The “Aha!” Moment: When We Knew Our Idea Was Something Big For every entrepreneur, there’s a critical moment when you realize your idea for a product might actually lead to bigger things. For these inventors, who each scored a deal on Shark Tank, this was their moment.

Reviver on Their “Aha!” Moment

Ben Kusin was just another smoker looking for a way to not smell like smoke for a meeting. “I went to a 7-Eleven, and asked if they had anything. The guy said, ‘Oh, you mean like Febreze?’ And I said, ‘I’d rather not spray anything on my clothes.’” Unable to find what he was looking for, Kusin decided to invent himself, and Reviver was born.

Monkey Mat on Their “Aha!” Moment

Christine Barany and Courtney Turich lead active lives, but their “Aha” came while one of them was waiting in an airport with her very young children. “Watching my two kids crawling all over dirty and disgusting floors, cringing the entire time, just wanting something desperately to put down for them to be on top of.” Now their Monkey Mat product is marketed to moms, outdoor enthusiasts and concert goers and anyone else looking for a clean, portable floor.

Scrub Daddy on Their “Aha!” Moment

Aaron Krause loved his wife’s cooking, but hated one aspect of cleaning up. “I really couldn’t stand using gross, moldy sponges. I wanted to come up with a material that I could do the dishes with but that wouldn't scratch or smell.” Krause’s first step forward was to look back. He had been working with foam products for 20 years, and he remembered a material he’d created that never got off the ground. It turned out to be a kitchen keeper, now dubbed the Scrub Daddy.

ReadeRest on Their “Aha!” Moment

At age 40, Rick Hopper’s vision started to fade, so he headed to Staples, bought his first pair of reading glasses and hung them on his collar. But the first time he bent over they fell, and Hopper had his “Aha!” “I did the most natural thing: I bent up some paper clips.” The clips did the trick, and out of that simple, first functional design, ReadeREST was born.

Wicked Good Cupcakes on Their “Aha!” Moment

Co-founder Tracey Noonan was struggling with how to ship her Wicked Good Cupcakes in way that would keep them beautiful and fresh, but it was her husband who was both inspired and tired, all at once. “He’s an insomniac, and one night he was scrolling through the channels and came upon a show about canning.” She and her partners started experimenting with the process and were able to say “yes we can” and launch the product in December 2011.

Squatty Potty on Their “Aha!” Moment

Bobby Edwards turn familial concern into a growing business thank to his inspirational “Aha” moment. “They say necessity is the mother of all invention and my mother had elimination issues. We discovered through research that we’re anatomically designed to squat.” Based on his findings, Edwards designed a small footrest perfect for the powder room, and his business was born.

Pursecase on Their “Aha!” Moment

Kelley Weaver had a problem that millions of Smartphone users struggle with daily. “I was frequently dropping and losing my phone. I wanted something easy to carry that would protect the phone, and also something that I could use to carry all the essentials — cash, credit card and ID.” When she couldn’t find a solution on the open market, she took the entrepreneurial road and created a solution she could market to millions.