There’s nothing like a well-fitting shirt to make a man look good and feel more confident. Unfortunately, going to a tailor for a custom-made shirt is too expensive or time-consuming. Ready to wear dress shirts, meanwhile, are not made to fit every body well.
Enter MTailor, a high-tech custom dress shirt company that makes it possible to have a custom dress shirt measured, bought, and delivered to your home just with the use of your phone.
What is MTailor app?
MTailor is a high-tech way to get your custom made dress shirt. Using only the MTailor app on your phone, you can get measured and receive your custom-fit dress shirt or suit without leaving the comfort of your home.
Using their propriety app, the measuring technology measures 17 points on the body to get a measurement that is 20% more accurate than an actual tailor. Conveniently, the whole measuring time only takes 30 seconds.
MTailor dress shirts start at $69–a little bit more than one at a mall, but significantly less than a tailor-made dress shirt.
Customers have over 10,000 unique shirt combinations to choose from. There are options for shirt length (tucked and untucked), collar style and cuff style.
How did MTailor start?
The founder and CEO of MTailor, Miles Penn, was tired of spending so much time and money every time he needed a dress shirt made. Online shopping did not do well for him either because the shirts available online were simply not custom-fit for him.
Penn decided to make a solution to his dress shirt problem. He developed the proprietary app with a friend from Stanford University.
In 2012, Penn launched MTailor available on Android and IOS for men all over the United States to “Stop wearing another man’s clothing.”
MTailor on Shark Tank
MTailor CEO and founder, Miles Penn, made his way to the Shark Tank seeking $2.5 million in exchange for 10% equity of his company. With this initial pitch, MTailor’s valuation stood at $25 million.
Shark Daymond John asked Penn to clarify why he thinks the company is worth $25 million. He was not able to address this as Penn decided to accommodate guest Shark Chris Sacca’s question on revenue.
Revenue for MTailor then was $150,000 per month, according to Penn, and the projected sales for the year was $2 million.
However, the company was on track to only make $1.1 million due to supply chain issues. Penn revealed that he was flying out to China the following day after taping the episode to fix it.
Shark Kevin O’Leary comments that the 50% miss in sales is a huge hiccup.
Penn agrees, but assures the Sharks that the company has $1.4 million in the bank. He further explained that the supply chain problem was the costs were too high in his current supplier and mentioned that John could help him in that area.
Sharks question MTailor’s $25 million valuation
John agreed that he can have 19 other factories to make the shirts, but went back to his earlier question and wanted to know where the $25 million valuation came from.
Penn explained that they were able to raise $10 million already. This answer did not satisfy the CEO of FUBU, and asked Penn if he was trying to take advantage of the Sharks.
Penn explained that his company was not the usual company and that the technology they have is “unlike any other.”
O’Leary called it a “tech play” while Sacca recommended licensing the technology to billion-dollar companies instead.
After a tense moment of Penn convincing the Sharks that he was not out to take advantage of them, Sacca was the first one to say he was out. He said that Penn’s company was “priced at perfection” and he was not ready to pay that for a company that was not perfect.
Shark Barbara Corcoran tells Penn that he did not seem to be scared enough about the supply chain situation, and with that she was also out.
What were the Sharks’ offer for MTailor?
With two Sharks out, John admits “I don’t really like you, but I like the concept.”
John then offered the MTailor founder $2.5 million for 17.5% equity, with the condition that Penn licenses out the technology.
Shark Mark Cuban says Penn’s decision to go to China was a mistake and for that, he was out.
O’Leary offers Penn a $2.5 million loan with 7% interest, payable within 36 months plus 2.5% equity of the company.
Did MTailor get a deal on Shark Tank?
MTailor’s founder Penn received offers from two Sharks, John and O’Leary, but did not accept either of the offers.
He turned down John’s offer by saying he had a different strategic vision for his company and wanted to build his own line to build up the value of the company. He also told John that licensing would derail the company.
Mr. Wonderful told Penn that he didn’t want him to go to China and try to reinvent how shirts were manufactured. He should be “perfecting this technology instead.”
When O’Leary made his offer, it made Cuban say “That’s the deal! You can’t turn that down.”
The MTailor CEO told O’Leary that what he and his company was looking for was an equity partner who would be invested in the company in the long run. He apologized to Mr. Wonderful and said he had to turn down his offer, a decision that shocked the Sharks.
What happened to MTailor after Shark Tank?
Despite turning down the offers of two Sharks, MTailor has continued to grow. In 2018, MTailor was able to secure funding of $5.2 million from Khosla Ventures. The company has received a total of $7.2 million in funding so far.
Is MTailor still in business today? Yes, the company is thriving in its business. The MTailor app is available on Android with a 4.1 star rating, and on iTunes with a 4.5 star rating. The app has at least 600,000 downloads.
In 2018, the company released several TV commercials and was also active in their YouTube channel with videos explaining the app. Here’s a YouTube video showing how customers can use the MTailor app to order a custom-made shirt.
On Facebook, MTailor has a relatively small following but has not been updated since 2019.
In early 2020, the company released the MTailor Masks, which comes as a freebie for every order made as part of MTailor’s initiative to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. They also currently offer jeans, suits, blazers and dress pants according to their website.
How much is MTailor worth now?
Since the airing of the Shark Tank episode in 2016, MTailor has experienced consistent growth. According to the company, they now generate monthly revenues of $350,000 to $400,000.
MTailor in 2018 declared its valuation to be $15 million as of that year. At present, they have not announced their net worth, but it is estimated to be close or have perhaps even surpassed to their Shark Tank valuation of $25 million.
Lessons from MTailor on Shark Tank
Sparks flew in the Shark Tank between the MTailor CEO and the Sharks, and it wasn’t the good kind. One lesson viewers can take away from the pitch is do not take a jab at the business of the ones you wanted to be partners with.
Daymond did not appreciate that Penn started his pitch with a dig at his own clothing company, FUBU. Things definitely started off on the wrong foot. It never hurts to be at least likeable, especially when you are pitching to potential investors.
Another valuable lesson to pick up from the MTailor founder is to never give up on your vision for your business. Despite all the Sharks telling him that it’s better to focus on the tech aspect of his business and license it to bigger companies, Penn stuck with it and kept working on it.
It’s true that MTailor’s growth would have been accelerated by the involvement of a Shark. But what’s more important is for an entrepreneur to stick to your vision and keep working hard see it through.
