Kevin almost got away with owning half of a 33million dollar business for only 400k… And Mark was advising them to take the deal. Smh… this is why it’s important to not cave under pressure to the sharks and to believe in yourself and your product! Good for them!
Keep in mind that this episode originally aired in 2013. Thanks to being on Shark Tank, Xero Shoes has expanded WAY beyond having just a DIY sandal making kit. We now have a complete line of casual and performance shoes, boots, and sandals for almost every activity. They're all barefoot-inspired, lightweight, and backed with a 5,000 mile sole warranty.
Hey Steven, I'm from the Philippines and I've been saving some cash from my hard work just to purchase my first Xero Shoes I am so excited, and I keep on scrolling your website from which pair I can choose. You truly made something beautiful for mankind sir!
Love the man’s confidence. He is unshakable despite the sharks rude and stupid comments. Come on Barbara, “you remind me of my ex-husband”, wtf is that
Xero Shoes have changed my life! Was suffering with plantar fascitis, and merely a month after starting to run in their shoes, I am completely pain free!
Xeros have absolutely changed my life too! I wear them everyday everywhere! Gym, home, on stage, on the beach, and my back and hips and knees have never felt better! This is him! I’m telling you, foot wise, these shoes will change you life. Don’t hesitate! I will never go back! Xero drop for life baby! 👟👟
crazy how it's 10 years after this aired and the only two barefoot shoe companies i know are Xero and Vivo and the latter is way too expensive lol. i'm not a fan of the string designs but i'm glad they got into the sneaker game cuz their actual shoes are mad nice
I adopted zero drop, wide toe box minimalist philosophy four years ago, when I retired from 50 combined years Navy and federal wildlife law enforcement careers, and prepared to hike the Appalachian Trail. 50 years wearing pointed “foot coffins”! I own a couple brands, but by far, my favorites are my Xero Prios, and Xero HFS. I’m glad to see that Stephen and Leah stuck to their guns.
I'm excited to work for the company -- so glad they didn't take the deal and sacrifice 50% ownership. Building it up on their own, the hard way, ensured the company could always make footwear that aligned with their core principles. So many other "barefoot shoe" companies compromised their beliefs the second the fad cooled off, whereas Xero remained steadfast and quietly built a strong following. Plus, it helps that the shoes are crazy comfortable :)
@@fpshooterful $400K for 8% Equity > Company walk out with "bare feet" per Kevin, Gotta love Mr. Wonderful 🤣No deal in 2013 > Company goes on to hit $33.6 Million in Net sales in 2021. I'd say they Laughed last and laughed loudest😂
@@kenyanfurnishedrentalsllc2505 Great they made their profit. But, their "value" still can't compare to what the Sharks have in their bank. Otherwise they wouldn't be sharks....
@@fpshooterfulthis show isn’t about being in competition with the sharks you know. They are just starting their business? How and why would you ever expect them to be worth more than people who’ve had multiple businesses for decades? The point is that the Sharks said their idea was no good and one tried to get 50% but they believed in themselves and became successful. The reality is that most of the products the sharks do invest in have not done as well as this product. The sharks were wrong here. That’s all there is to it
Who cares the rich will not inherent the kingdom of God so they have received their reward. I rather live a humble life and inherent the kingdom of Heaven.
👉🏼Amen to that...🙏🏼 Very soon, when the central bank digital currencies are rolled out and there is no longer cash money, the powers that be will be able to "turn off" the accounts of those who refuse to bow down to "the program"... meaning "no buying or selling"... 👉🏼Our trust then and now must be 100% on the Creator Lord Jesus only... 🛐 👉🏼Just sayin'...🙄
This all makes me smile. Sort of like my initial reaction to the product and my absolute certainty that I could never wear them comfortably. Four years later, I don't wear anything else and loved the product so much I came to work for the company. I think that makes me the winning shark.
Working in healthcare and doing 12h shifts are brutal to your feet. Hoka shoes are thing around work and I’m like yoo that’s just too much. Need to get back to the basics. I’ve been wearing my Xero Aptos and it’s best shoes I’ve ever worn to work. Slip it on and let’s go! I used to have to put my feet up midshift cuz my shoes were killing me, not anymore. I’m on my 10th+ pair. Can’t wear anything else..
