Brian Altomare’s LugLess is a door-to-door shipping company that picks up your luggage and delivers it anywhere in the world. Your baggage arrives at your destination before you do at a less expensive cost than airline baggage fees, including for those awkward items such as bicycles, skis and golf clubs. You don’t need to stand in lines at check-in and again at baggage claim. In addition, you do not have to worry about your luggage being lost. LugLess is so sure it will get there safe and sound that you will get $500 if it doesn’t.
The sharks’ primary objection was the competition; FedEx, for one, does luggage. Brian felt like he was getting hit from all sides and even blacked out at one point. He left the taping without a deal and was sorry he ever heard of Shark Tank: it was the worst experience of his life. He couldn’t sleep for weeks. But he made good use of the harsh criticisms and changed his business model.
When his segment aired, it turned out to be the best experience of his life! After the show, his monthly revenue increased by more than 400%. LugLess was selected for Entrepreneur Magazine’s “100 Brilliant Companies List,” a rarity for a new company. A year after the show, LugLess was acquired by competitor Luggage Forward, a Boston-based company that partners with FedEx, UPS, and DHL. Luggage Forward was very happy to get LugLess on board because of the excellent reputation Brian had built and his superior customer service.
