Pregnant with her first child, Allison Strumeyer sent comedian Pete Davidson to pitch her sock company on 'Shark Tank.' He and her husband returned with a deal from Kendra Scott.
Alpha Score of 66 reflects moderate overall profile with strong momentum, weak value, moderate quality, strong sentiment.
Allison Strumeyer was too pregnant to fly when Doublesoul, the sock company she runs with her husband Ben, got its "Shark Tank" taping date. So she sent comedian Pete Davidson instead.
Davidson, an early customer who later invested in the company, went to the set with Ben. The three-way call came after the pitch: Kendra Scott, the jewelry founder and Shark, had made a deal.
"I didn't have to be nervous," Strumeyer said. "Having Ben there was like having an extension of myself."
The episode aired in September, when her son was three weeks old.
Strumeyer, a University of Pennsylvania graduate, spent two years at BlackRock and four years at Mirror, the startup Lululemon acquired, before launching Doublesoul in 2022. The idea came from a simple observation: people wear socks more than almost anything else, but the category gets little design or innovation.
She and Ben ordered 10,000 pairs – about $100,000 worth – as a prototype. They gave socks to everyone they knew and asked for social media posts. Organic sales followed, along with proof the concept worked.
Strumeyer kept her day job through the early stage, a choice she said runs against the social-media narrative of quitting to build a company. "That felt like dangerous territory to me," she said. The couple raised about $2 million in venture funding before she left her salary.
Davidson entered the picture as a customer who liked the product enough to invest. He is now, Strumeyer said, "like a third partner."
Early parenthood, she said, mirrors startup life in some ways. She and Ben take a walk each morning with their son. The rule: no talking about Doublesoul.
"We need to be intentional about clearing time for our relationship, or it would be too easy to talk business all the time," she said.
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