Gotta love the end screen showing how much they went on to make by 2021. To be fair though, as the product was at the time, just rubber and rope, and a concept that contradicts decades of footwear trends, it's hard to see it's value. Now with a full line of shoes and boots, they're one of the more notable brands in the market and I have a pair of their shoes on the way as I type this out. The exposure of Shark Tank is sometimes better than the investment.
If we fast forward to today and they presented their current collection of normal looking shoes, im sure some of them would be on board. Xero shoes along with other barefoot brands are doing fairly well.
Never ... ever... let anyone sway you from your dream. There are so many who will never understand. Pass them by and look back as you enter the new spaces.
I tried xero shoes a couple of years ago in my decision to take a chance with barefoot shoes. I found that It's more than just rubber and a string. It's about freeing your feet. I fell in love with these shoes right off the bat and will never go back to regular shoes.
Kevin being so mean sayingg its just a rubber and a string , but still want 50% of it. Who wants to work with someone who dishonor ur product like that😂
5:17 these guys do their best to try manipulate them into selling multi-million dollar idea or project or corporation I'm so glad that they did not fall for it because that these shoes are really going off
The only “bubble” about to pop are a certain brand’s heel cushion bubbles. Got my first Xero shoes for Christmas last year. LOVE THEM! Just got two more! XERO ROCKS
I just ordered their winter snow boot because the toebox is wide. I have difficulty finding shoes because my one foot is a half size bigger than the other and I have wide feet. So I’m hoping this brand does the trick 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
Just keep in mind these are very minimalist, your feet will likely need time to toughen up. I made the mistake of wearing my xero sandals to a theme park with concrete floors, after about 6 hours my feet were absolutely killing me. If you find yourself on hard floors a lot I would look into Altras, they have a zero drop heel and wide toe box but they have tons of cushion.
Good they didn't get involved with those greedy a..holes. I love their shoes. My favourite shoes in the last 3 years have been xeroshoes Hana. I've 3 pairs in addition to two other models.
Xero shoe is helping me with my lower back ache and help my ankle to be stronger...love this shoes...changing my life ...GREAT shoes!! shark tank missing this one...
I might consider getting a pair of Xero Aptos slip-on shoes and a pair of Xero Aqua Cloud sandals for the spring/summer months... I could see why they became a popular choice with with people who love the minimalist shoe lifestyle...the shoes mimic walking around in bare feet with ground feel...
If the company’s really THAT worthless, then why offer to give them USD 400,000 in exchange for HALF of their “worthlessness”? As a shark, you’ll also have to work on something that you deem to be so worthless. Seriously, why even offer a deal?! 🤣🤣🤣
My friend actually had something like this invented, many many years ago he tried pitching it to a few people but everyone just laughed at him and eventually his patent and company or whatever got "bought out"
That's not our value. Those are our NET SALES from 2021 :-). The value is typically much higher than net sales, especially with a growth rate like ours (6x in a row on the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in America)
This was funny haha they so look down on you if you're barefoot but so glad they didn't take that low offer. I run 5000 miles a year in minimal shoes and a lot of them in xero 4mm sandals since 2014. I only just discovered the Xero HFS and it's unbelievable shoe even better than vapour glove 4 since it not only feels amazing but it looks great too.
Glad to see the company did $30m plus in sales. I took a look at their website and they have other SKUs as well. I don't think that was a great idea. The fall for a lot of shoe companies is too many SKUs in inventory. So while the sales figure looks great, I just wonder how much they have in stock.
We are VERY attentive to not getting "over-SKU-ed." We keep expanding the line because once people get used to Xero Shoes, they want to wear them for EVERYTHING... so we develop new products for new use cases or with variations in features that have been requested. We've run out of inventory almost every year because our growth has outstripped our ability to buy enough inventory. (we're working on that ;-) )
@@stevensashen6956 this is very true, I'm on my fourth pair of Xero and I use them all for different things. Waiting for dress shoes to get my fifth pair haha
I own a pair of these and they are very comfortable but definitely don't look the best if you're going somewhere a little bit nicer I recommend bringing some nice Birkenstocks or something 😅
@@stevensashen6956 I also don't care too much for the majority of the styles, but your shoes are worth it REGARDLESS! Running in the HFS cured my plantar fascitis in a month (though i do like the dawn grey color), and the 360 is awesome for basketball! I have NEVER rolled an ankle in them, unlike the numerous times in Jordan's. Thank you so much for your innovation! By the way, I would LOVE to see some minimilist CLEATS!
