How SBU Shark Tank Unicycle Faded Yet Shaped Personal Mobility Tech

When Daniel Wood and David Martschinske rolled into the Shark Tank studio on a futuristic, one-wheeled electric unicycle, all eyes were on them. The product, called the Self-Balancing Unicycle or SBU, looked like it had leapt out of a science fiction film. Everyone in the room, including Robert Herjavec and Kevin O’Leary, was intrigued enough to give it a spin. But what happened after the cameras stopped rolling reveals a story filled with big dreams, sudden pivots, and lessons in entrepreneurial resilience.

SBU Net Worth 2025: Where It Stands Today

The SBU company, originally founded by Focus Designs in Camas, Washington, is no longer in business as of 2025. The unicycle product line was officially discontinued in 2015. While the brand itself holds no current valuation or revenue, the technology and influence it left behind tell a different story.

Some of the core balancing technology developed by the founders was later licensed to other companies, contributing to innovations in products like the Solowheel and Onewheel.

As of 2025, SBU’s brand net worth is considered defunct. More importantly, Daniel Wood’s career trajectory after SBU added significant impact to the world of personal mobility. He is now the Director of Control Systems at Future Motion, the company behind the widely popular Onewheel.

The Shark Tank Deal That Never Closed

On their Season 4 Shark Tank appearance in 2012, Wood and Martschinske asked for $300,000 in exchange for 10 percent equity in their company. Their pitch was smooth, their product eye-catching, and their technology genuinely groundbreaking. But their valuation, a bold $3 million raised eyebrows.

The Sharks, initially cautious due to poor Segway adoption and limited early sales, softened when the founders revealed a licensing deal had already brought in $25,000 in just three months. Robert Herjavec offered $300,000 for 33 percent equity, and Kevin O’Leary asked to join the deal. It was accepted on-air. However, behind the scenes, the deal ultimately fell through. According to Martschinske, it was “not a good deal for us,” though he acknowledged that the Shark Tank exposure brought invaluable publicity.

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Built in a Garage, Backed by Grit

The SBU story did not start with a flashy investor or a Silicon Valley pitch deck. It began in a garage. Daniel Wood, a self-taught engineer, worked tirelessly to create the earliest version of the SBU from parts of a Nimbus unicycle. He and Martschinske, who had a background in plastics technology, joined forces and officially incorporated Focus Designs in 2007.

By 2011, they had secured $100,000 in early funding and were selling SBU units for $1,800 each. The product had promise, but production was slow and costly. The team dubbed themselves the “N3RD H3RD,” leaning into their love for engineering and problem-solving. Despite the limited resources, they believed in their tech and held tightly to their goal of changing how people move.

Why SBU Never Took Off

Although the SBU gained significant attention from tech reviewers and shows like MythBusters and Tosh.0, scaling the business proved to be a challenge. The $1,800 price tag made the product accessible only to niche buyers. The device also suffered from early design flaws, including a short battery shelf life and mechanical vibration issues that affected ride quality.

Worse still, the legal landscape did not favor devices like the SBU. Public sidewalk restrictions in several U.S. cities mirrored the same regulatory hurdles that hurt the Segway’s expansion. And without a strong manufacturing pipeline, Wood and Martschinske could not lower production costs or meet growing demand.

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The Pivot That Quietly Won

While SBU as a product faded away, its underlying technology quietly evolved. Wood and Martschinske licensed their self-balancing system to other developers, including those behind the Solowheel and Hovertrax. These inventions marked a shift in personal mobility and set the stage for the rise of hoverboards and electric skateboards.

Wood later joined Future Motion and helped to engineer the Onewheel, a product that built on many of the balancing principles pioneered during the SBU days. The Onewheel became a massive commercial success and is still one of the most talked-about innovations in personal transportation.

Martschinske, meanwhile, transitioned to other roles after leaving Focus Designs in 2014, including a position as a program engineer at ConMet.

What We Can Learn from the SBU Journey

The story of SBU is not a failure. It is a pivot that paved the way for bigger things. The product may have disappeared, but its DNA lives on in every hoverboard, Solowheel, and Onewheel zipping down the street.

Shark Tank fans often associate success with deal closures and brand longevity. But SBU proves that some of the most valuable ideas do not result in billion-dollar valuations or mass market domination. Instead, their worth lies in the technology they introduce, the lessons they teach, and the people they inspire.

For Daniel Wood and David Martschinske, the ride did not end when SBU shut down. It simply took a new direction. And that direction continues to shape the future of how we move, one wheel at a time.