SPRINGVILLE — A mere 15 months ago, when the world was spinning properly on its axis and they were standing on national television and no less than four “Shark Tank” billionaires were fighting over becoming their business partner, BYU alums Jono Diperi, Shaquille Walker and Jared Ward were on top of the world.
Order up the yachts. Move over Jeff Bezos. What could possibly go wrong?
Of course this was before they ran out of inventory in mere minutes ... before they spent four months getting their shelves restocked … before the pandemic stopped the world in its tracks.
Who knew prosperity came with so much adversity?
The back story
It all began with Diperi working toward getting his degree in mechanical engineering at BYU.
Or, if you want to back up even farther, it began when Diperi and Walker were missionary companions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Manchester, England. Between door approaches, as missionaries have done since the beginning of time, they talked about coming up with some scheme post-mission that would make them a million dollars and make the world a better place.
Then they did what missionaries have also done since the beginning of time. They came home and forgot about it. Both enrolled at BYU. Shaq ran on the track team, while Jono pursued his engineering degree.
As it happened, Jono got involved with a research group involving students and faculty from the mechanical engineering and exercise science departments that studied vibrations and how they affect the human body. That led to experiments that — to make a long story super short — resulted in the creation of a battery-powered ball about the size of a cantaloupe that transmits vibration and heat in proportions that can help the body recover from injury and manage chronic pain.
Not only did the research help Diperi get his degree, it also revived the goal to make a million dollars and make the world a better place.
After getting the green light from BYU to develop and sell the massage balls commercially, the first person Diperi called was his old missionary companion.
“I think I have that idea we were looking for,” he said
At this point, Walker was running professionally. After graduating from BYU, he came close to making the U.S. Olympic Team before setting a world record for a straightaway 800-meter sprint.
Jono wanted to partner with Shaq because, first, they’d made that pact on their mission, and second, Walker would bring athletic credibility and his sports world connections to the quest.
Next, the two men got in touch with Jared Ward, Walker’s friend and former teammate on the BYU track team who had gone on to place sixth in the marathon at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Besides adding even greater sports world credibility and connections, Ward, now on the BYU faculty as a statistics professor, was in a position to become the new venture’s first investor.
The two runners and the engineer called their newly formed company MyoStorm and named the massage ball the Meteor.
Shark Tank
Next thing they knew, “Shark Tank” was on the line. Through social media, the producers of the hit ABC-TV reality show had learned about MyoStorm. They invited the three men to come to Los Angeles and make their pitch.
What Jono, Shaq and Jared were prepared for was to defend their product and try not to get eaten alive.
What they were not prepared for was their pitch to be so well-received that no less than four sharks made bids, including Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Matt Higgins and Lori Greiner — and at better terms than they were asking. (They ultimately chose Lori’s offer.)
The show aired the evening of Oct. 27, 2019.
Before they went to bed they were sold out, with thousands of would-be buyers still in line.
Having plenty of customers but no product is much better than having plenty of product but no customers. But, still, a problem.
Stocking back up took four months, but by February 2020 they’d filled all their back orders. Their shelves were full. They could breathe again. Better yet, in addition to athletes, they’d found that an even larger share of their customer base was made up of everyday people managing their pain.
Then the pandemic hit, sales dropped by 90%, and the shelves stayed full.
It’s only been lately that they’ve started approaching sales near the pre-COVID-19 level.
No one’s arguing that there have certainly been calmer times to become an entrepreneur.
“Super exciting, super stressful” is how Diperi sums up the past 15 months.
“It’s been like running a marathon,” added the world-class marathoner Ward. “There’s been some fun exciting portions and there’s been some tough portions. You run the mile you’re in and trust that when you get to the next mile you’ll be able to run that one as well ...
“... We’re still running.”
