Trenton entrepreneur receives $300,000 offer from ‘Shark Tank’
Joel Griffith and Maurice Bachelor are golfing buddies, living in Los Angeles. During the pandemic, they found it hard to book tee times.
“There was a huge interest in golf,” said Griffith, a former resident of Trenton. “Golf has exploded in popularity. As soon as they [tee times] were available, they were gone.”
Bachelor is an engineer by trade, and together they tried to figure out a better way to book tee times. Realizing it was companies that created Bots who would create and sell on the black market, the two friends decided to “fight back” and give everyday people an opportunity.
“Other people said, ‘We need this [automated process] for sneakers, for concert tickets, for restaurants…’,” Griffith said.
This was the start of Bot-It, a website and smartphone app that uses AI to automate various online tasks. “If you need anything automated—booking time, dinner reservations, concerts, you set up a bot and the system will do it for you,” explained Griffith. “You don’t have to be on the computer at the exact time.”
Together they pitched their startup idea to the judges of ABC’s “Shark Tank” and received a $300,000 offer from Mark Cuban and Michael Rubin back in October 2023.
“I felt great,” said Griffith. “We were extremely happy. It’s really hard to get on the show. Once you’re there, the sharks can be sharks. We were lucky to be so prepared. We had all their questions answered in a timely manner.”
He further explained that the Shark Tank process is vigorous and involves a lot of preparation. “I was very nervous,” he expressed. “My legs were shaking. Luckily it didn’t show on TV. They edited very well.”
Griffith said he always had a vision of being an entrepreneur and doing something that could help people. “I always felt like I was able to accomplish anything,” he shared. “My family instilled that thought process in me.”
Born in Trenton and growing up in Mercer County, Griffith saw a lot of athletes who came out of Trenton and Hamilton, but he decided to forge his own path.“Through education, I’d make something of myself,” he said. “I dedicated myself to be the best I could be to make my family proud. The biggest pleasure I got out of being on the show was showing people from my hometown [that] you can become something more. Go to school. Continue to grind. You can do anything. I have a two-year-old daughter. I want her to look back and see her father built something he’s proud of; help inspire her to build things too.”
Griffith received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government from Morehouse College. He’s worked as an account executive for LinkedIn, Snap Inc., Amazon, and TikTok before co-founding Bot-It.
Since being on Shark Tank, Griffith says he received nothing but great support from the people of Trenton in the form of messages on social media, phone calls, and emails.
Griffith truly feels Trenton is a place where people can bring entrepreneurship, expressing, “I think Trenton is prime for a comeback. There’s renewed interest in the city with the mayor being in leadership. Entrepreneurs and small businesses look at Trenton as a place to grow. A new housing development is being built. Trenton has so much potential. It’s the capital of the state. By the end of the decade, we’ll see Trenton much different than it was over the past 20 years.”
His advice for entrepreneurs in Trenton is to keep going. “Being an entrepreneur, there’s a lot of ups and downs. If you believe in your product or service, keep up the good fight. Hopefully, you’ll find success.”
When Griffith isn’t working, he plays golf and spends time with his family—his wife, Jasmine, and his daughter Ella.
As for future plans, Griffith said, “Just continuing to try to make my family proud.”
To learn more about Bot-It, visit: https://www.botit.com/
