Patent Attorney and Founder
I’m not here to pitch that old “vomit necklace.” I put that idea to rest a long time ago. Yes, Mr. Wonderful, you’re welcome.
But I did take what I learned from watching Shark Tank and used it to grow one of my other inventions. And that one actually took off.
So, Sharks, I’m here asking for $300,000 for 10% of my company, Lucid Art.
At Lucid Art, we make the Lucy drawing tool. It helps people draw with ease. You set whatever you want to sketch in front of the Lucy, look through the viewing window, and trace the reflection. You can start a real piece of art in minutes.
The Lucy is my updated take on a very old idea. Artists have used versions of this tool for hundreds of years. Yep, the old masters had help too. I just gave it new life.
People ask if it’s like tracing paper. It’s not. You still need skill. You still need practice. But the first time someone uses it for half an hour, they’re usually shocked by what they can draw.
“Do you have a patent?”
I have a provisional filed on the improvements. The old device had problems. The image was tiny and shaky. It’s why people stopped using it. I spent four years in my garage fixing every issue I could find until it worked the way an artist would actually want.
Who buys it?
About 20% are people learning to draw. Another 20% are pros who don’t need it but like how fast it makes their workflow. The other 60% are hobby artists who want to get better.
“You’ve been here before, right? The other device?”
Yes. I killed that idea. But this one? This one stuck.
I’ve been drawing and inventing since I was a kid. In my early twenties, my art teacher brought one of the old devices to class. I couldn’t believe something so simple could project an image like that. He also explained why it didn’t work well. So I went home and tinkered. For years. Until I made a version that finally did what artists always wished it could do.
Then I went from building in my garage to trying to sell it. Around 2010, I hit a wall. I got sidetracked with other ideas, including a bib you can, well… barf into. That’s the one that landed me on Shark Tank the first time.
“What do you sell it for? What does it cost? What are your numbers?”
The Lucy Flex sells for $128. It costs $25.50 to make.
In the past 12 months, we did $2.3 million.
Last year, we did $3.7 million and cleared $1.6 million in profit.
Lifetime sales? $10 million.
Not bad for something based on an idea from 1806. The original design came from an English chemist named William Hyde Wollaston. Back then, artists used it to help with drawings and optical tricks. My version just fixes the flaws and makes it useful again.
As for trademarks, the name “Lucy” is registered for artist tools. It’s close to “Lucid,” but no real conflict. The only catch with a name like Lucy is that people might search the word itself and get lost before they find the product.
We also talked about styling marks in all caps. In trademark work, all-caps usually means you’re referring to the mark itself, not the business. It’s more of a professional habit than a legal rule. The USPTO sometimes even changes it on its own.