What Happened To Pavlok From Shark Tank Season 7?

When it comes to entrepreneurial stories, Shark Tank has cultivated a rather broad history. For example, Bombas has brought in a staggering $1 billion in sales after securing a deal on the show and continues to grow. On the other hand, we have giants such as Ring, which found no takers but evolved on its own. Others, like HoopMaps, simply vanish after appearing on "Shark Tank." Then there are products that are rejected in quite a spectacular fashion, but thrive nonetheless. Pavlok is one such product.

At its most fundamental level, Pavlok a shock bracelet which relies on a combined system of vibrations, beeps, and an electric shock on the wrist to help people shed their bad habits like nail-biting, smoking, or sugar cravings. Pavlok is the brainchild of a Bostonian named Maneesh Sethi, whose "Shark Tank" pitch met with skepticism before it concluded with an expletive-laden tirade from Kevin "Mr. Wonderful" O'Leary. "It's all nonsense. It's all nonsense across the board," said billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, who is planning to quit the show after its 16th season.

When Sethi tried to explain how users will gradually start to see the changes — such as a different taste sensation for even what they eat — Cuban accused Sethi of being a con artist. "How can you guys be so gullible?" asked Cuban of his fellow hosts after they kept inquiring about Pavlok's efficacy and sales figures. Interestingly, despite getting no deal, Pavlok survived and continues to sell newer iterations of its bracelet to this day.

Pavlok's pitch was condemned from the beginning. Cuban lambasted Sethi over taking credit for others' scientific research in the field of aversion therapy and applying it to his product. Lori Greiner questioned why Pavlok didn't conduct its own clinical trials, and Sethi responded that an overwhelming majority of Pavlok's user base was able to quit bad habits such as nail-biting within roughly a week. Cuban continued to push Sethi, noting that he could have approached a university to conduct scientific trials, while Barbara Corcoran labeled Sethi's presentation as exhausting and complicated. Robert Herjavec questioned the financials, specifically Sethi's valuation in the ballpark of $15 million while Pavlok was still in the pre-sale phase. "It is everything but a legitimate product," Cuban concluded. 

O'Leary thought Pavlok's valuation was inflated, but still proceeded to offer a deal. He demanded 3.14% equity in return for a loan of $500,000, plus 7.5% interest and repayment within two years. O'Leary added that if even a third of Sethi's business projections turned out to be correct, he could easily pay the loan back. The Pavlok founder rejected the deal, claiming that he would partner with any of the sharks except O'Leary. At that point, O'Leary lost his cool and kicked Sethi off of the stage with a flurry of expletives.

The journey that led Sethi to that point is actually quite interesting, and he earned a measure of fame years before appearing on the Shark Tank stage. In 2012, Sethi wrote a blog post detailing how he hired a woman from Craigslist to slap him at work every time he used Facebook and got distracted. "My average productivity runs around 35-40% on most days. When Kara sat next to me, my productivity skyrocketed to 98%," Sethi wrote, adding that the quality of his work also improved. 

Sethi later spoke in an interview about how he used a modified dog collar to zap him into staying disciplined. This gave him the idea of creating a wrist-worn band that would do something similar and could be tied to a smartphone app that acts as a digital remote. Unfortunately, his public pitch on the "Shark Tank" stage proved to be a disaster for Sethi, and he faced some public backlash that translated into business troubles soon after. 

"I actually think I am very very nice," he said in an appearance on the YouTube show "Take Off with Nik." He added that soon after his "Shark Tank" appearance, Pavlok's sales tanked and the product's rating dropped on Amazon. Sethi also claimed that his phone number was leaked and he started getting death threats, but he didn't give up on his idea. He landed a place in the Boston-based start-up accelerator program MassChallenge and launched a successful Indiegogo campaign that raised more than 500% of its goal.

Pavlok is still very much in business. After a successful launch of their first product, the company refined the formula and launched multiple updated iterations of its watch. Pavlok started with a design that was rather uninspiring, featuring a thick main body and an array of buttons to initiate the habit-changing zap. With Pavlok 3, the company adopted a much sleeker form factor that resembles some Fitbit watches or the Whoop band. The Pavlok 3 also offers an IP67-rated water-resistant build, silicon and stainless steel band options, USB-C, and a longer battery life.

The Sethi-led company also created a version called the Shock Clock 3, which comes with a personalized AI assistant. According to the Pavlok website, "Shock Clock wakes you up with soft chimes and gentle vibrations. If that fails, the electric zap is guaranteed to wake you up without disturbing anyone else." The Shock Clock 3's alarm function won't stop unless users perform a certain routine such as doing jumping jacks, scanning a QR code pasted in another room, or solving a math problem.

This device also offers integrations with services such as IFTTT and Zapier, which are available across Android and iOS platforms. Thanks to the built-in motion sensors, it can also shock users if they are detected going back to bed. Taking the concept further, the company created its first display-equipped product, the Shock Clock Max. According to the Pavlok blog, all these creations have helped Sethi amass a fortune worth around $25 million. 

Pavlok has slowly turned its habit-changing wearable idea into a whole hardware/software ecosystem. The companion app lets users customize their own routines, get real-time behavioral insights using an AI-driven system, and participate in challenges to earn cash rewards. The app also features Poke Friend, which lets users entrust others with zapping them if they are caught engaging in any bad habits.

The most ambitious idea from Pavlok is right around the corner. In April 2025, the company plans to launch a smart ring. Priced at $249, it will initially be available at an introductory price of $109. Buyers will also be able to get lifetime access to an AI coach for an extra $50 per user. The company's website describes the Pavlok Ring as a "personal AI trainer and life coach, at the tip of your finger." The smart ring will be capable of tracking sleep metrics, step count, heart rate, and blood oxygen levels.

The companion app will offer users tips on improving their sleep as well as behavioral insights about changing bad habits. This smart ring doesn't come with Pavlok's signature zapping feature, but the company is hoping buyers will invest in one of its wristbands to fix their problematic habits while the ring assists them with their health and wellness journey. It will be interesting to see how Pavlok's product sizes up against the best smart ring brands on the market.