His novel scrubbing invention became so popular, he practically revolutionized the household cleaning industry

While at the same time making smiley faces the newest television sensation

They live at the bottom of the sea but can’t swim. In fact they don’t even have eyes, gills, or a brain, mouth, and tail.

Yet they are classified as living animals.

Scientists say they’ve been around for a very long time, with certain species dating back approximately 600 million years ago. Some evidence suggest they might just be the first animal on earth.

While they do help filter the ocean waters and provide shelter for small sea creatures and fish, they mostly sit around on coral reefs.

We didn’t know they existed until about 4,000 years ago. That’s when free divers from Greece and Tunisia found them.

I’m talking about sea sponges.

Natural sea sponges

Those divers would hold their breaths for more than a minute as they swam down to the reefs to scoop up the sponges.

Over time, sponge harvesting became a big business throughout Europe. Romans used them to pad their helmets. Greeks used them to dab paint on ceramics and to clean their tools.

However by the 20^th century, natural sea sponges were no longer needed as they were replaced with ones made of synthetic materials.

While they aren’t harvested much these days, they’re still popular but in a different kind of way.

For instance, in 1999 Nickelodeon created a cartoon around a sponge … SpongeBob SquarePants. In fact it was one of the most watched animated shows on television, getting over 50 million views each month.

Even the merchandise sales figure for SpongeBob SquarePants is impressive, with $13 billion in revenue.

But Aaron Krause had something else in mind as for what to do with a sponge. And he turned that idea into a $300 million fortune.

He Couldn’t Stop Fixing Things

As far back as he can remember, inventing things came natural to Aaron. In an interview he once said, “I’ve always had an affinity for seeing problems with products.”

If he could see the problem, then he could figure out to fix it by creating something new.

That vision is what led him to become an entrepreneur, a decision that surprised his mother and father. After graduating from Syracuse University with a degree in psychology, his parents sat him down to discuss his future.

But to their dismay, Aaron told them he wasn’t going to enter the medical field because he planned to be the CEO and president of his own business.

And what business did he have in mind?

A car washing service.

That’s because as a kid, his parents paid him to do chores around the house. One of those chores was washing the family car.

But Aaron soon learned that neighbors wanted their cars washed and detailed too. And that’s the one chore that earned him the most money, with clients paying  $10 a car.

In 1992, he officially opened his business under the name of Dedication to Detail. With his parent’s permission, he converted their two-car garage into a complete detailing facility.

The business was growing, with a roster of roughly 300 clients. He started hiring employees to help out. But he also did his share of firing. He had to fire several employees at once after discovering they were drinking on the job.

Because he was now short on staff, Aaron had to do detailing on cars himself. That turned out to be a “blessing in disguise.”

You see, one day while buffing a Mercedes, he accidentally broke one of the side mirrors. But when he analyzed the situation, Aaron realized the mirror broke because the buffing pad he was using was poorly designed.

To him, the pad should have beveled edges not straight ones. And it shouldn’t have a recess in the back.

He started shopping around for buffing pads with features he knew would make it easier to use but also not damage cars. However the problem was … none existed.

So, what’s an inventor to do when you don’t have the right product … you create it yourself.

Clean Those Greasy Hands

Aaron already knew what he wanted his version of buffing pads to made of … urethane foam.

And so he spent the next six to eight months developing a prototype. And when finished, Aaron handed it out to his employees to use.

They loved the new buffing pad. So he made an entire stock of buffing pads.

Word began to spread about what he had created. People as well as other car washing companies wanted them. And because of that pent up demand, Aaron began selling the pads.

Within six months, the pads were being sold around the world. Aaron quickly realized he was onto something “big.” He even applied for a patent for his puffing pad invention.

Since the pads were generating a lot of revenue, Aaron sold his car washing company so he could focus exclusively on making buffing pads.

By age 37, Aaron was running an international manufacturing company.

To say Aaron is a hands-on type of guy is an understatement. He was involved with all aspects of the business, including putting together the machinery to make the pads.

But there’s one irritating thing that comes along with working on machinery – your hands get dirty, really dirty. And his were often covered in a thick layer of oil and grease.

One the ways to remove that oil and grease was using a scrub brush. And while they removed a portion of the oil and grease, they didn’t always get it all off.

Once again what’s an inventor to do when you don’t have the right product … you create it yourself.

Aaron located a company in Germany that was willing to tailor make something for him, based of course on his design input. What they wound up creating was a special polymer sponge that did an excellent job of removing grease and oil.

The polymer sponge also changed textures based on water temperatures. It got rock hard in cold water and super soft in warm water.

