The former Hasbro toys (HAS) executive created in 2012 the Mensch on a Bench, a fledgling Hanukkah tradition and gift. Four years and a Shark Tank deal later -- Mazel tov! “That night, I registered the Mensch on a Bench trademark and only two days later someone else tried to do the same thing. Mark Cuban laughed at Hoffman's meshuggeneh pitch on ABC’s hit business reality show, Shark Tank. But Hoffman schmoozed his way to a $150K investment for 15% equity from Lori Greiner and Robert Herjavec -- the warm-blooded shark and the nice shark.

Source: Forbes December 05, 2016 15:01 UTC