each year. Early on, the duo went door-to-door in the Wake Forest dorms looking for customers. The business brought in just $18,000 in revenue in its first year, a bare fraction of its current figure, Chason added.
Today, the cost of Storage Scholars' packing, moving and storage service runs about $559 per student, on average, the founders said. That includes delivering empty boxes, tape and other packing supplies, as well as pickup, summer storage and delivery of the boxes to students' new dorm rooms for the following school year.
The Dallas Mavericks owner countered with a $250,000 offer for a 12% stake, which the Storage Scholars founders negotiated down to a 10% stake. That meant Cuban was offering the same $2.5 million valuation as Herjavec, but with half of the investment capital."I've got a platform. There's schools that I have connections to and if I get out there starting to talk about it…the phone's going to ring for you to open up new schools," Cuban said.
Ultimately, Chason and Gronberg agreed with Cuban's argument that"it's not just about the money," and they sided with the Shark who they felt best supported their company's mission of building a successful business that can also help its workers chip away at their college debt.Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to"Shark Tank."