Today’s special guest is Juliano Bonnani. Many of you may already know him from his appearance on Shark Tank. We have already covered the Nature’s Wild Berry Shark Tank Update separately, so you can check that out.
Recently, I contacted Juliano for a short email interview. I’m happy to say that he was responsive and answered my questions. I appreciate him for taking the time to provide such thoughtful responses. I hope this short interview will prove to be helpful for our audience. This conversation is a great chance for us to learn more about his journey and get some valuable advice from his experiences.
Introduction and Background
Sara: Please tell me about yourself, your background, education, experience, and position in the company.
Juliano: I’m Juliano, one of the 2 founders of Nature’s Wild Berry. My background is being around my family who always had me working with them in their restaurant or someone else’s. I worked in everything from dishwashing, bus boy, prep from a young age then progressed to higher levels in the restaurant like waiter, line cook then managerial positions like payroll, taxes, ordering food until I was 23 when I was able to secure a new restaurant location, get funding, renovate the unit to be up to code and secure all the permits. I graduated high school. All the education I have in business is from the people I’ve been around. Watching how they handle the ups and downs. How to learn what’s needed to overcome obstacles. I gravitated towards the diverse needs required to create a thriving business. I failed a lot for my own start ups. Learned from everything. Gradually got more successful at maneuvering through the obstacles and was able to find my business partner who’s been everything in order to create and run Nature’s Wild Berry to the next level.
Pre-Shark Tank Preparation
Sara: Can you describe the journey and preparation that led up to your pitch on Shark Tank?
Juliano: For the most part it was non stop work and sharing that with Shark Tank as we progressed.
Valuation and Strategy
Sara: How did you decide on the valuation you presented to the sharks, and what was the strategy behind your initial ask?
Juliano: We took our yearly sales for that point and reduced the cost in order to ensure we could make it not just fair, but enticing for the Sharks.
Post-Shark Tank Impact
Sara: What happened to your company after appearing on Shark Tank in terms of investments and business growth?
Juliano: It was, and is, incredible to access the amount of people that Shark Tank is able to reach in order to grow we created to help people with weight management, kids and adults eating healthier, people living with diabetes, people having fun, parties, people who have issues taking awful tasting medication, anyone going through chemotherapy that’s not able to taste and lot more. Growth has been incredible and is allowing us to deliver this berry to a lot more people!
Current Valuation
Sara: What is your company’s net worth today?
Juliano: It’s always changing. We’re about 3 times bigger than we were before airing on Shark Tank and growing more everyday!
Additional Investments
Sara: Have you secured any investments from other investors since your appearance on Shark Tank?
Juliano: We’ve declined 3 offers for investment since airing.
Business Strategy Evolution
Sara: How has your business strategy or operations changed after your appearance on Shark Tank?
Juliano: Yes. We’re able to accomplish goals right now that we had set for 2025. Things move much faster in order to bring this berry to a lot more people. The marketing and education is a lot more of a priority now.
Challenges
Sara: What were the biggest challenges you’ve faced since your appearance on Shark Tank, and how have you addressed them?
Juliano: The biggest issue was the amount of sales we had. We addressed it right away by not only implementing a much more rapid customer service response but also a reduced shipping cost, faster shipping times, package protection if a package has any issues getting to the customer, easier check out and improved user experience.
Long-term Objectives and Influence
Sara: What are the long-term goals for your company, and how has Shark Tank influenced these goals?
Juliano: We’re focused on Nature’s Wild Berry becoming a staple in everyone’s kitchen!
Advice for Future Contestants
Sara: What advice would you give future entrepreneurs considering applying for Shark Tank?
Juliano: You need to eat, sleep and breathe your business. That’s the start. You need to LOVE solving the problems you’ll have daily. You need to be excited about jumping in and putting 8+ hours a day at something that’s yours / building a legacy. Hopefully one that’ll help the world. You need to work on it every single day. You need to be organized. If you have the passion and persistence for your business, you’ll be the perfect candidate for Shark Tank. They want to see someone who’s dedicated and dependable. If there’s issues, express the problems. The goal is for the Shark’s to invest because they can help. Highlight what they can do for you. Also make sure your finances are organized. The details of the numbers are what’s looked at to verify whatever you tell them.
Hello everyone, I’m Sara Javed. I’m an IT professional expert with project management and design skills. Besides writing, I love playing video games, designing digital art, and reading books. I love Shark Tank due to its innovative business idea and unpredicted reactions of Sharks. This keeps me glued to the screens to watch the next catchy moment. Read more About me.
