Adrian Zhang and Justine Tiu, founders of Durham-based crochet startup The Woobles, have already turned a $200 investment into a $5 million enterprise. Later this week, their company gets its “Shark Tank” debut — putting more eyeballs than ever on the crochet-training kits the ed-tech company sells.
Ahead of the episode, which airs at 8 p.m. Sept. 30 on ABC (NYSE: DIS), Zhang and Tiu can’t reveal whether sharks such as Kevin O’Leary, Mark Cuban or Lori Greiner were hooked. But they did say that the episode, which filmed over the summer, was a lot more fun than they had expected.
“You go in there and it’s like you’re on a different planet,” Zhang said.
Tiu added, “That planet looks exactly what it looks like on TV."
Zhang and Tiu are relatively private people — and in no way are they closet reality stars, making the “Shark Tank” experience entirely out of their comfort zones. The married couple, who met in a chemistry classroom at Duke University, never set out to be what they’re becoming — crochet celebrities.
Before Tiu started videotaping tutorials of her hands showing crochet techniques, she worked as a Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) designer. Zhang is a former Wall Street trader. They don't consider themselves “social-media people.” So when the email came in January from a producer on “Shark Tank,” their first instinct was a hard “no.”
“It seemed really daunting,” Zhang said. “I’m not sure we’re the types of people who make exciting TV. … We thought you had to have a crazy personality, a TV-type personality.”
Just getting the email was a surreal experience.
“Is this real?” Tiu remembers thinking. But they researched the process. They watched a slew of episodes. And they became more comfortable with the idea.
They shared their story on an audition tape and got back to work.
Then “Shark Tank” called.
Preparing for 'Shark Tank' appearance
They filmed the episode over the summer after binge watching more “Shark Tank,” so much so that they felt they knew the “sharks” before being thrown into the tank.
“Going into it I was super nervous,” Zhang said. “But coming out of it … that was kind of fun. What you see on the show is truly what happens. … They don’t edit and say, ‘Pause, let’s say that again.’ What they show is truly what happens in there. And at the end of the day, it was a pretty fun experience.”
“We just never thought this would happen,” Tiu said of the two-year-old company. “I’m a pretty private person. … So it was just a very out-of-your-comfort-zone, mind-blowing experience.”
But it was also something in line with what the pair’s mission has been with The Woobles.
“We tell our customers to be open to learning something new and trying something new, see where it gets you,” she said. And Zhang had had local practice, after all. He said pitching as part of the Duke Startup Challenge years ago actually helped him with the show.
But no matter what happens on the show, they’re expecting a marketing explosion. That’s what’s happened to other Shark Tank alumni.
Dinesh Tadepalli, the Morrisville entrepreneur behind edible utensil firm IncrEDIBLE Eats and a 2021 “Shark Tank” contestant, said he made $50,000 in revenue in two days from the show. And he said the marketing boost is still coming.
“They need to make sure their website takes care of the additional traffic,” he said about The Woobles.
Tiu said they've been stocking up in anticipation of more orders.
The business was already seeing “explosive” growth. Even without the “Shark Tank” exposure, the pair are always thinking about inventory, particularly with the supply-chain challenges. And the episode is airing at a challenging time. In addition to The Woobles having to stock up for the holiday season, Tiu is about to release a book on beginner crocheting through Simon & Schuster called “Crochet Amigurumi For Every Occasion.”
Zhang is quick to point out that it’s the same publisher for titles by President Barack Obama.
“So she’s on the list with Obama,” he said.