Let`s be honest. Their shoes are completely different today than they were 8 years ago. They DID change. Had they "stick to their guns" they would`ve been bankrupt right now.
I just found out abojt the barefoot shoes and if they had the presentation of the RU-vid video, I had they would've gotten the endorsement. Well that and some shoes as well. Of course they're gonna laugh off jandals but their shoes are way more interesting. Unlucky for the sharks they've missed a heavy hitter
I came back to this segment because I wanted to see what they were charging for their product back then but, they never got a chance to say. I can't believe how expensive these sandals are for how simple they are. You are paying for activism and not for the footwear. How do I get a pair without the hippy cost attached? I really want a pair of the Z Trek but they are $60 before shipping! The product reviews that were not happy said they end up out $15 for the entire experience and have no sandals because they had to pay to send them back. Why is this company operating this way?
In a way, Shark Tank made us who we are today. The focus we got from preparing to be on the show is what helped us decide that being a "lifestyle business" was not enough. The criticism and other feedback (much of which you don't see in this clip) from the Sharks is what helped us decide to expand from a DIY sandal kit to a complete line of casual and performance shoes, boots, and sandals.
This pitch always kinda rubbed me wrong way, as it was one of the first to pave the path of the "don't actually want a deal, just want exposure" pitches.
@@MsSamareh Our goal is to change the world by helping people discover the comfort, benefits, and FUN of natural movement. If a Big Shoe company tries to copy us, then we won! Plus, no company would ever copy our entire line. There's always a way to run a business successfully even with big players competing.
@@stevensashen6956 first of all, thank you for taking the time to reply. I would like to follow up with a couple of things: - you're preaching to the choir here - I make my spouse's minimalist shoes for this reason. Not to say that I don't appreciate your spreading the good word (and in shark tank!) and expanding the understanding around the health benefits of minimalist shoes. Still, you aren't the only game in town. I came across this concept and accepted it long before I ever heard of your brand - you're not the only game in town, there is already a lot of competition doing similar education like you and doing their own styles. Your styles are nice enough, but not groundbreaking. At the end of the day, how different can one pair of Huaraches look from another? - I personally do think that your product is overpriced, but you have to take that with a grain of salt because I hardly think any shoe is worth the price. I often buy Vivo Barefoot because the styles are most aligned to what I like and the quality is great. And they have great sales. - your lasts are way too wide in the heel area, and I also discovered that they aren't as wide in the toe box as I would expect. Look at minimalist forums, and see what people are saying about your shoes. - someone can buy the materials that you sell for diy kits at a fraction of the price and look on RU-vid for how to make them for free. Like you say in the video, the tribe that does it best does it on almost nothing, and certainly are going to be buying your product. - the quality is good based on my untrained eye, but it isn't worlds apart from other big companies. They can do their own minimalist shoes when it comes into vogue and a lot cheaper since it takes much less raw material. - though I like the lacing system around the heel, I don't particularly like the designs and how they look on foot. I am picky, though. I'll give you this, in my opinion, they do look better than soft stars, and those are popular. In the end, I wish you success, but I still agree with the Sharks that it will be extremely difficult for you to become a household name. Keep on keeping on!
