Copy Keyboard is a USB, plug-and-play, copy-and paste keyboard accessory. The device is designed to help users avoid the finger cramping and discomfort caused when repeatedly using the copy and paste functions on a standard keyboard.
Read our Copy Keyboard Shark Tank update to find out if this new keyboard accessory clicks with one of the Sharks.
What is Copy Keyboard?
Copy Keyboard is a company which manufactures a plug-and-play, USB copy-and-paste keyboard. The company is located in Fresno, California.
Copy Keyboard is designed to relieve the discomfort caused by repeated use of the copy and paste function on a standard computer keyboard. This simple, two-button, plug-in keyboard allows the user to quickly copy and paste at the touch of a key.
Who created Copy Keyboard?
Copy Keyboard was founded by Scott Trujillo in 2021. Scott had always wanted to be an electronics product designer, so he attended college at California State College, Fresno to study Engineering, but he dropped out of school when he was a Junior in college.
Scott caught the entrepreneurial bug early, as he co-founded Great Greek Shirts, a screen printing business, while he was still in college. He ran the screen printing business for about three years, and then, prior to founding Copy Keyboard, he gained some experience in the electronics world when he worked as an E-commerce Manager at an electronics recycling firm.
How did Copy Keyboard get started?
Copy Keyboard founder Scott Trujillo explained the genesis of the Copy Keyboard idea to Fresno State Focus, a publication of Cal State. He told the magazine that he developed a passion for business at the early age of 13.
Scott said that his young career started when he started selling things online. He said, “It happened to be laptop computers that were broken, and I was fixing them and selling them on eBay. I just wanted to get a nice Mac laptop for school because I saw everyone else had one, and I knew I needed one of those things.”
Scott also explained that his big idea for the Copy Keyboard came to him in 2016 as he sat at his laptop doing the monotonous task of copying and pasting data onto a standard spreadsheet when he was working for the electronics recycling company. However, the Copy Keyboard didn’t become a reality until 2021.
Scott says that while he was copying and pasting all of the sales into a big profit and loss spreadsheet, he realized if he had a simple copy-and-paste keyboard, he could do this twice as fast. So, he looked to buy a simply copy-and-paste, plug and play keyboard, and when he couldn’t find one, he thought that this would be a good idea for his first product in the world of electronics.
What happened to Copy Keyboard before Shark Tank?
When Copy Keyboard founder Scott Trujillo entered the Tank to pitch to the Sharks, his episode was being taped in September, 2022, so his business had been operating for a little less than a year. And, in many respects, the company did most of its sales over just a two-day period in December 2021.
During his episode, Scott told the Sharks that he posted a video on December 1st, 2021, and by the next day, he had received over $20k in orders. At the time, he was programming, and shipping the Copy Keyboards from his kitchen, and he said he had no idea that his video might receive over 20 million views, and bring such an avalanche of orders.
When he first posted the video, he had about 200 units ready to ship, and when the overwhelming number of orders came in, he decided to cut off new orders, and to tell customers that they could only pre-order the Copy Keyboard. This resulted in a drastic reduction in the number of new orders.
At the time Scott pitched to the Sharks, the company had $42k in sales in its first year, and Scott was asking the Sharks for money to be able to order larger quantities of inventory in order to reduce the unit price, and to build inventory so that he could post some new videos and create another surge in demand for the holiday season.
What do customers think of Copy Keyboard?
Amazon was the only site on which we were able to find customer reviews for Copy Keyboard, and there were only 17 global ratings on Amazon. 70% of this small group of reviewers gave the product 5 stars while another 14% rated it at 4 stars. On the negative side, 9% rated the Copy Keyboard at only one star.
What are customers saying about Copy Keyboard?
One very satisfied verified purchaser on Amazon wrote, “I copy and paste a lot for work, and it makes my life easier. AND it matches my keyboard! I wish I could give it 10 stars.”
Another happy Amazon customer said, “I purchased this for work. I’m an accountant, copying and pasting more than I type in a day. The rheumatoid in my pinky was killing me doing the Ctrl+c and v moves. I saw it on Shark Tank, and it had been in my mind since. It arrived, I plugged it in, and it worked! I have a company issued laptop with absolutely no admin control to install any software, so I was pleased it was just plug and play!”
Only one critical reviewer took the time to critique the product, but this customer left no doubt concerning their feeling about the product: “Can’t get it to work, no customer service, and I missed my return date waiting for customer service that doesn’t exist. Don’t waste your money.”
When did Copy Keyboard appear on Shark Tank?
Copy Keyboard appeared on Shark Tank in Season 14, Episode 13, which aired on January 27th, 2023. The company pitched to the regular Sharks: Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Kevin O’Leary, Daymond John, and Robert Herjavec.
Along with Copy Keyboard, Season 14 of Shark Tank saw a number of tech products in the Tank, including Metric Mate.
