Stepping into a set of a legendary television spectacle can shake anyone’s confidence. Even if the bright lights aren’t enough of a challenge, five of the world’s top entrepreneurs breathing down your neck might make it impossible to keep composure. However, the lessons two locals learned over their years of business partnership forged a spirit that was unbreakable by any force of nature, even a room full of Sharks.
This past Friday, Bryan Visintin and Ani Armstrong’s showdown with the business masterminds of ABC’s Shark Tank was broadcast across the nation, ending in a landmark deal for the duo’s VSEAT, a noseless and bumpless bike seat that’s been changing the lives of cyclists. After pitching the VSEAT to the panel of economic heavyweights, Visintin and Armstrong secured $200,000 in funding from the combination of Kevin O’Leary and Robert Herjavec, in exchange for 25% equity in their business.
The duo created the VSEAT in 2017, grinding out years of design work before finally breaking meaningful ground in sales during 2023. The product promotes a healthy and comfortable cycling experience by doing away with the pressures of a traditional saddle, with the v-shaped design distributing rider weight to the more supportive sitz bones rather than pressure on genital areas. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health backed up the product by stating that noseless bike seats reduce pressure on the groin, meaning a lower risk of sexual health issues such as erectile dysfunction.
Visintin, who was a trainer in the West Los Angeles area including Santa Monica and Venice for two decades, didn’t know what to expect on Shark Tank, but called the production a “well-oiled machine.”
“They don’t tell you what’s going to happen, and I think that’s by design, in the fact that it really is like you’re going in pitching a product to investors, and that’s awesome, especially for people who might not feel comfortable on TV … when we actually got in the Shark Tank and had our ability to pitch, for us, it was fun … because we were prepared and we know our product so well, that it was more like a fun kind of conversation,” Visintin said.
The panel of O’Leary, Herjavec, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner and renowned business magnate Mark Cuban were “smart” and “down-to-earth people” according to the VSEAT co-founders, and the room asked poignant questions of both Visintin and Armstrong before putting together various offers. O’Leary and Herjavec both had individual offers on the table, with Visintin asking if the two would go into business together on the VSEAT. After the $200,000 for 25% equity offer came, Visintin said the time to discuss the offer was very limited, similar to how it plays out on TV.
“[We asked] can we discuss this?,” Visintin said. “And they looked at us and said ‘right there you can.’ So we kind of looked to each other and discussed it. We’ve been through so much together that we can almost sort of know what each other’s thinking most of the time. So we knew it was a good deal.”
Armstrong, an Armenian immigrant with a business and law background, had her first experience with her co-founder as a client of Visintin’s. Quickly, they realized that Armstrong’s uneasy relationship with bike seats could be transformed into a thriving business idea.
“She wanted to work on her legs [through cycling] … when I suggested that she sit down to ride a bike, she immediately refused, and so after about 10 minutes of going back and forth … she finally let on to me that she doesn’t want to ride the bike because of the bike seat, and the idea of the VSEAT was born pretty much in that,” Visintin said.
After toying with the idea, Armstrong created the v-shaped mold they were looking for, but had to wait on evolving the idea into a full-fledged business due to a manufacturer having to pivot to work on COVID-19 testing during the pandemic. Eventually the VSEAT was available for sale, and an investment in marketing blew up the product, selling nearly $300,000 worth of product within a year of filming Shark Tank.
“Lo and behold, the second we put money behind marketing and put out some commercials, [it] instantly started selling, which was pretty cool,” Visintin said. “It’s pretty amazing because all of a sudden, the thing that we’ve had a concept for in our head for five years … people out in the public are wanting it and liking it.”
From a training session all the way to the Tank, the duo has been together every step of the way, and have learned to keep their emotions leveled even under the bright television lights.
“I think we’ve always been aligned on [our goals] … we’re both very positive, we’re one foot in front of the other,” Armstrong said. “Even on the down days, we are able to … go to the next step … a lot of these little steps is what got us from 2017 [to] today.”
For more information on the seat, visit thevseat.com