PostureNOW's 'Shark Tank' dive nets big returns

It's been about two weeks since Mike Lane and Matt Franklin appeared on the ABC show "Shark Tank."

Since then, the phone has barely stopped ringing.

"We probably sold 600 units in the first hour after the show aired," said Lane. That's about how many of the posture-correction products the partners used to sell in a month. "We had our computers on while we were watching the show in real time, and we watched the screen just light up."

While Lane, who watched the show on the 90-inch screen at Marathon Tavern, couldn't share exact sales numbers, he said sales are well into the six figures and the company continues to sell hundreds of units — priced at $39.99 — every day.

• Want to see what got PostureNOW on "Shark Tank?" Check out the hair-raising audition tape.

If you haven't seen it, "Shark Tank" offers aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners the opportunity to pitch their products or services on national television to a panel of self-made millionaire investors.

The panel is made up of high-powered business people, including Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and real estate magnate Barbara Corcoran, who spend their time tearing down, intimidating and, oh yeah, sometimes investing in the small business contestants.

"Terrifying," "traumatic" and "stressful" were some of the words Franklin used to describe the experience in an interview just before the show aired. Maybe so. But well worth it.

Lane and Franklin walked away with a $100,000 investment from Cuban, who received a 30 percent stake in PostureNOW and a $5 royalty per sale.

"He let everyone else [on the panel] beat us up," said Lane, who quit his day job on the show after clinching the deal. "By the time he got to us, we would have accepted anything."

Ah, the price of success.