{"id":232,"date":"2021-06-24T16:55:29","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T20:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-explorations.pantheonsite.io\/?p=232"},"modified":"2021-07-13T15:14:32","modified_gmt":"2021-07-13T19:14:32","slug":"rutgers-entrepreneur-sebs-alumnus-juan-salinas-is-for-placement-only","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev-explorations.pantheonsite.io\/rutgers-entrepreneur-sebs-alumnus-juan-salinas-is-for-placement-only\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s a Deal!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Juan Salinas, now the founder of nutritional snack brand P-nuff Crunch, was working on a\u202fRutgers MBA\u202fin\u202f2018 when he won the top prize<\/a>\u202fin Rutgers Business School’s\u202fannual business plan competition. But his winning pitch at Rutgers was tame in comparison to the flair he exhibited on the October 23 episode of\u202f ABC’s Shark Tank<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When Salinas stepped before the five sharks, he was dressed in a white lab coat. He introduced himself as a\u202ffood scientist<\/a>\u202fwho studied at Rutgers University (he earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees here), and briefly summarized his work for several large food companies as a food formulator. A moment later, he ripped off his lab jacket to reveal a bare, muscular chest and chiseled abs. He told the sharks that his interest in bodybuilding drove his desire to produce a snack that was both nutritious and delicious.<\/p>\n

Once the gushing and smirks subsided, the sharks asked Salinas about his product sales ($104,000 at the time of recording), how many stores sell the snack (450 in the U.S.), and where it sits in stores (with the healthy snacks).<\/p>\n

The problem? Salinas explained that the peanut ingredient in his product caused him to be forced out of several manufacturing plants, so with the help of a family investment, he purchased a facility of his own. He said that despite his strengths in formulating and nutrition, he needed help in sales and marketing.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Entrepreneur Juan Salinas making his pitch on Shark Tank’s Season 12, Episode 2 on Oct. 23. Photo credit: Shark Tank.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As one of the sharks puzzled aloud over how to value the company, entrepreneur Mark Cuban interrupted. He said he once devoured a bag of P-nuff Crunch that his wife brought home from the store, and he added that she was disappointed when she couldn’t find more.<\/p>\n

And then Cuban offered Salinas a deal: $300,000 for a 25 percent stake in the company. Salinas looked stunned. The other sharks looked equally surprised. Salinas countered, reducing the stake to 15 percent. Cuban shook his head.<\/p>\n

The other sharks encouraged Salinas to take the deal. (Kevin O’Leary even asked Salinas, “What’s there to think about?”) After a few more exchanges, Cuban offered $400,000 for the 25 percent stake. Salinas was quiet, looking as if he might be doing calculations in his head.<\/p>\n

And then he suddenly shouted: “I’ll do it!”<\/p>\n

“I’m going to change your life,” Cuban told him. “We’re going to make a lot of money.”<\/p>\n

Back stage, a teary-eyed Salinas was filmed talking about his own hard work and the sacrifices his parents made in order for him to pursue his education. Salinas grew up in Honduras and began college at Rutgers as an engineering student, but later switched his focus to food science. He spent a career working in several of the largest food manufacturing companies in the U.S., including Nabisco and Kraft.<\/p>\n

While he was studying entrepreneurship as an MBA student at Rutgers in 2018, he won first place in the annual business plan competition for his work to grow Perfect Life Nutrition and develop the company’s first snack product: P-nuff Crunch. The top prize came with $20,000 to infuse into the then three-year-old business.<\/p>\n

Watch Salinas’ pitch on\u00a0Shark Tank<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0join him\u00a0for\u00a0a live webinar\u00a0on July\u00a022,\u00a0“Nutrition for Active Lifestyles with Juan Salinas<\/a>,” sponsored by Rutgers University Alumni Association.\u00a0He\u00a0will talk about the role of protein, carbs, and fat in staying fit, how to read food labels, and how to lead a healthy, active lifestyle.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: this article\u00a0was revised from the original version\u00a0in\u202f<\/i>Rutgers Today<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Juan Salinas, now the founder of nutritional snack brand P-nuff Crunch, was working on a\u202fRutgers MBA\u202fin\u202f2018 when he won the top prize\u202fin Rutgers Business School’s\u202fannual business plan competition. But his winning pitch at Rutgers was tame in comparison to the flair he exhibited on the October 23 episode of\u202f ABC’s Shark Tank. When Salinas stepped […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":829,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"kia_subtitle":"A Rutgers graduate\u2019s sensational pitch secured a $400,000 investment from entrepreneur Mark Cuban on an October 2020 episode of Shark Tank.","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[11],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev-explorations.pantheonsite.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev-explorations.pantheonsite.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev-explorations.pantheonsite.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev-explorations.pantheonsite.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev-explorations.pantheonsite.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/dev-explorations.pantheonsite.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":831,"href":"https:\/\/dev-explorations.pantheonsite.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions\/831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev-explorations.pantheonsite.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev-explorations.pantheonsite.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev-explorations.pantheonsite.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev-explorations.pantheonsite.io\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}