Students at Utah Valley University created a brand of lip balm designed to change flavors when two wearers are kissing. Some of the unique flavor combinations include ‘fire and ice,’ ‘raspberry and lemonade’ and ‘peaches and cream.’

Each package comes with two different flavors — one for each kisser. When the two combine, the wearers will get a special new flavor and, sometimes, even a special sensation. With the ‘fire and ice’ flavor, the balm heats up and cools down on your lips, said Dallas Robinson, UVU student and co-founder of Kisstixx, which sells the lip balms.

Robinson originally thought of the idea for Kisstixx when he was in high school. His dissatisfaction with other lip balms on the market played a role in the formation of the idea of the company, he said.

‘I did a lot of extreme sports, and my lips would always get dry and chapped,’ Robinson said. ‘Then I would have something like prom the next weekend, and I’d be worried that my lips were chapped and gross. I used every lip balm out on the market, and I just didn’t like how they tasted or how they went on.’

But Kisstixx didn’t become a reality until Robinson arrived at UVU, where both he and his business partner, Mike Buonomo, majored in business management, he said.

‘I kept thinking of the idea all the time,’ Robinson said. ‘It was always inside of me, and finally I thought if I see this on a store shelf in two or three years, I’m just going to kick myself for not doing it. So I decided one day that I was going to make it happen.’

Robinson introduced the idea in his business presentation class and received an overwhelmingly positive response, he said. After class, he received multiple offers to invest in the idea, including one from his professor. The encouraging feedback helped set the plan into motion.

Robinson and Buonomo first contacted chemists from across the country to make the actual lip balm. After six months of trying different chemical formulas, they found the one they wanted to use, he said.

The team didn’t have extra funding at their disposal, so they used the resources their university and fellow students were willing to offer, Robinson said.

‘They gave us some office space, and all the mentors at the school, including teachers, professors and everyone, were very supportive and very helpful in every aspect of the project, from business plan creation to the start of our distribution effort,’ he said.

Thanks to their efforts, as well as the help of the university and their fellow peers, their product was picked up by several stores to be sold, Robinson said.

Recently, Robinson and Buonomo’s product appeared on ‘Shark Tank,’ a reality TV show that features well-known figures in the business world evaluating proposals of entrepreneurs, said Peter Robinson, a business management professor at UVU.

Robinson and Buonomo were working in Dallas, Texas, during the summer when they discovered the auditions for ‘Shark Tank.’ They waited in line for eight hours before pitching their idea for 45 seconds to a panel of judges, Peter Robinson said.

‘It’s an open casting call,’ Dallas Robinson said. ‘It’s basically like ‘American Idol’ for business.’

Robinson and Buonomo made it all the way until the final round, where they were given several investment offers on air. The offer the duo ended up selecting was made by Mark Cuban, best known as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

‘Mark Cuban made them an offer of $200,000 for 40 percent of their business, and on top of that, he would give them additional capital to help them grow without taking additional equity,’ Peter Robinson said. ‘They have accepted that offer and have been working with Mark Cuban ever since.’

After graduation, Dallas Robinson said he hopes to continue to make Kisstixx his career and watch the brand grow.

Said Robinson: ‘We’re just trying to put together the best options for us to grow this company as fast and as big as we can.’

dspearl@syr.edu

 

Published on March 7, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Diana: dspearl@syr.edu | @dianapearl_