Combat Flip Flops entered the Shark Tank in Season 7 debuting their flips flops made of combat boot rubber with a charitable mission behind every pair. Two veteran army rangers presenter their product line to Shark Tank. Their company, Combat Flip Flops, empowers locals who make “cool products in dangerous places”—namely Colombia, Afghanistan and Laos—from sandals to sarongs and jewelry the Sharks ate up their offering and their cause to promote peace through business instead of bullets.
Matthew ‘Griff’ Griffin, CEO, started the company with fellow Ranger Donald Lee. He stated “This is something inherent in our community. If you quit, you die. Military veterans have the mindset to see a daring project all the way through to the end, regardless of how tough it gets. There is no other option. The military taught me how to fail. It also taught me how to recover from failure, learn from mistakes and drive forward to accomplish a difficult mission. We’ve failed so many times in this business and every time we failed, we put on our big boy pants and asked ourselves the difficult question, “Why did we fail?” We wrote down the reasons, made a plan to not make those mistakes in the future, and then got moving again. There’s a great adage in the military, “Knowledge is gained through experience. Experience is gained through failure.” [Rangers Lead the Way].
Mark and Daymond offer $200K for 25%. Lori says she’s out on that deal. Griff thinks they need a feminine touch, but Lori says they’d need 30%. Griff asks if they’ll up the offer to $300K for 30% with all three sharks, they have a deal, and the Sharks agree! RESULT: DEAL with Daymond, Lori, and Mark for $300K for 30%
But what is a Veteran or Military Spouse to do if they don’t have significant funds to start a business? I personally thought about that at great length and searched for a franchise type business without the franchise cost. I wanted to find a business that was portable to take with you as you move around these great United States. Our motto is “Integrity Before Growth”. For information and a brief video overview visit my Hire Patriots web page at: http://hirepatriots.com/heroes
Thank you for your service to my family and our country. Patrick Mellody
Here is a link to Combat Flip Flops: http://www.combatflipflops.com
