What Happened To Geek My Tree Christmas Lights From Shark Tank Season 7?

There are countless holiday traditions we anticipate each year, but one that many don't look forward to is setting up the Christmas lights. As neat as they can look, untangling and positioning them on the tree can quickly become a problematic proposition that isn't worth the hassle. One Christmas light enthusiast took note of this dilemma and sought to fix it through the birth of his company, Geek My Tree.

Created by Michigan native Brad Boyink, Geek My Tree produces specialized Christmas tree lights made up of LED glow balls that can be timed through an accompanying smartphone app to display an endless combination of colors, patterns, and effects. On top of this, they are easy to install through the use of a ring that sits atop the tree and positions the lights upright. Prior to starting the business, Boyink was renowned for the elaborate Christmas light shows he set up at his home in Grand Haven that attracted widespread attention. Wanting to bring the extravagance of these displays to people's homes, he devised Geek My Tree lights as a solution that would be both easy to install and lavish to witness.

His holly jolly creation lit up television screens when Boyink appeared on "Shark Tank" Season 7, which featured other high-end items designed for everyday people such as the device-controlling BearTek gloves and consumer-focused drone company xCraft. Although the sharks tore Boyink to shreds in regards to the exorbitant price of his product, the entrepreneur still managed to snag a deal with none other than Mr. Wonderful. But was the future merry and bright for Geek My Tree in the show's aftermath?

Brad Boyink sought a $225,000 investment for 20% of his business. Seasonal products have historically struggled to gain the interest of the show's featured investors, as they don't typically generate yearlong revenue that the sharks like to see. But Boyink would soon learn that his company had an even more fatal flaw. 

The entrepreneur shocked the sharks when he informed them that the Geek My Tree lights cost between $299 and $399, with the expansion kit adding on another $200. Along with the lights, which include 16 built-in patterns, the buyer would receive a controller and mobile app where even more patterns could be purchased. Still, these inclusions did little to justify the value of a $500 string of Christmas lights in the eyes of the sharks. Boyink agreed that the cost was too high and stated that the reason for it was due to their extremely limited production run of 2,000 units. With the investment, he aimed to ramp up production, believing that at 10,000 units they could cut the cost by 20%, and with 50,000 units, it could get down to 30%.

Even then, it failed to appease the sharks who viewed it as an out-of-reach luxury item for most consumers who were already spending more than usual during the holiday season. The only investor not to drop out was Kevin O'Leary, who proposed being a 50/50 partner with Boyink. The entrepreneur hesitated and asked if the shark would go down to 40% equity. O'Leary refused to budge, resulting in Boyink giving in and take the deal. 

Brad Boyink was able to defy the odds on "Shark Tank," getting support for a high-end seasonal item from not just any shark, but easily the biggest penny-pincher of them all. However, it's safe to say that the partnership paid off, as Boyink was able to accomplish what he set out to do through "Shark Tank" and still find plenty of surprises along the way. 

Geek My Tree had its "Tank" debut at the perfect time, airing on December 11, 2015. When asked by "Shark Tank" podcast in May 2016 of how things turned out, Boyink answered,  "Amazing. Everything that we wanted to do is happening. We got the price point down, we're coming out with our new products, and we're just killing it." He later stated that the team was able to bring down cost of their products down to between $99 and $249, with a then-upcoming item even being priced under $100. Boyink credited much of the success to O'Leary and his team and held no qualms about giving 50% of his company to the investor. "With everything in what we're doing, 50% of millions is still millions," he added.

In March 2017, Geek My Tree launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund its newest product, the Tree Effects Tabletop Light Tree. As its name implies, this was a tabletop Christmas tree designed for those with small spaces imbued with many of the same capabilities as the company's full-sized selection. The campaign ended up being a wild success, raking just over $13,000 on a $7,500 goal.

With a mega investor like Kevin O'Leary, new products on the horizon, and a better wrangling of its initial hurdles, Geek My Tree was shaping up to be a "Shark Tank" success story like no other. But the world of business can be more complicated than that. Unfortunately for Geek My Tree, its lights didn't stay on much longer.

The company would officially close its doors in 2018, nearly three years after its "Shark Tank" episode aired. The reason came down to logistics issues stemming from increased tariffs and competition from cheaper competitors and knock-off brands. A statement shared by founder Brad Boyink read, "It's been an incredible journey, and we have created some amazing products, but things have changed and the lights are dimming." Today, all that remains pointing to the company's existence is a broken website and an Instagram account that hasn't been updated since December 2018. Towards the end of Geek My Tree's life, the team was pushing its new product, Party Pixels, into the public across social media, likely as a way to branch out and produce yearlong items. Oddly enough, it was never reported before, during, or after its "Shark Tank" appearance as to how much the company was making annually, potentially indicating that costs of running the business versus the amount made wasn't substantial enough to justify going against such obstacles. 

There's no denying that Geek My Tree was made with the best intentions and had potential to be go toe-to-toe with the best smart Christmas light brands on the market. Its spirited founder, combined with the bevy of support garnered from investors and fans alike, would have seemingly spelled out a great future for the company. But even if things didn't work out in the end for Geek My Tree, Brad Boyink's passion for brightening lives has yet to waiver.

Since the late 1990s, Boyink has been heavily involved in the operation for the Meal Magic Corporation, an innovator in school lunch services that developed some of the first web-based management systems for K-12 schools. He was integral to the development of the organization's breakthrough software and has since gone on to become a Vice President. 

An even less-expected outlet for Boyink's passions has been his founding of West Michigan Squirrel Rehab. Boyink, who has been running the organization for well over a decade, is among the state's handful of certified wildlife rehabilitators and one of only two to currently specialize in squirrel care. His facilities can get quite busy as well, with Boyink reporting having as many as 50 squirrels at a single time in one instance. He was still active in this practice during the course of Geek My Tree's life as well, even occasionally appearing in a squirrel costume on his company's social media pages.