Captain Ice Cream's Gigantor Blog

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes Coming to Captain Ice Cream

Hello everyone!

Wow!, I learned a lot from my appearance on ABC's TV show, Shark Tank. I believe nearly 5 million viewers(!) watched my episode on January 29, 2010, but don't quote me on the numbers.

Talking with the sharks was enlightening, but I learned the most from talking to the hundreds of great people who called me after they watched the show. The response over the past month and a half has been incredible and the lessons learned have really helped me to alter the direction of my business to better serve potential customers.

Here's what I am going to do to steer the business in a better direction:

The single most important lesson I learned is that most people who want to start an ice cream vending business want to name their business themselves. In other words, they don't want to be, “the Captain Ice Cream of their town” like I anticipated. They want to be, “Dave's Ice Cream” or whatever. This simple fact changes my business model completely. Therefore, Captain Ice Cream will not become a franchise and Captain Ice Cream will not manufacture Captain Ice Cream-branded popsicles (soon, I will update this entire site/blog to reflect these changes).

Talking about freeing me up to do what I do best – that is, build vehicles. I'm going to simply build “blank” white ice cream mopeds for customers now. Therefore, there will be no franchise fees and no additional costs for the Captain Ice Cream branding. Customers will be able to name and letter their ice cream mopeds in whatever manner they wish. Captain Ice Cream (actually, my company, Modular Vehicles, Inc.) will manufacture ice cream mopeds. Period.

I been building fast cars for nearly thirty years and have been a car and truck magazine technical editor and photographer for over 23-years. I moved to Los Angeles in 1989 to begin my career as a car magazine editor and have been writing for mags since. The following pics are just two of the many cars I built over the past few years.

Captain Ice Cream's 1963 Chevrolet Biscayne (283 cu. in., Muncie M21 close-ratio 4-speed, 4.56 positraction).

Captain Ice Cream's 1967 Camaro RS (327 cu. in., Muncie M22 "Rock Crusher" 4-speed, 4.88 posi. 12-bolt).

To summarize: Captain Ice Cream is building brand-new ice cream mopeds and plans to have new bikes in stock for delivery by June 2010. All specs are the same as listed elsewhere on this site, except they will be painted white. The new retail cost of an ice cream moped will be $6995.00 Wow! That is nearly 1/2 the cost of the Captain Ice Cream franchise version!

Another benefit of having been on Shark Tank is that I now have an investor ready to fund the buildup of 100 ice cream mopeds at a time, if necessary. I am taking orders now. First come, first served. 50% deposit required with the balance due before shipping (F.O.B. Los Angeles). Call: (626) 716-7780 (hours of operation: Tues. – Fri., 9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. P.S.T.)

Oh, and by the way, I will be the only Captain Ice Cream, for now. I can dig that.

2010 Ice Cream Moped Update

Captain Ice Cream has been a busy beaver this winter. After his appearance on ABC's reality television show, Shark Tank, it took Captain Ice Cream weeks to make sure that everyone who called or e-mailed got a reply or phone call! Thanks again to everyone for your support!

Captain Ice Cream has also been working hard on his mission to build a new generation of ice cream mopeds. There is still some engineering, problem solving and parts sourcing is left to do, but a run of 2010 Ice Cream Mopeds is well underway! Stay tuned.

The Top Ten Reasons Why I Was a Contestant on the Reality Television Show, “Shark Tank” #Sharktank

By Tim “Captain Ice Cream” Gavern

10.)   Consider my pitch to the sharks to be a test market for Captain Ice Cream. It really wasn’t the shark’s opinion I wanted – it was the opinion of the American public. If my franchise idea fails in the eyes of the downsized babyboomer searching for a new career, then it’s a failure. But, if I sell even one franchise, it isn’t!

9.)   After pitching to the sharks, I can now pitch The Captain Ice Cream business model to any venture capitalist, anywhere, anytime, with no fear.

8.)   I got to ride my ice cream moped onto the “Shark Tank” set. The shark’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads when they first saw it. How great was that?

7.)   It was really fun having something that my family and friends could rally around. So many people became a part of my “Shark Tank” experience by wishing me well, then watching the show. That was great! I missed my 30th high school reunion because my episode filmed the same day, but luckily, my oldest friends were rooting for me on Facebook. I’ll make it to the next reunion.

6.)   I knew the experience would be fun if I didn’t take it too seriously. I made a lot of new friends because of “Shark Tank” – especially the production crew as I left about 300 ice cream treats in their freezer (in mid-August in L.A.). One crewmember’s response was, “Thanks, man. We never get anything.”

5.)   I wanted the money. I believed that Captain Ice Cream was a good enough concept that the sharks would want to fund my venture. Of course, it would be great to partner with a successful entrepreneur with very deep pockets. Who wouldn’t want to do that?

4.)   No matter what would happen, and I knew it could get ugly, my plan was to inform the general public of two things: 1.) Captain Ice Cream is a franchisor of street-legal ice cream mopeds. 2.) Captain Ice Cream-branded novelty ice cream treats will soon be available from ice cream trucks and in supermarkets nationwide.

3.)   I can’t wait to find out who might be on the other end of my telephone because of my appearance on “Shark Tank.” Who knows who might call. The President? FYI: my phone has not stopped ringing since my episode aired.

2.)   After six minutes of airtime on ABC in front of 5 million viewers, Captain Ice Cream still has zero debt and I own 100% of my company. Ha ha.

1.) The number one reason I was a contestant on “Shark Tank” was to build the Captain Ice Cream brand. Finding a way to instill a new brand name into the minds of millions of Americans is quite difficult today. I did it.

 

 

Captain Ice Cream's 2010 Appearance Schedule Filling Up Fast #sharktank

Captain Ice Cream is planning his 2010 Appearance Schedule! If you would like Captain Ice Cream to be at your event, please call or e-mail Captain Ice Cream at least 60 days in advance of your event as dates are filling up fast!

For more info, please call: (626) 716-7780 or e-mail: captainicecream@gmail.com

See you soon!

Captain Ice Cream says, "Have Captain Ice Cream Hauler and Moped, will travel."