Denver startup mcSquares hasn’t had your typical "Shark Tank" experience.
After trying for years to get on the show, the reusable sticky note company debuted in May and walked away with a deal from Mr. Wonderful, Kevin O’Leary.
But, that wasn’t the end of the story.
mcSquares filmed its episode in June 2019, aired this May and didn’t close the deal with O’Leary until a month later.
With this spread out timeline, the terms of the deal changed from the initial $300,000 for 25% of the company, to something much less equity heavy.
“That’s not usually how it goes,” founder Anthony Franco said. “Because we were such a different company, the terms changed quite a bit.”
Due to rapid growth at the start of this year, Franco said the capital became less important for the startup. Instead, he just wanted O’Leary’s expertise and guidance.
After some back-and-forth, they agreed on a revised deal: $50,000 for an 11 percent stake.
The startup has developed a line of eco-friendly products including reusable sticky notes, desktop whiteboards and dry-erase tiles that can turn any room, virtual or physical, into a collaborative environment.
Before the pandemic, mcSquares were being used for communication, organization, collaboration and teaching in physical spaces. Now, with the need for social distancing, the company’s tools have found an increasing relevance as teachers, students and professionals connect with each other virtually.
“We’ve seen a huge increase in revenue. Generally we’re not sure if it is because of or in spite of [the pandemic],” Franco said. “We think our growth is coincidentally coinciding with it.”
And the growth has led to a crucial milestone for the company. Since launching in 2016, mcSquares has sold more than 500,000 of its reusable Stickies, a product that can be used and erased 2,000 times. With that, the company estimates that it has prevented more than a billion sticky notes from piling up in landfills.
Following the Shark Tank appearance, the startup kicked off a Start Engine crowdfunding campaign, raising more than $500,000 from 800 investors.
The company’s growth has allowed mcSquares to expand its operations to a 25,000 square foot space in the Denver metro area.
The larger space brings together design, manufacturing, marketing, sales and shipping along with a 1,500 square foot showroom and training center under one roof.
Franco said mcSquares was operating in 6,000 square feet and exploring new spaces when the "Shark Tank" episode aired. He was concerned the company was biting off more than it could chew with a larger office.
“At the time it felt like a little bit of not looking deep enough while we leap,” he said. “In hindsight, we should’ve done it six months earlier.”
By the end of the year, mcSquares plans to quadruple in size, bringing on 10 new employees for a total of 25.
To bolster its growth, mcSquares recently closed its largest education deal to date, selling 6,600 mcSquares Surfaces to the Novi School District in Michigan. With the products, Novi will supply every student with a personal whiteboard for remote learning, before they are eventual used in a socially-distanced classroom.
“Initially when I started mcSquares, I put a moniker that I’m a reformed technologist, going back to the chalkboard,” Franco said. “Now, it’s not an ‘or’ it’s an ‘and.’ We’re being used instead of technology, but also in conjunction with it.”
