original runner.” That’s not in an, “Only buy from us.” It’s going to end up in a ball in the corner of the room. I’ve gone to weddings with the dryer sheet runners and people like, “Is that yours?” I’m like, “No way. That was not mine.” I personally don’t think anyone should ever use those. It really is dangerous liability.
People often don’t know they have a better option unless they find it online. My goal was simply to give brides a better choice. Share on XLet’s listen to them argue again.
—
I don’t think you need anybody here. You got to where you were on your own. I don’t agree with your strategy.
—
Barbara’s out. Any hard feelings there? We can’t talk about it too much because there’s another episode that you were on. All right. Barbara’s out.
—
I did think she would understand it.
You’re missing the obvious, Julie. You want to have all these retailers taking responsibility for your products and selling them. They’re not going to sell it nearly as well as you can. I’m out.
—
You look mad when he went out.
Yeah, it’s edited. It’s a little out of order.
—
Julie, I would rather have a successful, profitable $2 million business than risk everything to maybe get to $4 million or $5 million. I can’t see the scaling into a large business. I’m out.
Two words, I’m out.
—
Do we really have to say two words?
What’s funny is he said that after I said the comment about the trademark. He didn’t wait until the end. I said, “You can’t patent your clothes” and whatever and he goes, “I’m out,” like he didn’t even talk. That was when he said he was out. That’s why he leaned back and he was done. That’s why I’m laughing.
—
Two more sharks are out. Kevin O’Leary is Julie’s last chance to get a deal.
Let’s get down to business, all right? Thank goodness we’ve met. Here’s why. You need me badly. You just don’t know it. I’m going to give you $250,000 for 51% of your business. That’s control.
—
Don’t say too much yet, Julie, but ouch.
My face says it all.
I know. Your face says it all throughout the entire show.
It’s really hard. You have to bite your tongue. It’s hard.
Ouch, but I want entrepreneurs to learn this lesson. I buy businesses, I partner with business owners. Sometimes I do want 51%. The reason for that is because if I’ve got an owner, and I’ve ran into this many times and I’m not saying this is you, Julie, but I will say you can never grow the business beyond what you can grow the owner.
If I can’t grow the owner because they’re constantly stuck in their own way, and I’m constantly battling, fighting, trying to fight for change, trying to get a return on my investment, trying to make it a better business, then I will absolutely ask for control and for 51%. If I have an owner that’s not coachable, like I said a minute ago, but doesn’t really know what they’re doing, now Julie, you knew your business inside out. If I have an owner that doesn’t really know what they’re doing, guess what?
You’re going to take over.
I’m taking over. Just because somebody offers to buy 51% of your business doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Now, because a lot of times you can 49% of a much bigger piece of the pie and you can get distributions and salaries, but when you go to sell it, if they can sell it for a lot higher multiple like an 8, a 9, a 10, then you’re going to get not just a higher distributions and salary, but you’re getting a much bigger cash out piece when you go to sell it than when you would ever sell on your own. Let’s see what she has to say. You can see it on her face.
—
You will not be able to do anything without calling me because I’m going to keep you on the straight and narrow.
—
I would just say he doesn’t know his audience because there’s no keeping Julie on the straight and narrow.
—
You own 49%, you’ll get rich. That’s why they call me Mr. Wonderful.
—
Actually, why do they call him Mr. Wonderful?
I don’t remember. It started the first season, but I don’t remember who coined it. He is wonderful.
—
He is so appealing, isn’t he?
You need my guidance because you’ve gotten lost.
I find that really interesting for you to say because I’ve been working in this business for seven years. I’m known as the aisle guru and because I know what the heck I am doing. I know my business.
I know how to make money. Julie, you’ve met me. The best day of your life other than when you got married, but we’re going to get into a financial marriage and you’re going to love it, believe me.
Loving you already.
I’m going to keep you straight and narrow. You will never think about this again or ever do anything like this. You have to walk down the path of the high-margin runner, not the toilet bowl wedding. I’m going to keep you out of that mess because I’m going to own 51% of the business. Yes or no?
—
Refusing To Give Up Control (51% Stake)
All right, audience, what do you think she’s going to do?
—
Absolutely not.
You’re out of your mind. Why?
To be frank, I would never give up 51% of my business.
You need to give up 51%.
I actually don’t.
You need me badly.
I took an idea that didn’t exist, I made the world know it existed, I ship to different countries every single day. I’m moving into Europe next year. I’m the Vera Wang of aisle runners. I don’t need your 51% of my business being taken by someone who doesn’t understand the wedding industry.
—
Here, I kind of agree with Mr. Wonderful. I also know Julie knew her business inside out so I agree with both sides here because Julie did know her business. She didn’t feel pure BS, sweetheart, because y I don’t know how coachable you would be.
It took me a long time to get here. Do you understand? I have been coached. That’s why I’m where the way I am now. Exactly.
You’ve got to have a coachable partner when I partner with a deal, that person’s got to be coachable. You can make money in any industry. I buy into industries and I partner with business owners. I partner into a company that does graphics, that does car vehicle wraps for first responders. I didn’t know anything about that industry, but I learned. I know how to make money. I know the so the foundations of the business.