@@MsSamareh For some reason my replies to you don't get posted. I'm trying once more: First, thanks for the kind words and your support of us and the minimalist/barefoot/natural movement. The more the word spreads, the better it can be for everyone. Next, I never claimed we were the only game in town. In 2009, when we started the business, though, we were the SECOND game in town and there were no others. And the "first" game was someone who treated his business as a hobby.. More, we LOVE that now there are dozens and dozens of natural movement footwear companies -- and more every month. Each one builds awareness that helps us all. That said, we are (as far as we know), the second largest natural movement footwear brand in the world. You mention huaraches, but I'm assuming you know we have over 30 styles of shoes, boots, and non-huarache sandals, with 8-12 new styles coming out every year. If you simply like their styles better, that's okay, but then the price comparison is sort of moot. BTW, if you have suggestions for improvement, our product team is all ears. Making footwear is an evolving process and each season we improve what we're doing. Submit feedback at xeroshoes.com/feedback (THANKS!) I'm not clear how you think we're overpriced when the products from the company you mention are more expensive than ours. If you're comparing their sale prices to our MSRP prices, that seems a bit unfair. And, it seems that, sadly, you missed our MASSIVE sale in September, when we had many best-sellers at 70% off (don't miss the next one by signing up at xeroshoes.com/newsletter/). Plus, with our 5,000 mile sole warranty, our "net price" is typically lower than the few less expensive products on the market. I know that you can find free plans for making huaraches online. The videos that I PUT online in 2009 were among the first, if not the first, where I gave away what was our entire business model at the time. And I explained how to get materials, too... but at that time there was no way to get them less expensively. That may have changed... BUT... the materials we developed specifically for huarache style barefoot sandals, our FeelTrue® rubber soles, typically outperform other products, which is why we back them with our 5,000 mile sole warranty. And our patented adjustable lacing system is simple and unique. I'm all for people doing it all themselves.. .but remember, we're talking about huarache-style sandals and our company is MUCH more than that. If and when Big Shoe decides to make truly barefoot-inspired product like ours, with wider foot-shaped toe boxes, zero drop and flexible soles, and lightweight designs... that's GREAT. What I mean is that we're simply trying to help people experience the comfort, health benefits, and FUN of natural movement. And if the big companies jump on board, that will be because help EVERYONE. It won't put us out of business. It'll prove that what we've been doing and saying since 2009 is valid (as are the experiences of the over 750,000 of our customers. So, once again, thanks for being part of the MOVEMENT about natural movement. I hope you continue to... Live Life Feet First! -Steven
@@MsSamareh I keep trying to reply and my replies keep getting deleted. One more try 🙂 First, thanks for the kind words and your support of us and the minimalist/barefoot/natural movement. The more the word spreads, the better it can be for everyone. Next, I never claimed we were the only game in town. In 2009, when we started the business, though, we were the SECOND game in town and there were no others. And the "first" game was someone who treated his business as a hobby.. More, we LOVE that now there are dozens and dozens of natural movement footwear companies -- and more every month. Each one builds awareness that helps us all. That said, we are (as far as we know), the second largest natural movement footwear brand in the world. You mention huaraches, but I'm assuming you know we have over 30 styles of shoes, boots, and non-huarache sandals, with 8-12 new styles coming out every year. If you simply like their styles better, that's okay, but then the price comparison is sort of moot. BTW, if you have suggestions for improvement, our product team is all ears. Making footwear is an evolving process and each season we improve what we're doing. Send us your feedback. I'm not clear how you think we're overpriced when the products from the company you mention are more expensive than ours. If you're comparing their sale prices to our MSRP prices, that seems a bit unfair. And, it seems that, sadly, you missed our MASSIVE sale in September, when we had many best-sellers at 70% off. Plus, with our 5,000 mile sole warranty, our "net price" is typically lower than the few less expensive products on the market. I know that you can find free plans for making huaraches online. The videos that I PUT online in 2009 were among the first, if not the first, where I gave away what was our entire business model at the time. And I explained how to get materials, too... but at that time there was no way to get them less expensively. That may have changed... BUT... the materials we developed specifically for huarache style barefoot sandals, our FeelTrue® rubber soles, typically outperform other products, which is why we back them with our 5,000 mile sole warranty. And our patented adjustable lacing system is simple and unique. I'm all for people doing it all themselves.. .but remember, we're talking about huarache-style sandals and our company is MUCH more than that. If and when Big Shoe decides to make truly barefoot-inspired product like ours, with wider foot-shaped toe boxes, zero drop and flexible soles, and lightweight designs... that's GREAT. What I mean is that we're simply trying to help people experience the comfort, health benefits, and FUN of natural movement. And if the big companies jump on board, that will be because help EVERYONE. It won't put us out of business. It'll prove that what we've been doing and saying since 2009 is valid (as are the experiences of the over 750,000 of our customers. So, once again, thanks for being part of the MOVEMENT about natural movement. I hope you continue to... Live Life Feet First! -Steven
When the episode first aired, I texted Barbara and said, "If you had invested, I could have used some of that money for plastic surgery so I wouldn't look like your ex." ;-)
So many "experts"... yet Mr. Wonderful gave Sam Bankman Fried millions of dollars which ended up in his own pocket. Get rich quick is the mission on Shark Tank.