While the sponge did everything Aaron wanted it to do, he couldn’t help but tinker with it to make it easier to use. For example, in order to get a better grip on it, he cut it into a ridged circle that fit nicely in the palm of his hand.

Then he cut two holes in the middle in which he could put his fingers through, which would remove the dirt.

His sponge was perfect in every way.   

With a Smile on Your Face

In 2007, something wonderful happened. Aaron’s buffing pads caught the eye of industry giant 3M. They produce products under popular household and office brands, including Post-it, Command, and Scotch-Brite.

The company wanted to buy his buffing pads and add them to their line of products. In 2008, Aaron Krause sold not only his buffing pads but his entire company to 3M (for an undisclosed amount.)

Since he was selling the entire company, Aaron figured 3M would also want his cleaning sponges. But that’s the one item they excluded from the deal.

If a $50 billion dollar company doesn’t want your cleaning sponges, then what do you do with them?

You keep tinkering with them of course.

Aaron knew his sponges could clean dirty hands, but what else could he use them on?

First, he used the sponge to clean lawn furniture. And it worked!

Then he tried out the sponge on the dirty dishes sitting in the kitchen sink. By putting your fingers in the two cut out holes, you could easily wash the bottom of cups and mugs.

Could the sponge work on silverware too?

Sure does … especially if you added a smile-shaped hole, which then allowed you to run silverware through it for quick cleaning. Aaron also discovered the sponge was dishwasher-safe and didn't scratch any surfaces.

Could this be Aaron’s next big invention?

There’s only one way to find out and that of course it to start selling the sponges. He began marketing them as the newest household cleaning gadget.

He sent emails to different companies letting them know he had just developed a new kind of cleaning sponge, which resembled a smiley face.

Unfortunately companies weren’t interested in his cleaning sponge. Not about to give up, he decided to call in a favor. A friend of Aaron’s owned several grocery stores, and he convinced him to put the product on their shelves.

But still, no sales.

Aaron explains, “I was having no luck selling my sponges, so I put them in a box labelled scrap and left them at the back of the factory.”

Take It to The Sharks

There they sat until 2011 when his wife asked him to clean the lawn furniture. That’s when Aaron reached into the box to retrieve a sponge.

A thought also popped into his head ... maybe it’s time to try selling the sponges again. But this time, he had an idea on how to do it that just might be successful. Aaron built a demonstration booth and set it up at a local grocery store owned by a friend.

Now he could literally show people how the little smiley-faced sponges worked. Well, people were impressed with his demonstration and began buying his sponge in droves.

Then in 2012, Aaron pitched his local newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, about featuring his smiling sponge. And they did. In fact they gave him an entire page of the newspaper. His silly looking, yellow smiley-faced sponge was now getting major publicity and attracting lots of attention.

So much so that an independent broker helped Aaron book his first live QVC appearance. His sponges, which he named Scrub Daddy sold out within eight minutes. He did four more live QVC shows.

Well heck … if he could sell his sponges on QVC, he could sell them on another television show … one with a bigger audience and one that was ideally suited for entrepreneurs: ABC’s very popular Shark Tank.

So he applied to the show. The producers liked what they saw and asked him to do an audition. And audition he did! It took three long months of auditions before filming finally took place in July of 2012.

On October 25th of that year, Scrub Daddy premiered on season four, episode seven of the show.

Aaron’s appearance on Shark Tank

During his info-like demonstration, he told all four sharks, “It’s the greatest kitchen scrubbing tool you’ll ever use.”

Aaron was looking for a $100,000 investment in exchange for 10% equity in his company.

While they all enjoyed his presentation, not all the celebrity investors wanted in on the sponges. Mark Cuban bowed out saying he didn’t want to be a “scrub pimp.”

Daymond John offered Aaron $50,000 for a 15% stake in his company. Kevin O’Leary considered one of the toughest sharks on the show also made an offer:  $100,000 and in return, he would get 50% of Aaron’s company.

That was no-go for Aaron. He wasn’t about to give half of his company away. Aaron looked Kevin in the eye and said, “Okay, you’re out.”

Eventually Aaron accepted an offer from Shark Tank business mogul Lori Greiner, who put down $200,000 for a 20% equity in Scrub Daddy. When the episode aired in October 2012, the business exploded and hasn’t slowed down since.

In May 2014, ABC aired a 20/20 special entitled “Swimming with Sharks” in which Scrub Daddy was named “Shark Tank’s most successful product to date.”

Today, Aaron Krause is worth $70 million, and his company is worth $300 million.

While the exact figures remain undisclosed, it is estimated that Lori Greiner made a staggering $50 million from her investment in Scrub Daddy.

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Awesome Quotes by Awesome People

“A lot of people have ideas but very few follow through with them.” — Aaron Krause

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