Small Business

San Luis Obispo-based inventors, Game On Brant Myers and Dan Grimm, have received a boost in business after landing their technology on a “Top 100 Green Invention” list and appearing on ABC’s hit television show, Shark Tank.

GAMERS left to right Dan Grimm and Brant Myers

It was a dispute over a coveted rock collection in elementary school that sealed the fates of Brant Myers and Dan Grimm, now partners in the San Luis Obispo-based business called Arkeg. As children growing up in Thousand Oaks, Myers was the new kid at school, and he brought along his rock collection to show it off, figuring it would make a good first impression on his first day. When one of the prized rocks suddenly went missing, Grimm identified the thief setting up a lifelong friendship that has led to a creative and innovative business that is finding its stride.>>

Last month, Arkeg was invited to participate in the hit television show Shark Tank. For those unfamiliar with the program, it can be best described as reality tv for business. Essentially, entrepreneurs attempt to persuade one of the “Sharks” to invest in their company. The Sharks are made up of five very wealthy and well-known tycoons. The business owners seeking investment endure intense questioning and scrutiny from the Sharks creating a lot of drama and suspense, making for great television. Having watched the show, the partners were interested enough to download an application from the Shark Tank website, but had never filled it out. It was a chance meeting with one of the show’s executives at a beer festival they had attended in San Francisco that would change everything. “The whole thing was very serendipitous. We had an Arkeg set up at the festival—which we did not plan to attend, but we were invited at the last minute—and it was a huge hit. This fellow walks up to us and says, ‘Would you consider pitching your business on the Shark Tank?’” remembers Myers. Upon returning home the partners hastily completed the application and sent it to their contact. A few days later the phone rang. Not only had they been invited to appear on the show, but a camera crew decided that they wanted to come to San Luis Obispo to do what is called a “home segment,” which sets the background for select companies. “They came out for a couple of days,” explains Grimm, “and they were supposed to spend all this time searching out locations, but we took them downtown and they basically said, ‘Ok, we’ve got it—we’re good.’ The rest of the time we sort of showed them around and had a great time.” The show did end up airing shots of downtown and Mission Plaza as well as Central Coast Brewing, who has been the supplier of beer to Arkeg since the beginning. The Arkeg, is the unlikely combination of an arcade video game and a keg of beer—it’s tagline is “drink ‘n game.” Inspiration struck while the friends were in college in Southern California. A retro arcade game purchased on Craigslist and a refrigerator full of beer sat side-by-side in a rather cramped house. Although they cannot remember who came up with the idea first, the duo spent one night taking apart both the refrigerator and the arcade game. Over the next several weeks they perfected the electronics and cooling components to come up with the first Arkeg prototype. A spout was fashioned on the side of the unit and friends could not stop asking where they could get one, or if they would be willing to sell the one they had. After graduation, they settled into “9 to 5 jobs,” but as Myers continues, “We are tinkerers, we are inventors, and it was just stifling to be sitting at a desk all day when we had all of these ideas in our heads.” So, one particularly wild idea was floated to quit their jobs, leave Southern California, and find a place to build the Arkeg business full-time. “It was at that point that my wife, who was then my girlfriend, kept talking about this magical place called San Luis Obispo,” recalls Myers. “We came here and quickly realized what a healthy pace of life was all about,” Grimm continues the thought. “I mean, you don’t cut someone off in your car because you know you are going to see them at the grocery store and all around town.” The business, which has been based here for six years, has enjoyed modest growth in its early days when the partners were scratching out a living working odd jobs and building Arkeg units in their garage each night and most weekends. But, things started to change somewhere along the way. “We started getting picked up in random magazines,” remembers Myers, “one particularly interesting one is called WWF Magazine, as in World Wrestling Federation.” The pro wrestling people added the Arkeg, which retails for $3,999, to a “top products to own” list. Despite the fun press they were receiving, they also picked up some significant endorsements for their refrigeration technology which had been developed by Grimm. For example, Popular Mechanics identified the technology, which has no moving parts and uses no coolant and is extremely energy efficient, as a “Top 100 Green Invention.” But, the Sharks were not buying it. Under intense scrutiny, including an immediate “I’m out!” declaration by the owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, Mark Cuban, the San Luis Obispo entrepreneurs remained undaunted. [You can watch the entire segment by going to this article at slolifemagazine.com] Deftly handling questions about profit margins, and distribution strategy, and expansion plans, Myers and Grimm never broke a sweat, as is common under the bright lights of the show’s set. Yet, the Sharks remained unmoved and none of them made an offer to invest. The whole sequence lasted about 45 minutes, but after editing only five minutes made the cut. And, when the show did premiere, a hundred or so friends and family members gathered at Central Coast Brewing to watch it. “As soon as it aired on the East Coast, the phones started ringing and we started getting emails,” explains Myers. “And, when we did see it we were grateful for the exposure but disappointed about what had been edited out of the interaction.” When pressed about what they had wished was kept in the show, they quickly identify a few key points in order: First, the Arkeg contains 51 classic video game favorites (ranging from Joust to Paper Boy) not just one. Second, the business also rents out units ($150 for a 24 hour period), which, apparently, has been a huge hit at Central Coast parties (for children’s parties, they supply root beer and recommend root beer floats to parents). And, finally, due to copyright issues, they were unable to actually show the real games and allow the Sharks to play them. In fact, Grimm had to write code for a new video game called “Greedy Guppies” in their hotel room the night before for demonstration on the show (the producers would not allow them to use anything shark related). As the saying goes, any PR is good PR and Arkeg received a healthy dose of it when 5 million viewers tuned in last month. While many of the messages they received said things like, “The sharks were mean!” and, “Keep up the great work!” or, “Hey, I own a printing company—you need some printing?” Others were along the lines of, “I want one, how soon can I get it?” And, so 2013 is shaping up to be a very good year. The company, which started out selling through retailers has been transitioning to an all direct-sales model through their website and is quickly running out of room. A search is underway for a larger space and, despite their progress so far, Myers and Grimm are quick to point out that they have already achieved success by melding two of their favorite things and are having a great time doing it. SLO LIFE