Teaspressa After Shark Tank: We Caught Up With The Founder

A quick appearance on "Shark Tank" can prove to be a game-changer for most businesses. From Poppi Soda to The Pizza Cupcake, you'll find a host of "Shark Tank" food brands available on your next Costco run. And while hot beverages, like Copper Cow Coffee, have found favor in the tank, not all brands fared the same. Case in point: Teaspressa, founded by Allison DeVane in a bid to deliver concentrated tea shots that offer the same caffeine as conventional coffee but without any of the jitters.

While the flavors received a thumbs up from the Sharks, the rest of the brand's presentation wasn't quite as smooth as the creamy foam atop the gourmet tea lattes. The sharks found themselves unclear on the future of the business and ultimately bowed out.

When we caught up with DeVane, we found that the Teaspressa brand has been thriving ever since. She spoke to us about the nerve-wracking prospect of facing all the Sharks at once and the skills needed to lead the conversation. Despite walking out without a deal, she appreciates being the 100% owner of her business today and has expansion plans to license her brewing technology. Ahead, Allison Devane shares a ringside view of what to expect before, during, and after a "Shark Tank" presentation — you know, just in case you decide to finally bottle your grandma's secret pickle recipe and make a fortune.

The food entrepreneurs featured on "Shark Tank" are no strangers to putting in some good, ol' fashioned elbow grease. Just ask Joel Clark of Kodiak Cakes, who first wheeled his whole wheat pancake mix around the neighborhood at the age of 8. Now, the brand is counted among our picks for the best pancake mixes of 2025. Allison DeVane of Teaspressa can likely commiserate, having gotten her own beginnings by wheeling her espresso-style tea around the streets of Phoenix.

Looking back, the Teaspressa founder recalls staying up late at night to prep all of the ingredients in her mother's kitchen. After waking up at 5 a.m. the next morning to haul everything into her mother's van, DeVane pedaled her makeshift tea cart onto the streets — crafted from a laundry cart covered with a piece of scrap wood and a tablecloth. For food entrepreneurs looking to drum up publicity on a budget, her approach makes for a literal interpretation of grassroots-level marketing. While rigorous, the process yielded valuable feedback and conversations with potential customers. "The days of my first year were like this, and although it was incredibly grueling, I really enjoyed the process of starting up this dream and seeing customers enjoy it live," she reminisces.

A single appearance on "Shark Tank" can change the fate of many businesses. Even those businesses that walk out without a deal can count on a game-changing publicity blitz — as witnessed in these rejected food pitches on "Shark Tank" that still went on to find success. But at what point in your brand's journey should you apply for the show? Most might assume that you need to wait until your brand has generated sufficient buzz through media campaigns and public relations, and of course, revenue. However, Allison DeVane made the unconventional decision of applying just four months into her business.

Having watched entrepreneurs on the show make a living selling sponges, she decided to go with her gut. While there is scope for a digital application, Teaspressa's founder opted for a physical audition to allow the casting team the chance to try the product for themselves. Her decision will likely strike a chord with food and beverage entrepreneurs innovating in new categories, who find that personal sampling can be the strongest showcase of a product.

DeVane's intuition paid off, and the phone was soon ringing with the chance to appear on the show. Having gone from a passive viewer of the show to becoming a business owner — and having the potential to inspire others to go after their dreams — DeVane tells us that receiving the offer felt like a "full circle" moment.

Perfecting the elevator pitch is an art that not many entrepreneurs can master. With just a few minutes to snag the Sharks' attention, communicating a brand's value proposition and differentiation factor can make for an uphill task. When preparing her pitch for "Shark Tank", Allison DeVane says that the casting directors helped make sure she felt prepared, and even helped fine tune the pitch. She reports feeling prepared for the task of stepping on the carpet. 

While ample practice can help, nothing can prepare an entrepreneur for the sight of facing 5 Sharks — each of them a renowned titan of industry, reclining in a mid-century armchair — at the same time.

As she walked down the iconic corridor and the doors swung open, DeVane recalls feeling a sense of surreality descending on her. Despite the overwhelming wave of excitement and performance anxiety, she acknowledged that this was her one shot to introduce her brand to the world and soldiered through her pitch. Starting with an ask of $50,000 for 10 percent of her company, she then introduced the brand's concentrated tea shots crafted like gourmet coffee and handed out mugs for the Sharks to sample.