I talk about the 6Ps in Exit Rich. You’ve got to have the right people in the right seats, you’ve got to have multiple revenue streams, you’ve got to have your process buttoned up, you’ve got to have the proprietary assets to gradually get a patent, but she couldn’t. That’s okay. She’s first to market and she still dominated. You’ve got to have client diversification. These are patrons, not customer concentration. Most importantly, you want profits.
You can buy a business, I do it all the time, in an industry I know nothing about because the blueprint is the same. You just got to learn the nuances about the industry. For Julie, for her to give up control, it would be like somebody coming and telling me, “Michelle, I’m going to buy your business. I take 51% you take 49%.” I would say, “Jump in a lake,” because I do know my business and my industry is quite unique. Quite unique, actually. I would say the same thing that Julie says. For you guys looking for investors and partners, they don’t always have to have that industry experience.
It’s interesting is that I was the first wedding person to be on the show. Mr. Wonderful had not gone into weddings yet. It was partly my interaction that spurred him into buying all these wedding companies and now he does a lot in weddings.
Are you getting a licensing fee?
Actually, they did reach out to me years later. I think that’s partly why he ended up going that route because he saw the viability in weddings and that people will, as he says, “Pay anything.” Yeah, after this, that’s when he started acquiring all the businesses in the wedding industry.
—
Just counter.
I’m counting back 15%. I’m looking for an investment, not a full invested partner.
Your business isn’t worth $1.8 million.
I think it is.
Turn around and get out of here. You too.
I can’t get along with that woman. I would never.
She would eat you up and spit you out without even thinking twice.
—
“She would eat you up and spit you out without even thinking twice.”
I didn’t even hear that. That was said after I left the room.
I do remember that ending. When you went into Shark Tank, were you looking to get a deal?
Only if it really made my business better. I really thought Mark would be the only one I would maybe be interested in working with because he was innovative and he didn’t squash entrepreneurs by buying their company and putting them aside. He’s known for letting them stay on and supporting their ideas. I was a big thing of that. That was my goal. I tried to appear appeal to him in that way. I probably didn’t want to deal in the long run. I was at a really fundamental part of my business where I was turning a turning a corner.
What’s funny about this whole thing though, and it’s overshare, not only did Mark buy runners from me for many of his NBA events after that, but I actually did all the events for Mark’s company and his own wedding. If you go back and look at his wedding pictures, he has a monogram runner from me in his wedding. I ended up actually doing events for four of them afterwards and not obviously not Mr. Fubu. He did not like me. They believed in the idea, which is pretty cool.
We’re not going to get into so much life after the tank because we’re going to have you on again. We’re going to talk about life after the tank when we bring you on for your second episode with Barbara Corcoran, correct? That’s when we’re going to get into more nitty-gritty of what Julie is up to now. Julie, you were a fantastic guest.
Thank you.
Confidence & Treatment Of Women In Business
I love how you were ready. You knew your stuff, you knew everything. They off-scripted you from the real business at times, but you pounced back, you were a survivor. I don’t want to get into what your business is doing now, we’ll do that next episode. I really want to thank you for coming on. We can tell you’re a ball of fire. People say the same about me.
I think it’s a positive thing. You’re not insulting me at all. I worked really hard. We both probably worked really hard in our lives and pursued education. I did not grow up with any of this. I grew up in retail. That’s true. I was working the cash register. I think coming along in life and gaining that confidence is what women need to be more successful in business, quite frankly. If I wasn’t a woman, they wouldn’t say all that about me.
Yes. Sad but true. Unfortunately, I lost my husband and I was I was treated so much differently by the male contractors that my husband hired landscaping. They treated me so differently that I ended up firing them all and starting all over again. There is a difference, for sure. I appreciate you being on the show. I love to thank all of my readers for being loyal, always tuning in.
I told you this was going to be a great crazy ride and it’s good to see also how Shark Tank has evolved so much in to season 2 to where they are now. Go back to this episode, share it with your friends, share it with your colleagues, share it with your circle. Go back because there’s some golden nuggets in here that I think are very important to go back to. We’ll see you next time on Exit Rich interviewing Shark Tank.
Important Links
About Julie Goldman
Prior to launching my current brand Superfly, I founded and led The Original Runner Company, a multi award-winning brand in the event industry. I invented and brought to market non-slip, fully customizable fabric aisle runners—creating an entirely new international product category with untapped potential. Our clients included global brands such as Disney, iconic venues like The Breakers and Biltmore Estate, and renowned event designers like Mindy Weiss and Mark’s Garden, producing aisle runners for everyone from Kim Kardashian to Neil Diamond — and thousands of real brides and brands.
I grew and scaled the company for over 18 years—winning multiple pitch competitions and earning honors for marketing/ leadership from organizations including American Express OPEN, Dell, and Comcast, Make Mine a Million —before achieving a successful exit in 2020 during the pandemic. I also courageously appeared on Shark Tank and two subsequent follow-up programs, further cementing its brand visibility and market validation. As Founder & CEO, I led every facet of the business, earning recognition for my product innovation, unique marketing approach, and niche brand leadership on a global scale.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.