James Stephen Donaldson, Algorithm Decision, Product Hustle, Normal Smile Having YouTube superstar better known as MrBeast recently debuted on Shark tank. During his first episode of the show where celebrity investors subjected “idea people” to a ritual of humiliation, Donaldson broke away from the pack to support an AI-powered ball. It rolls. You can throw it. There’s, you know, AI in there. Donaldson chose to invest a quarter of a million in the product.
Cousins Andrew Brown and Kevin Langdon introduced the Sharks to “Ball 2.” A sequel to the ball. Unlike a regular foam ball, the second ball is “filled with sensors,” capable of tracking and collecting data when it is rolled, thrown, bounced, etc. By feeding information to a companion app, Brown and Langdon added that through the magic of AI, you can instruct the ball to create new plays on the fly. It’s like being thrown further or rolled less.
For a live demonstration, Donaldson and Lori Greiner competed to see who could shake the ball the most. Donaldson won. “It worked way better than I expected,” Donaldson said after taking his shake, “it was cool.”
For the most part, the Sharks seemed unimpressed with Ball 2. Their main concern was marketing to consumers. The world is full of balls. There are millions of ball holders. Thousands of ball connoisseurs. And despite the disagreements of some communities, we even live on a giant ball. All balls without AI, and at first glance, the ball with AI seems no different. Without the video pitch, there would be little motivation to sign up. “If you put this next to another ball on a shelf, it’s a hard sell,” Langdon admits.
With Mr. Wonderful refusing his support, MrBeast was all-in. Donaldson invested $250,000 for a 55% stake in the company. After looking at each other worriedly, the two cousins turned around and shouted “Beast Ball!” to the offer. Greiner and O’Leary were skeptical of consumer interest, with the latter saying he would live or die in a “viral” moment. Donaldson lives and dies by this same principle, making himself an expert on YouTube user trends and an unironic appreciator of Squid game (the show and the practice). With seemingly hypnotic control over their nephews and their consumption of energy drinks, Donaldson and the Ball 2 team seemed confident they could get kids interested in their AI gaming orb.
At just 28 years old, Donaldson has built a business empire that is as vast as it is dubious. While he prides himself on his surgical mastery of social media, he plays it much faster and looser in his other projects. Whether it’s the quality of his food products, routine allegations about the treatment of staff, or the decision to open a theme park, his circle of control seems to shrink the farther away you go.
As for me, I’m keeping my money in Aurora Castle, the amusement park that’s also a space colony to be built somewhere in Vaughan.
Gn tech