While the dessert-like flavors of the tea were unanimously appreciated by the Sharks, the rest of the ride wasn't as smooth for the brand. Robert Herjavec got the ball rolling by questioning whether it was being sold in a retail store. The Sharks then discovered that the brand had made $26,000 in sales over the course of five months by becoming the exclusive tea provider for a store in Phoenix.

With confusion mounting about the brand's business model, Lori Greiner jumped in. Upon clarification, she found that Teaspressa's sales involved a two-pronged approach through a retail presence in Arizona as well as an e-commerce business that sold directly to consumers. However, the presence of the brand's dedicated tea pots for brewing the tea shots further muddled the Sharks. "What is your plan, what are you seeing to do here?" Greiner queried.

Despite having a patent pending for the machine for brewing the tea, it didn't offer much clarity on the brand's future. "You told us this [tea shot] is the product and you told us you are selling a technology, then you told us you are in retail, then you told us you are in a store making them, then you told us you are online. ... Can you see why we're confused?" Herjavec questioned. Fellow shark Kevin O'Leary attempted to give DeVane another stab to explain why her business was worth a $50,000 investment but ultimately rued that it wasn't for him.

There are several negotiation techniques that can help you get a leg-up in the tank, from using pressure as leverage to seeing who blinks first. However, looking back, Allison DeVane has found that the most crucial skill for success in the tank is equipping yourself mentally to handle all the questions that the Sharks might throw at you. While she concedes that she didn't prepare as much as she should have, hindsight has led her to acknowledge that, at the time, she simply didn't know what she didn't know: "I was so green and just overjoyed to be a part of the experience," she says.

Navigating tough conversations and leading the narrative with confidence is a skill that she wishes she had mastered beforehand. "It doesn't help that I'm a slow processor, I just really need time to think through things, and it didn't help at the time, I was so new to all of this," she says. As Kevin O'Leary interjected, the experience began to feel like falling through a trapdoor into a real shark-filled tank.

At the time, DeVane recalls feeling frustrated by the comments from the Sharks that she was attempting to do too much at once. "I definitely could have been better about articulating my abilities and visions, and I genuinely think based on the information I gave them that they were giving the best advice," she concedes.

Despite gaining appreciation for its taste, the brand's business model failed to win over the Sharks. Barbara Corcoran was the first shark to bow out and she noted that the lack of clear communication was the only roadblock that the pitch faced. Kevin O'Leary followed suit, rueing that it was a squandered opportunity. Mark Cuban appreciated Allison DeVane's vision of "making the next Starbucks of tea", but he opted out, saying the business was too early.

Robert Herjavec lauded her exuberance and noted, "Any other person would come out here with that presentation would have lasted a couple of minutes." He eventually bowed out as well, followed by Lori Greiner who advised DeVane to "focus and bite away at each inch."

Having come so close to achieving a dream investment, DeVane recalls wishing that she had prepared more. "In light of how disappointed I was with myself, I truly thought that there was a lesson to come out of this and that if I learned from this failure, good will come out of it." 

DeVane tells Tasting Table that this can be a challenging situation to face, but she trusted the process. Ultimately, only the soothing salve of time could heal all wounds — even if it took years for her to see the "why" or the "lesson" behind her experience on the show. "...It is what keeps me going and inspires me to be better everyday," she says.

Raising capital for your fledgling business from an experienced investor can be the ultimate jackpot for any entrepreneur. But even if you don't walk out of the tank with a handshake deal, you can rely on something equally powerful. Think nation-wide exposure that translates into a flurry of orders, new customers, and revenue — much of which can prove to be life-changing for a down-on-its-luck small business.

Such is the popularity of this phenomenon that it has since earned a name: the "Shark Tank" effect. When we caught up with the founder of Snarky Tea, we found that the episode had brought about an immediate bump in revenue. And Allison DeVane's experience was no different. "As each timezone aired my episode, I'd be flooded with a new wave of online orders and inquiries," she raves.

In fact, DeVane's brief appearance on the show turned out to be a golden goose nestled in for the long haul. Even years after the episode had initially aired, it wasn't uncommon for the brand to receive a tidal wave of orders. This spike in sales would often coincide with passionate messages from customers who had seen the rerun of the episode that featured her pitch. The same effect would also prove to be true as the episode slowly became available in international markets. "Long term, 'Shark Tank' has added another source of credibility when trying to open the door to new opportunities," she says.

