Return Home’s Post-Shark Tank Success: An Interview with CEO Micah Truman

Today’s special guest is Micah Truman. Many of you may already know him from his appearance on Shark Tank. He is the CEO of Return Home. We have already covered the Return Home Shark Tank Update separately, so you can check that out.

Recently, I contacted Micah 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.

Micah: I have worked at Return Home for five and a half years. We began the company on January 1, 2019. We worked on our science, our technology, and our machinery for two and a half years and launched in June of 2021. Prior to that, I had not worked in the funeral industry, but upon obviously working here now, I have five years of experience. My previous job was in finance. I worked between the United States and China, raising capital in China and deploying it into large real estate projects in the United States. As far as my education is concerned, I have a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College, with a double degree in East Asian Studies and Politics. As I said, I am the founder and the CEO of the company.

Katey Houston, who presented alongside me, has been in the funeral industry since she was 18 years old and grew up in a family that was active in funeral service. She brings a wealth of experience and deep understanding of the industry to our team. Katey was licensed as a funeral director and embalmer in both Britain and the United States.

Pre-Shark Tank Preparation

Sara: Can you describe the journey and preparation that led up to your pitch on Shark Tank?

Micah: We were actually contacted by Shark Tank; we didn’t actually go through the initial interview process. To be clear, we were not guaranteed a position, but we were approached by them to see if we wanted to do it. The journey and preparation were fairly intensive. We went through the entire process with the team at Shark Tank, and they were incredibly helpful. They helped us prepare our pitch and our offering. We did a lot of video with them, and we really refined it. We also went to people inside the company and did a lot of practicing to really refine our pitch because we had a short time to present, and time was of the essence in our communication. So it was a really intensive period where we focused on that offering.

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?

Micah: Our strategy was fairly straightforward. We believe that what we do is of incredible value. We think it’s much more valuable, quite honestly, than many of the other products on Shark Tank that end up in landfills just weeks after being purchased. We believe that caring for our most precious people when they die is more valuable than the hair clips, yoga pants, or quick dry towels that are commonly on offer on Shark Tank. It’s also important to note that we have a market that is rapidly growing. We have 12 states that have recently legalized, and we know that this is going to be a massive sweep across the country. So the opportunity and the business opportunity are incredible, and we took that into account when making our valuation.

Post-Shark Tank Impact

Sara: What happened to your company after appearing on Shark Tank in terms of investments and business growth?

Micah: We had an incredible surge of interest in our company. Our website received hundreds of thousands of visits, pre-purchases spiked up, and we had thousands of people who were interested in signing up to both pre-purchase, and learn more about both our service, and Return Home in general. It led to a surge of interest across the country in both our premium service and terramation in general. So it was really an absolutely phenomenal thing for us.

Current Valuation

Sara: What is your company’s net worth today?

Micah: That’s rather hard to peg because everything is in the eye of the beholder. We are currently going to be going for a round of financing, and assume that the next round will be well in excess of the $40 million amount that was posted on Shark Tank.

Additional Investments

Sara: Have you secured any investments from other investors since your appearance on Shark Tank?

Micah: No, we have not. We have not gone out for investment. It has not been a central part of our strategy over the last year.

Business Strategy Evolution

Sara: How has your business strategy or operations changed after your appearance on Shark Tank?

Micah: It hasn’t. We are focused, as we always have been, on spreading across the United States. We are very interested in making sure that the world knows about terramation and why it’s valuable. We have almost 750,000 people on our social media accounts. We communicate with them regularly, and it has been something that we continue to stick to. Our annual conference, TerraCon, is scheduled for February 4th and 5th of this coming year in Tacoma, Washington, and 1,500 people are expected to attend, both in person and virtually.

Challenges

Sara: What were the biggest challenges you’ve faced since your appearance on Shark Tank, and how have you addressed them?

Micah: There have not been any major new challenges. Our appearance on Shark Tank has been only of great benefit to us. The world has learned about us, traffic has increased enormously, and organic traffic remains high. It was just a huge watershed moment for us. The biggest challenge we’ve seen is that states are rapidly legalizing, and we are constantly figuring out ways that we can expand across the country to meet that demand.

Long-term Objectives and Influence

Sara: What are the long-term goals for your company, and how has Shark Tank influenced these goals?

Micah: Shark Tank hasn’t influenced our goals, but the long-term goals for our company are to have a Return Home facility in every major city in the United States to serve the families that want their last act on this planet to be to give back to the planet, and gently return to the earth.

Advice for Future Contestants

Sara: What advice would you give future entrepreneurs considering applying for Shark Tank?

Micah: Remember that Shark Tank is a TV show, not just an investment vehicle. Think a lot about what the impact of your appearance on Shark Tank will have for you across the country because the exposure is unbelievable. As for getting a deal on Shark Tank, we didn’t get one, so we don’t know. Know that the amounts that Shark Tank gives—around a million dollars maximum—typically is not a very large amount. So it is for companies that are in an earlier stage and not looking for a huge amount of capital.