What happened to Copy Keyboard on Shark Tank?
Copy Keyboard founder Scott Trujillo entered the Tank and asked the Sharks for a $40k investment in his company in return of an equity stake of 25%
Copy Keyboard founder Scott entered the Tank with one arm in what appeared to be a sling, and he addressed the Sharks:
“Sharks, my fingers were hurting, and you know why? Because after 12 hours of copying and pasting into spreadsheets, my hand was cramping into a lobster claw, you know, the throbbing red pain that you get from copying and pasting all day.” At this point, Scott pulled his hand out of the sling, and there was a huge, red lobster claw on it. The Sharks thought that this was really funny and were cracking up at the sight of the giant lobster claw.
After removing the claw, Scott explained to the Sharks that using the Control C and Control V functions on a keyboard all day had caused him a great deal of discomfort, so he decided to try to find a simple copy and paste keyboard; however, he quickly discovered that there was nothing on the market, so he invented the world’s first plug and play USB Copy Keyboard.
Lori Greiner started the questioning by asking Scott why he was copying and pasting so much at work, and Scott informed her that he was an e-commerce manager, so he had to copy and paste figures into spreadsheets and documents over 50 times a day.
Scott next explained to the Sharks that he needed the money to build inventory, because when he started the company in late 2021, he posted a video which received 20 million views on December 1st, and by December 2nd, he had to close down orders because he had only about 200 units in stock, and he was programming and shipping orders from his kitchen.
Scott said that he lost many potential customers when he closed down the ordering, and he believed that he could create a large demand once again during the holiday season, but this time, he wanted to be ready for it. Scott also told the Sharks that with investment, he could get his cost down from $9.14 to $6.50 per unit.
Kevin O’Leary asked about the retail price, and he learned that the Copy Keyboard sold for $19.99, and Scott also told the Sharks that his revenues for just under a year in business were $42k. Mr. Wonderful also inquired about a patent, and Scott told him that he did not have a patent, but he believed that “It’s not the big fish that eats the small fish, it’s the quick fish that eats the slow fish.”
Lori then commented, “So you’re saying, you’re going to get out there bigger, faster, and stronger than anyone else?” And Scott replied, “Absolutely.”
For this simple product, it appeared that some of the Sharks had all of the information they needed and were ready to make their thoughts known.
Did Copy Keyboard get a deal on Shark Tank?
Copy Keyboard founder Scott Trujillo was not able to successfully negotiate a deal in the Tank.
Mark Cuban spoke first, and he told Scott, “You do realize that if someone knew what they were doing, they could assign those keyboard combinations to one of those F characters up on top of the keyboard?” And with this simple observation, Mark bowed out.
Lori followed Mark and said to Scotty that while she loved his honesty, she was not really a techie person, so she thought that there were better potential partners for him. And, Daymond John simply stated that he was always on his phone and did not even carry a laptop, so he didn’t really relate to the product.
Mr. Wonderful summed up quickly, “Scott, I wish I had some good news for you, but I don’t. I’m out.”
This left only one Shark swimming, tech millionaire Robert Herjavec. Robert told Scott, “You’re captivating, you’re a little bit eccentric, but in a very nice way. The product is crap, but I want to invest in it somehow, but I can’t own a Copy Keyboard product. All joking aside, I actually think that you could do brilliant and great things, but for now, I have to copy and paste what the other Sharks did.”
Copy Keyboard Shark Tank update, what happened after Shark Tank?
After the Copy Keyboard Shark Tank episode aired, there has been little media coverage of the company. However, founder Scott Trujillo did sit down with entrepreneurial YouTube podcast Unmuted.
Scott told Unmuted that for a week after his Shark Tank episode taped, he just moped around in bed, and he also remembers during that time, his girlfriend asking him, “What are you saying?” And Scott realized that he was playing his appearance in front of the Sharks over and over in his mind, and he was saying aloud what he wished that he had said in the Tank.
Scott also revealed on the YouTube interview that he was still really struggling with inventory, and he was simply buying small production runs of product, shipping them out to pre-orders customers, and then doing it again. Scott did also say that he had developed a version 2 and version 3 of the Copy Keyboard, and version 3 included BlueTooth connectivity.
With Scott’s comments concerning new products, we find it interesting that at present, the Copy Keyboard website has no products on offer, and it states: “Gear up for an epic return with the Ctrl+C of excitement and the Ctrl+V of innovation, all thanks to free software empowering you to create your own shortcuts.” The website also indicates that the website returns in February 2024.
We also discovered that at present, Copy Keyboard is unavailable on Amazon; however, there are now several other companies offering plug and play, copy-and-paste keyboards. Thus, it will be interesting to discover whether or not Copy Keyboard is able to manage their inventory problems and put the business back on track.