Sunflow on Shark Tank: Meet the founders who run three other companies

Shark Tank Season 13 returns with a brand new episode featuring four interesting business deals. Sunflow is one of the companies that will be showcased in the upcoming episode.

Married couple Leslie Hsu and Greg Besner are the founders who will pitch their portable beach chair business to the sharks. Sunflow is reportedly not the only business the founders run. According to Shark Tank’s blog, Hsu is a fashion designer who runs three other companies, while Besner is a serial entrepreneur and adjunct professor at NYU Stern School of Business.

Meanwhile, their beach chair company is their “number one priority.”

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How did the founders come up with Sunflow?

Hsu and Besner were beach lovers who enjoyed the beach with their children for days. In one of their family outings, Hsu once collapsed from her beach chair that she described as “uncomfortable” and “not very pretty.”

Another reason behind the product idea was dragging those chairs to the beach. Speaking about her experience, Hsu wrote on her brand’s website:

“One day, our family packed up for a short walk from our beachside rental to the sanctuary of the sandy beach. The process of loading up our day’s gear and dragging it to the beach was nothing short of a comical parody. It was truly laughable how cumbersome and clumsy this seemingly simple chore was.”

This is when Hsu, a handbag designer, decided to create comfortable, portable, and beautiful chairs. To get the product design right, the couple partnered with Fuseproject. The industrial design firm is a popular brand founded by Yves Behar, known for designing products for Prada, Herman Miller, and Samsung.

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What is the cost?

Interested buyers can purchase Sunflow chairs from the brand’s website and Amazon. One product costs $198, which will not include sun shade. The brand also provides The Beach Bundle set that includes a Sunflow chair, sun shade, drink holder, dry bag, and a towel. The Beach Bundle costs $296.

Attachments and accessories can also be bought separately from the website. The chair is rust-resistant and reclines to four positions.

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When will Sunflow founders appear on Shark Tank?

Hsu and Besner will pitch their Sunflow chair business to the sharks in Episode 16. It will air on Friday, March 18 at 8.00 pm ET on ABC. The official synopsis of Shark Tank mentioned the founders.

It reads:

“First into the Tank are entrepreneurs from Short Hill, New Jersey, who present their ingenious and portable design that will take your beach hangs to the next level.”

Apart from Sunflow, the other three businesses to be featured in the upcoming episode are Ootbox, Prepdeck, and Do Amore. The synopsis further stated a Shark Tank update as it read:

"In a Shark Tank update, entrepreneur Pat Crowley from Salt Lake City, Utah, updates his investor Mark Cuban about Chapul Cricket Bars, energy bars fortified with protein derived from crickets.”

Episode 15 will welcome Daniel Lubetzky, executive chairman of KIND, as the guest shark. He will join the regular panel of sharks: Kevin O’Leary, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, and Mark Cuban.