Dwayne Walker and Tim Samuel got the entrepreneurial bug after a pitch competition at Kennesaw State University.
It was set up like ABC’s Shark Tank. Local investors heard students’ early concept pitches and how they would make that business a reality. The childhood friends got second place.
“We were so close to first that we vowed to make the business a real thing,” Samuel said, laughing. “I think we were a bit spiteful.”
That motivation led them to the actual Shark Tank stage to pitch Sparketh, an at-home subscription art class and an investment with Barbara Corcoran and guest investor Daniel Lubetzky. The sharks offered $100,000 for 20% of the business, as long as it became profitable in the next six months. That offer countered their original ask — $100,000 for 8%.
Walker and Samuel said yes.
The founders launched Sparketh in 2015 with $500 and have bootstrapped it ever since. Walker, a self-taught artist, creates the art lessons based on how he learned, while Samuel films and runs business strategy. The team of two learned to code to create the platform.
The startup has more than 1,000 courses and hires art and education college students and professionals to create and teach lessons. The subscription is $25 per month, and 10,000 students are on the platform.
“I love working with self-taught entrepreneurs like Tim and Dwayne who have hustled every step of the way to create their brand without formal education in business,” Corcoran said in a statement. “Time and again as they’ve built Sparketh, they’ve demonstrated the trait I look for in most partners, which is the ability to get back up.”
Walker and Samuel scored their first customers at a home school conference when they first launched. They continued to attend education conferences while pitching Sparketh at any contest they could, prepping them for their time on the “Shark Tank.”
That didn’t stop them from being nervous stepping on stage. But Walker felt calmer once he stood in front of the sharks.
“We’ve pitched Sparketh one-on-one to thousands of parents over the years,” Walker said. “It felt natural.”
