The episode aired on Sunday, September 13, and the impact was immediate. Keeping one eye on the television and the other on Pork Barrel's website, Hall watched orders for rubs and sauce hit a record $15,000--compared with a usual daily take of about $100. The next day, the pair got a call inviting them to appear on the Fox News morning show Fox & Friends. That weekend, they borrowed a bus from their new restaurant partners, loaded it with grills, smokers, and more than 500 pounds of pork, brisket, and chicken, and drove to New York. Fox contributor Mike Huckabee stopped by the set for a taste.
The Shark Tank appearance also led to their biggest break yet--an e-mail from a manager at Costco's regional offices in Sterling, Virginia, who had seen the show. For three days, Hall and Thompson set up inside a northern Virginia store and offered samples to shoppers. The customers loved the stuff, and now Pork Barrel's products are in 11 D.C.-area Costcos. The following January, at a food show in San Francisco, a buyer from Safeway introduced himself and said: "We are going to help you build your brand." The products are now in more than 150 Safeway stores.
Given that Thompson and Hall, both 37, are attorneys who have spent their entire careers in politics, you might think they would need the assistance. But the way they see it, Capitol Hill is a great business school. "We treat our brand like a candidate," says Thompson. "You have paid media and unearned media. And you need a good ground game--which for our business is things like aggressive sampling at supermarkets or trade shows." Adds Hall: "Our voters are our customers."
To reach them, Thompson and Hall have embraced social media. Their Twitter feed and Facebook page are updated constantly--with interviews with big-name chefs, recipes, and quirky barbecue news (such as a story about a guy who retooled his Cadillac into a smoker). Hall and Thompson personally respond to as many as 100 messages a day, usually within 30 minutes. "They have 32,000 followers on Twitter; I have 500," says Sweet Baby Ray's founder Dave Raymond, with a sense of awe.
Meanwhile, Thompson and Hall have come up with one memorable stunt after another. In June 2011, they released a fragrance called Que--"an intoxicating bouquet of spices, smoke, meat, and sweet summer sweat." Thompson sent 300 samples to media outlets along with e-mail links to a video in which Hall saunters across a room in his pink pig suit leaving a trail of meat, barbecue tools, and an apron in his wake. Those e-mails were followed by perhaps 1,000 follow-up calls. Hall says the full-court press was inspired by his experience in politics. "In a campaign, you want five to 10 points of contact with a voter in the week before the election," he says. "Yes, you may irritate some people. But there are a lot of people who, if you didn't reach out to them, wouldn't take the time to cast their ballot." Indeed, the stunt garnered mentions in Cosmopolitan and Glamour and on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.
Thompson and Hall know they need to continue to capitalize on their momentum. Fortunately, they now have the funds to do so. In March, Pork Barrel landed an undisclosed investment from Rex Encore, a St. Louis-based private equity firm. Hall quit his job and now devotes all of his energy to the business.
He also got revenge on his investor. On March 9, Shark Tank ran yet another update on Pork Barrel. In this segment, Barbara Corcoran showed up at the Pork Barrel restaurant, clad in a striking if familiar outfit. "The production staff made me wear a goddamned pig suit," she says. Laughing it off, Corcoran told the restaurant crowd, "These were two obnoxious little attorneys in Washington, D.C., with a dream--and they took my little $50,000 investment, and they turned it into a hugely successful business. Let's toast these two great American hustlers." Hall could not have been happier. "Turnabout is fair play," he says. "It's the best I've ever seen her look."
And the Winner Is...
Of the more than 20,000 businesses that apply to appear on Shark Tank each season, only 60 make the cut. Here are five that turned their 15 minutes of fame into big bucks.
Notehall, Santa Clara, California
In October 2009, the founders of this online marketplace for study guides and class notes impressed Barbara Corcoran enough for her to invest $90,000 for a 25 percent stake. Smart move: In 2011, Notehall was acquired for $3.7 million.
Talbott Teas, Chicago
Investor Kevin O'Leary agreed to invest $250,000 for a 35 percent stake in this gourmet teamaker in February. The deal never closed: Instead, O'Leary introduced the company to Jamba Juice, which acquired Talbott Teas earlier this year.
ReadeRest, Fullerton, California
Last February, investor Lori Greiner agreed to pay $150,000 for 65 percent of this maker of magnetic eyeglass holders. Greiner helped get the product on QVC, which sent sales from $65,000 to $2 million.
OrigAudio, Costa Mesa, California
In May 2011, investor Robert Herjavec paid $150,000 for a 15 percent stake in OrigAudio, which makes a portable speaker called the Rock-It. The publicity helped the company strike some big deals, including one with Bed Bath & Beyond. Sales this year are expected to top $5 million, up from $700,000.
CitiKitty, Morrisville, Pennsylvania
In May 2011, Kevin Harrington agreed to invest $100,000 for a 20 percent stake in this maker of toilet-training systems for cats. (The deal was renegotiated after the taping, with terms undisclosed.) Since then, sales have tripled, hitting $1 million in 2011.
