Where Is BRUW From Shark Tank Today?
For cool coffee aficionados who prefer cold brew (not just iced coffee), it can sometimes prove challenging to get their fix. Sure, plenty of coffee shops sell cold brew nowadays, but what about when folks are stuck at home or tight on cash? Most at-home coffee filters are made for hot java, and those that aren't often end up being expensive or messy. That's where BRUW and its mason-jar filters come in — at least, that was BRUW founder Max Feber's pitch to the Sharks on "Shark Tank" Season 10 Episode 9.
Specifically, Feber asked for $50,000 in exchange for a 25% stake in his company. At 18 years old, Feber impressed the Sharks with his hustle, his energy, and the fact that he'd been watching the show since he was 8 years old (via YouTube). Ultimately, Feber was able to strike a $50,000-for-30% deal with Mark Cuban, and the two seemed to have a special connection. Cuban referred to Feber as a "little mini-me" and stated, "He's exactly why we do the show. Entrepreneurship — the American Dream — is alive and well."
Did that special connection pay off, though?
A tale of two companies
Surprisingly, in order to fully understand the story of BRUW, we must look at another business, which appeared on "Shark Tank" Season 9 Episode 8. Tea has an ancient history, but Jenni-Lyn Williams, the "Chief Snark Officer" of Snarky Tea, wanted to modernize the drink's image. So, she created a "foul-mouthed" tea company all about catering to "real women" not "woodland fairies." Its tea blends include "Fierce B*tch," "Get Your A** in Bed," and "Calm the F**k Down."
Williams went on "Shark Tank" in a jacket with the words "Mrs. Wonderful" (in reference to Kevin "Mr. Wonderful" O'Leary) on it, and she offered the Sharks a 25% stake in her company in exchange for $150,000. Yet, O'Leary was shocked that the brand was only for women, thus leaving 50% of the market untapped right off the bat. "I drink tea," he protested. "What am I, chopped liver, here?" Still, in the end, the brand's strong personality did entice Guest Shark Bethenny Frankel and the chopped liver himself, Mr. Wonderful, into a deal. Williams secured the $150,000 she was asking for by handing over a 50% stake, split between Frankel and O'Leary.
So, what does any of this have to do with BRUW?
Snarky Tea bought BRUW
When Feber appeared on the show, he had just finished his freshman year of undergrad at Babson College. Just a few years later, though — per Babson Thought & Action — Feber was already feeling burnt out. "I realized I began to wake up every day exhausted by the business," Feber told Babson.
Unfortunately for Feber, nobody seemed interested in buying BRUW from him. Instead, he decided to create a cold brew tea product in order to revitalize the brand, and this caught the eye of Snarky Tea's Williams. The two partnered up, and halfway through product development, Williams decided she wanted to buy BRUW, after all. Feber turned to Cuban for advice, and Cuban simply replied, "Max, I support you no matter what, don't worry." It seems that their special connection really did pay off in the end, and Snarky Tea officially acquired BRUW.
"Exiting BRUW was the biggest sigh of relief," Feber later reflected. A look at his Linkedin reveals he's nonetheless devoted himself to the business world in the years since. After selling BRUW, Feber went on to become a brand manager, product marketing manager, and director of operations at various different companies. He's also founded a new business called "Bellwether," but few details seem to be publicly available about it yet. Perhaps we'll soon find out, that is, if Feber pitches Bellwether on the next season of "Shark Tank!"