If you want to be inspired then look no further. This is somebody much like us who took entrepreneur classes and entered competitions. Martin Dimitrov was a junior in high school at the time and graduated a year later in 2015. The idea started as a class project, much like the one we had a week ago, and he ended up taking it to District 214 Startup Showcase. The product is an easier, more versatile clip for barbells. Much like the hot trend of slap bands at the time, this product simply slaps on to the bar. He won $400 and was given another $2,500 to further advance the product. He then crowd-sourced with a goal of $8,000 but ended up exceeding that by about 3 times as much.

Martin took it to Shark Tank and won $150,000 for 30% stake in the company. Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, and Alex Rodriguez all joined and noted that the product could be used for holding together cables or wires as well.

“It’s kind of funny. Entrepreneurship isn’t about whether you’re 16 or 50, it’s more about having the spirit of an entrepreneur,” Martin said. He has inspired many as well as myself because of his willingness and action to get it out in the market while in school. I now know it is possible to do both simultaneously with a lot of hard work.

Slap Clips are still in business and seem to be doing well. They haven’t marketed it as a wire/cable holder yet after airing in 2018. Dimitrov was encouraged to stay in school by the sharks. I must admit, I saw a very similar product my first time in the Grove City weight room. Instead of a spring loaded clip, it acts like a metal watch wristband that folds over itself. I thought it was ingenious and I’d imagine that Snap Bands has a bit of competition.

https://snapclips.com/pages/about-us

https://allsharktankproducts.com/shark-tank-products-sports/snapclips-barbell-collar-weights/

https://gazettereview.com/2018/08/snapclips-after-shark-tank-update/