Almost on Shark Tank - local sports chiropractor pitches his ergonomic pillow

Shoreline chiropractor on shipping day for his
MUUS pillows

By Diane Hettrick

In December 2020 we published an article about a local sports chiropractor, Dr. Patrick Silva, who was running a kickstarter to fund the production of his foldable, ergonomic pillow, the Muus.

(See previous article)

He finished a successful Kickstarter in January, raising $11,000 which helped him start up an online shop and start marketing and selling his ergonomic pillows.

We've already fulfilled nearly 200 orders!

He was inspired by watching Shark Tank - a TV reality show where entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to wealthy venture capitalists, hoping for funding.

So naturally, his next step was to apply to appear on the show.

The MUUS foldable pillow

His story:

I answered a casting call through ABC's Shark Tank site. https://sharktankcastingseason14.castingcrane.com/

After about a month we heard from an associate producer who reached out to chat more about our company and our idea. 

We had a fun phone interview, mostly seemed as if he was feeling me out - did I seem professional, or know my numbers or business well. 

At the end of our call, he said, "Well, Dr. Patrick, I want to put you through to the next round." 

We then got sent 3 separate emails; one background check, one business application, and one video application. These took HOURS to fill out, nearly an entire weekend for me. And the video application just revolved around showcasing your personality, your product, and answering 10 questions. 

But we had them all submitted a week later and were told we would hear from them by the end of the month (this was April 2022).

I had a ball filming the video portion - I do a little video editing and graphic design in my spare time, but I can imagine how rough it might be for a business that doesn't have those skills on hand. 

So if you're thinking about applying, make sure you have some good people who can film and edit for you!

At the end of the month we heard back that they had decided on some other lucky folks, and life continued as usual. 

Currently, we're looking to partner with big companies like COOP, PURPLE, or TEMPUR PEDIC to license our design to them and have them manufacture their own versions! 

We're also working with local companies, wholesaling so that Healthcare offices like Chiros and PTs can have some on-hand in their offices!

To date, we've sold around 18k worth of our lovely innovative pillows and this is only the beginning!

Online shop https://www.sleepmuus.com/