Shark Tank – Project Pollo – Vegan alternative to KFC
Name & brand: Project Pollo
Branding wise it is not great, the name is half Spanish (pollo = chicken) half English in a predominantly English speaking country.
Using the word project gives the impression of a construction project rather than a restaurant.
Furthermore, the fast food restaurant does not offer chicken thus kind of deceiving name.
Maybe the founder wanted to have a reference to “los pollos hermanos” from breaking bad / better call Saul.
Logo: Ok but not great.
Company offer: Project Pollo offers fast food vegan chicken, environmentally friendly packaging, and an experience that doesn’t sacrifice quality for affordability. In other words, a vegan alternative to KFC.
The Pitcher: The founder looks pro, and knows his stuff. Pro pitch with great interaction.
Lucas has big experience in fast scaling, but scared the investors by his fast pace and his “strive in chaos” statement.
The ask: $2.5 million for 5% of the company.
Valuation: $50 million.
Defensibly: Proprietary recipe.
Sales: $3 million , Run Rate: $10 million.
Marketing: 1st meal on us, but when people are already in the shop.
Competitors: Chick-fil-A , KFC, Popeye
Business model: 10 brick and mortar locations with 2 more a week after the pitch. Possibility for Franchise Business.
Analysis:
Founder: Lucas, the founder is an Alpha entrepreneur, he took mega risks, from maxing credit card for the food truck and first location, to signing 10 years leases deals for the restaurant locations. He wants to figure out fast the validity and scalability.
The risk: The real risk is that any of even all the competitors might offer a vegan menu one day, hence project pollos losing the potential customers. From here, you understand why Lucas is moving fast, a race against the clock. Simply put, Project Pollo needs to expand nationwide before any of the well established competitors realizes there is business to be made and focuses on offering a vegan menu.
Sharks were afraid of the high valuation, but they also know that this business will need a lot of cash, thus another and then another round of funding will be required, this means eventually share dilution.