Receiving a vote of no-confidence from established investors can be a setback for some entrepreneurs, while others use this challenge to push themselves harder. In the years since her appearance on the show in 2016, Allison DeVane has propelled Teaspressa from a retail concept into a multi-million dollar brand within the consumer packaged goods category. Despite walking out from the tank without a cushy deal, Allison DeVane has been all smiles since. Not long after her offer was turned down on "Shark Tank", she became the recipient of $10,000 for her business education from the Tory Burch Foundation fellowship.

Things have only been going upwards since. "I experienced exponential growth, opened 4 stores in 3 years and 2 different states," she says. The brand has been featured on Oprah's List and picked up major retailers, which enabled her to build a dedicated manufacturing plant of her own. Expansion is being undertaken on a war footing and the brand is currently present in approximately 8,000 retail doors. The names of some of their major retail partners might ring a bell: Anthropologie, Barnes & Nobles, and Sur La Table.

For DeVane, riding the "Shark Tank" wave has been a dizzying ride and she appreciates how it earned credibility for the brand overnight. It is easy to get underestimated as a fresh entrepreneur but with "Shark Tank" listed on her resume, she found it much easier to get a foot in the door.

While the Sharks weren't signing cheques with multiple zeros after she left the tank, Allison DeVane did leave with something equally valuable: Lori Greiner's advice. "In business, you have to crawl, and then you walk, and then you run," she patiently advised. The words would continue to inspire the young founder years after her appearance on the show. "I'm still learning how to be more patient, trust the process, and be more methodical about how to utilize the time I have, which is the biggest weakness I have, especially now being a new mom," she says.

While recurring shark Daymond John wasn't present on the panel during DeVane's time on the show, he inspired her journey in other ways with his book, The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage. For entrepreneurs like her that are starting out without available funds, she found several resourceful lessons to bookmark from his wisdom.

Given the choice to go back in time, would she choose to go on "Shark Tank" while her business was still in its nascent stages? DeVane finds it hard to pinpoint any one correct answer, but she does remain grateful for the experience — however rough the ride may have been. "...It truly kicked me into gear to be hungrier to embrace being an entrepreneur and making these ideas come to life," she says.

Does your startup really need outside investment? Or can you rough it on your own while holding on to your precious equity? This is a question that has plagued founders down the ages. Yes, having ready access to outside capital can accelerate your brand's growth. But investment doesn't always equal success, as in the case of Talbott Teas. Despite having the full might of Kevin O'Leary's support from an early stage, the brand ranked plum last in this round-up of tea brands ranked from worst to best.

On the other hand, growing slowly but organically can allow you to retain control over your business. This is a lesson that Allison DeVane would learn for herself in the years after she walked out of "Shark Tank" without a deal. Today, she counts being the 100% owner of her brand as one of her biggest accomplishments. "Yes, things might have been easier then if a shark came on," she agrees. But she favors the notion of raising investment now that she has constructed a strong foundation and has 10 years of resilience as an entrepreneur under her belt.

However, access to capital continues to be an ongoing issue. "What is extremely frustrating for me is still not having the best access to traditional lenders or great rates, even though I have 10 years of experience and historicals," she rues.

During her appearance on "Shark Tank", Allison DeVane had her sights set on everything from retail expansion to furthering innovation with her tea machines. The last few years have seen her figuring out how to automate the brand's patented process as they eye larger plans for scaling the business and maximizing their distribution footprint.

The brand has pivoted from selling gourmet tea shots to now include other products that can elevate your everyday beverages, such as the line of Luxe Mixer Cubes that can be used to make any drink. A quick browse through the brand's website will also throw up some interesting tea accessories to consider, from frothers and luxe French presses to squiggle-shaped glass straws and mugs in mood-enhancing hues.

Despite not receiving a warm welcome on "Shark Tank" for some of her expansion ideas, DeVane plans to pursue her dream of licensing the brand's tea technology to a commercial espresso machine brand, such as La Marzocco, or an at-home espresso brand, like Nespresso. The dream? Ensuring that cafes and avid espresso pod makers never fear a dearth of options. The sharks could have been sipping on some sweet profits if they had chosen to come along for the ride. But as she puts it so eloquently, "C'est la tea."