#Spike ball set tv

But then we agreed that if I hit certain sales goals over three years, I’d get more equity.Īdams: How did you get the game into stores? Subscribe Now: Forbes Entrepreneurs & Small Business NewslettersĪll the trials and triumphs of building a business – delivered to your inbox.Īdams: Were you upset your partners dumped all the work on you? In this interview, which has been edited and condensed, Ruder, 41, describes how he built Spikeball despite knowing nothing about manufacturing, marketing or sports product sales, and what happened when his Shark Tank deal fell apart. Based in Chicago, the company has 19 employees and logged 2016 revenue of $13 million.

#Spike ball set tv

But the TV exposure gave Spikeball a huge boost and the game continues to win fans. What they didn’t know: the deal had fallen apart months before the show aired.

Two years later he scored a spot on ABC’s hit business pitch show Shark Tank where seven million viewers watched him strike a $500,000 deal with urban apparel entrepreneur Daymond John. By 2013, the company had annual revenue of $1 million and Ruder went to work for Spikeball full-time. Priced at $49, the game built a viral following.

By day Ruder worked in ad sales for Live Nation Entertainment while building Spikeball after hours. Two teams of two players each smack a ball onto a small circular trampoline, attempting to prevent the opposing team from returning it. Courtesy: SpikeballĪ decade ago, Chris Ruder and six buddies set out to revive Spikeball, an obscure 1980s lawn and beach game designed by a toymaker and cartoonist named Jeff Knurek who didn’t bother to patent his invention.