New York, NY — Recently disabled and former Initech QA engineering manager Tom Smykowski got his dream fulfilled earlier this week. The 54-year-old’s goofy, yet addicting game Jump to Conclusions moved onto the funding round on ABC TV’s popular venture capitalist game show Shark Tank.
“You know, I had a million-dollar idea a long time ago,” said Mr. Smykowski speaking of his windfall to People magazine. “The guys I used to work with were the best sounding boards. I used to bounce my ideas off of them. Great guys. Anyhow, there were all these versions, but I finally settled on the mat that you put on the floor with different conclusions on it. That’s where I got the name Jump to Conclusions from.”
When Mr. Smykowski first approached the Shark Tank panel, he was visibly nervous. But it was that nervousness that caught the eye of veteran member Barbara Corcoran.
“My best successes came on the heels of a failure, and finding opportunity is a matter of believing it is there,” said a confident Ms. Corcoran, referring to her decision to fund Jump to Conclusions. “Tom’s story is about failure. Big failure. But he stuck to his vision. We should never underestimate the power of your instinct.”
Other “Shark” panelist Mark Cuban didn’t believe Mr. Smykowski’s game had any merit.
“That was the worst idea I have ever heard in my entire lifetime,” said a irritated Cuban. “Yes, it’s horrible. This idea.”
According to Mr. Smykowski, he’s going to receive upwards of “six figures” to move his prototype into production.
