Whatever Happened To Geek My Tree – Animated Christmas Lights After Shark Tank Season 7?

Brad Boyink decided to bring the joy of animated Christmas lights into the home after putting on the Holiday Road musical Christmas light show in his home of Grand Haven, Michigan for six years. When Boyink realized that people would enjoy these festive, moving lights on their own trees, he started making animated GlowBalls and started his company, Geek My Tree. Rather than struggling with tangled string lights, Geek My Tree's GlowBalls are attached to a ring at the top of the Christmas tree, which allows them to hang down neatly without being wrapped around the tree. When it's time to put them away, they can be easily removed and stored for next year.

The corresponding app lets users choose light settings and movements to have their own personal light show in their living room. The company also created GlowBall lights that can sync to music. Boyink brought his Christmas decorations to "Shark Tank" in 2015, hoping to find an investor to expand his business.

Geek My Tree founder Brad Boyink went into the tank seeking a $225,000 investment for 25% of his company. While the Sharks initially seemed impressed by what the GlowBall lights could do, they were taken aback when Boyink revealed that a simple starter kit cost $299, one with music synchronization was $399, and the expansion pack was $200. To buy the lights Boyink displayed to the Sharks, a consumer would end up paying more than $500. "The only person who would buy this would be someone living in a mansion on a cliff," Barbara Corcoran said.

The steep price of the product led most of the Sharks to go out, but Kevin O'Leary was still interested. "The price is killing me because of how expensive it is, but I still want it," O'Leary said. "I love it, and I'm going to buy it because my wife makes me put up a tree every year, and I have to string the lights and it drives me frigging crazy." He offered Boyink the $225K — but for 50% of his company. Though Boyink tried to lower the equity, he eventually settled on O'Leary's deal, becoming his equal partner.

By partnering with Kevin O'Leary, Brad Boyink lowered the price of his musical GlowBalls from $399 to $199 shortly after the show, making the holiday decorations more accessible to consumers. O'Leary and Boyink also planned to send a gift to those who had purchased Geek My Tree products at the higher price. In an interview with Michigan Live, Boyink explained how beneficial O'Leary was as a 50/50 partner. "Kevin is a hands-on investor," he said. "If I need to discuss something or have a question, he's accessible. To me, that was huge."

By 2017, Geek My Tree had put out several new products with lower prices, such as LED light curtains called Party Pixels for $60 and Tree Effects, a small tree that can sit on a table with animated lights already installed, for $50. With O'Leary's help, Geek My Tree began to grow into a successful company.

Though Geek My Tree made a lot of progress in the few years after its appearance on "Shark Tank," Brad Boyink's company went out of business in 2018. Though the company was selling its products on its website and Amazon, Geek My Tree struggled to stay afloat. According to WOODTV, Boyink sent an email to the company's customers and fans, declaring that Geek My Tree would not continue operations. "It's been an incredible journey, and we have created some amazing products, but things have changed and the lights are dimming," Boyink wrote.

The in-home light show creator claimed that taxes and fake versions of Geek My Tree's products were responsible for the company's downfall. Boyink also explained that "patent trolls" – people who purchase patents without developing products and use their patents to file lawsuits against companies, also affected Geek My Tree's ability to remain in business. Though the company's website is still running, its products are unavailable and also out of stock on Amazon.

Since Geek My Tree has closed, it doesn't seem that Brad Boyink has started any new businesses. According to his LinkedIn page, Boyink is currently the vice president of Magic Meal Corporation, which creates software for schools to manage their food services. Boyink also now owns West Michigan Squirrel Rehab, which he funds with his own money. The rehab center takes in baby squirrels and gives them proper care with the hope of returning them to the wild.

Though many people try to save baby squirrels on their own, Boyink explained to FOX17 that they often do more harm than good. "People think they can do it actually end up killing the babies, because they have all the good intentions, but they don't have the training," Boyink said. In an interview with WZZM13, Boyink explained the importance of wildlife rehabilitation. "We're proud that 90% of the squirrels we take in do go back into the wild," he said. "And we need squirrels because they're imperative to maintaining our forests and our trees. They eat 10 times as many bugs overnight than bats do."