Former NFL player Chris Gronkowski is well-versed in the athletic sphere, and that has paid off in more ways than one. After trading his football jersey for entrepreneurship, Gronkowski founded Ice Shaker, a company that makes stainless steel shakers that keep protein drinks cold for over 30 hours.
To get the product's name out to the masses, Gronkowski appeared on"Shark Tank" asking for $100,000 in exchange for a 10 percent stake. The former NFL fullback even invited the rest of the notable Gronkowski brothers, Rob, Glenn, Dan and Gordie, who all are or have been professional athletes.Gronkowski said he wanted to build a product that people wanted.
"I thought this was poor advice from the sharks," Gronkowski added in an email to CNBC."Naming a product after a person could really hurt the business and limit the demographics. I took this advice and made a custom edition bottle instead and was able to capture the market of customers looking for the Gronk name on the bottle."