How Shark Tank’s Tristen Ikaika Turned A Stolen Spoon Into A Million-Dollar Business

Shark Tank entrepreneur Tristen Ikaika had absolutely no idea what he wanted to do with his life four years ago.

Not that surprising, given he was fresh out of high school at the time, but quite something considering the first venture he put his mind to has already become an investor-battling jewelry business valued at over $1.6 million.

“As a young, naive, broke 19-year-old, I needed money,” Ikaika tells me, reflecting on his journey. Though he wasn’t sure what he’d like to commit to professionally, he was hyper-aware that the influencers and bloggers he followed had strong personal brands, so set out to grow an Instagram following that would add value to whatever he might venture into.

“I noticed a comment on one of my Instagram pictures asking ‘does anyone know where Tristen gets his rings?’ one day and the lightbulb clicked. I’d been making these spoon rings for myself since I was 12; perhaps I could share this passion and make rings for the people who had been asking.”

With around 20,000 followers there was certainly potential to turn the 25-cent spoons he’d been stealing from his parents’ kitchen into a profitable side hustle, but the reality far exceeded his expectations.

“I thought I would sell rings once, I didn’t think I was launching a seven-figure business!”

After announcing he would be releasing a limited-stock drop of handmade rings styled after his own, interest grew. So much so, in fact, the collection sold out in minutes.

“It was the biggest rush of adrenaline,” he says. “The first drop was the hardest, figuring out how to work a website, print a shipping label, all of it felt so foreign.

“I’d posted on Instagram that I was going to launch at 6pm, but I spent the whole day running around town taking photos and videos. When 6pm came around, I found myself still uploading the products onto my website from our kitchen table. I had completely underestimated how long it would take with there being so many different SKUS.

“It’s 6:05 and I’m going lightning speed, extremely stressed, to get all these in. I switched tabs and refreshed my email to find a flood of emails —”you have a new order!”, “you have a new order!”— I was completely mind-blown by it.”

He’d made $4,000 in the click of a button.

“It was the most money I’d ever seen in my life. I felt so humbled and so excited, the fact that so many people wanted to buy a ring from me was insane. I thought I was dreaming.”

Of course, with sights set low to start, the thrill was quickly replaced by the stress of production and delivery.

Ikaika needed to measure, cut, grind, and bend more than 200 spoons and forks into custom sized rings and had yet to figure out how to collect sizes on the website, so had to email each customer individually.

“It was unorganized chaos,” he admits. “There were parts to this puzzle that I hadn’t even realized were there.”

Still, being thrown in the deep end worked in his favor. Relishing in the “scrappy hustle”, he began to implement systems that allowed him to work faster, better and more creatively.

In a matter of months Tristen Ikaika not only became his full-time job, but a brand big enough to employ others.

Driven, in part, by life-changing events that were coinciding in his personal life.

“My dad had a heart attack and open heart surgery in February of 2016, then a few months later my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer,” he says.

“It was a difficult, sad time in my life that I never wish to go back to, but I am beyond grateful for what it taught me. Without going through what my family went through, I don’t think I’d have the same outlook on life. It forced me to value life in a way that I perhaps couldn’t have learned otherwise. 

“I knew I had to work, aggressively, for my dreams now.”

For the next two years Ikaika traveled the world collecting spoons and forks to turn into rings, knowing it would give his collections an even-bigger USP.

“My hands have been bruised and blistered from bending thousands and thousands of rings,” he admits, albeit to the tune of $2.1 million in sales by 2021.

As the company scaled from hundreds to thousands of rings per monthly drop, Ikaika reinvested profits where he needed them most: manufacturing (switching from hand- to machine-made rings) and marketing (sending samples to influencers encased in dry ice-filled packaging—perfect for social media promotion).

And for his personal slice of the pie, a stake in those who’d invested in him most.

“With lots of medical bills and my dad on disability, I knew my parents’ financial situation wasn’t very good. It broke me. I knew, should the day ever come that I was in a position to pay off their house, it was something I wanted to do.”

By 2021, that day came.

“I headed to the bank to pay off their mortgage, but when I got there no-one would give a 22-year-old boy information on his family’s home finances,” he laughs. “I was so frustrated. I told them what I was trying to do and went into four different branches, hoping.”

Unsuccessful but undeterred, he searched their home high and low for account numbers and convinced a family friend to join him at the bank to vouch for his intentions.

Hours later, his parents no longer had a mortgage.

“On my drive home from the bank, I was overwhelmed and found myself crying alone in my car. A lot of people dream of one day being able to take care of their parents in a way they’ve taken care of them.

“It’s still hard for me to believe a business created from a stolen spoon would one day pay off the same house I stole it from,” he says in tears.

And just when he couldn’t feel more emotionally overwhelmed, he got the call to confirm the hopeful application he’d made to take Tristen Ikaika to the investment-loving masses had been successful. He’d secured a spot on Shark Tank.

“It was a full circle moment for me,” he admits. “I wanted to do it for my younger self, to make him proud. I’ve watched Shark Tank since I was little, and it really instilled the entrepreneurial spirit in me. It taught me I could do it.

“Even in the early days of building this business in my parents’ basement I would binge episode after episode while I bent ring after ring. I wanted to work with the people who have been there helping me this whole time.”

Admittedly, the businesses would have continued to thrive without a Shark’s investment, but Ikaika saw the bigger picture.

“Connections are EVERYTHING and they can open doors for you a lot faster. I wanted that.”

After a near-perfect pitch in front of the famed TV investors, he requested a $250,000 investment for 5% of the business.

In true ‘Tank’ style, some sharks bit, others didn’t, and after fierce negotiations Ikaika left with the full quarter-mil and 15% of his brand in the hands of Mr. Wonderful himself, Kevin O’ Leary.

“On TV you see Kevin as a certain character—some think of him as the ‘mean’ shark who has a reputation for being blunt with entrepreneurs. I cannot speak enough to how unbelievably kind he is. He believes in his entrepreneurs and is excited to see other people succeed.”

The proof of which is already being served. Even though the episode aired towards the end of last month (January 21st, 2022), the brand’s revenue was up 4.5x month-on-month from December, marking an “unbelievable” 354% growth rate.

“With this rapid growth has come challenges,” Ikaika admits. “Some days it feels like I have a tiger by the tail.”

Still, he perseveres, working hard to expand into new areas and elevate the existing; new website, new packaging, new categories, new collaborators, et al.

“Bottom line is I’m trying to seize every opportunity. I want this business to give me experiences beyond my wildest dreams.

“I know it’ll be a hustle to get there, but I just want to chase those dreams and find happiness in the everyday. That is the goal.”