Barbara Corcoran has built her reputation on trusting her instincts. She often talks about choosing deals based on gut feel rather than spreadsheets (a concept that would be alien to a Shark like Kevin O’Leary). She also openly advertises how she does not stash her money away in conventional savings.
This approach would make most financial planners nervous, but not Barbara. Her success speaks for itself.
Corcoran’s wealth is estimated at around one hundred million dollars, which makes it clear her unusual style works for her.
Her approach on the show is no different. In a way that is not a surprise to anyone, she is known to bet on the entrepreneur and not the business itself. That philosophy set the stage for one of her most memorable early Shark Tank deals.
One of her luckiest breaks was a business that was passed on by everyone on the Tank, except her.
Barbara Corcoran’s Daisy Cakes Investment
Kim Nelson stepped onto Shark Tank in 2011 in Season 2 Episode 5 with her company, Daisy Cakes. She came in seeking $50,000 in order to expand her homegrown baking operation. She was offering 25% of her business in return.
Kim picked up her baking skills in South Carolina, where her mom and other relatives taught her the family recipes they had been using for years. She teamed up with her mother to sell her first cake at the nascent age of 10. This small moment and early start ended up shaping her path, which led her to Shark Tank.
The cakes are put together the old-fashioned way, using fresh items from the farm like eggs, carrots and real butter. People could not pick them up at a storefront. The modus operandi to acquire is to order through the website and have them shipped right to their home.
Why a Shark Was Needed
When she came to the show, Daisy Cakes was basically a two-person operation. Kim Nelson and her mom handled every batch themselves, bringing in around five thousand dollars a month.
They were getting the word out by taking their desserts to trade shows and local events across the South. Kim knew the company was still tiny compared to what she hoped it could become at the time of her pitch.
That was why she wanted a Shark on her side. She also had a possible partnership with Whole Foods for her lemon curd at the time, and she could already see that she and her mother didn’t have the workforce to keep up with the demand that might follow.
Things were looking up for the business, but things were not looking big (at the time).
How Barbara Read The Room During The Pitch
During the pitch, when the sampling started, the Sharks couldn’t help but break their daily calorie count. When they asked about numbers, Kim shared that she had brought in $27,000 in cake orders over a span of three months at the time.
The Sharks unanimously appreciated the fact that the sales were strong for a small outfit. When it came to investing, Kevin O’Leary, Kevin Harrington, Daymond John and Robert Herjavec stepped away from the deal as the company was in a very nascent stage for them to take up.
Thereafter, only Barbara Corcoran remained in play. She admitted she felt the business had a lot of ground to cover before it could scale.
It almost sounded like she was ready to pass. Then she shifted the vibes and told Kim Nelson that she loved the cakes and liked her as a founder.
She also mentioned how the other Sharks kept eating their slices even after backing out, which told her the product clearly had something that stood out.
Barbara then put up fifty thousand dollars, and in return, she wanted a dollar from each cake sold until she earned her money back. A very Kevin O’Leary-style deal, but less vicious.
Growth Driven By The Shark Tank Effect
Kim Nelson came back to the show with an update in Season 3. She shared that sales had climbed to around one hundred thousand dollars a month, which pushed her to move into a bigger space (speak of champagne problems).
The business was once again featured in an update segment in season 5. Daisy Cakes had grown so much by then that she set up another kitchen in Las Vegas to handle order traffic from that region.
From a Startup To a Multi-Million Dollar Brand
Daisy Cakes has now grown into a multi-million-dollar business. The company now brings in around $4 million in annual sales. The total revenue is estimated to be around $11 million, as of reports from November 2024.
Daisy Cakes eventually changed ownership. After becoming a grandmother and dealing with a tough period that included her mother’s passing in 2022, Kim Nelson decided to step down from the business world.
She decided to part ways with the business world and sold the company to Marshall Langley, a longtime employee of Daisy Cakes.
