AS SEEN ON
by: Will Higgins / The IndyStar
Carmel resident P. Nathan Thornberry discusses the potential he sees for his atypical candles and his entrepreneurial inspirations.
He didn't invent the fart-scented candle. He didn't conceive of it, didn't think it up.
He is, however, the person who saw the fart candle's potential — and acted. He was the one who invested cash money in the concept, going where other financial risk-takers, including the high-profile tech entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, dared not go.
And he now is the one in charge of the company, Original Man Candles, manufacturer and marketer of, among other weird-scented candles, the fart candle. Whether the fart candle sinks or swims is now up to him.
He is P. Nathan Thornberry. The 33-year-old Carmel resident learned of the fart-scented candle by watching the ABC TV show "Shark Tank," in which entrepreneurs seeking capital pitch their ideas to flashy millionaire tycoons, including Cuban.
During the 2010 season a chubby, lively business major from Oklahoma State University named Johnson Bailey strode onto the show's set and tried to sell a 25 percent stake in OMC for $50,000. The company's products, besides fart-scented candles, included candles that smelled like bacon, popcorn, pot roast and "new car." The investors, the "sharks," listened intently and even sniffed Bailey's candles. You had, on national television, millionaires sniffing a fart-scented candle then passing it to the next millionaire to sniff.
In the end the sharks did not bite, and Bailey walked away with nothing but some publicity. But Thornberry, an entrepreneur since high school (the first of his friends to have a driver's license, he charged them $1 for rides to Taco Bell etc.; they paid gladly), was captivated.[P. Nathan Thornberry, 33 of Carmel, is a young entrepreneur] Buy PhotoP. Nathan Thornberry, 33 of Carmel, is a young entrepreneur and outside of running Residential Warranty Services, Inc., manufactures the Original Man Candle featuring many different scents one being fart-scented. (Photo: Matt Detrich/The Star)
There's money in candles, about $2 billion a year in the U.S. alone, according to the National Candle Association. There's money in gag gifts, too. "Billy Bob Teeth" have grossed tens of millions of dollars, according to a report on CNBC's "Big Idea." It's uncertain how sustainable such success is, but fake vomit has been around since the 1950s, and those handshake joy buzzers since the Great Depression.
Within minutes of seeing Bailey on "Shark Tank," Thornberry contacted him. Soon the two were partners. Thornberry invested $65,000 in OMC in exchange for a 35 percent stake. That was in May 2011.
The alliance between the two youngish capitalists ended badly, according to Hamilton Superior Court records. Thornberry filed a breach of contract suit against Bailey, winning a $71,647 judgment but not collecting because Bailey filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Bailey could not be reached for comment. A blog post indicated that he had gone to work for Stupid.com, whose products include shot glasses shaped like toilets and "Instant Mullet w/Headband."
"Johnson is no longer with us," a Stupid.com spokesperson said in an email.
Thornberry, the son of parents who started a successful home inspection company, runs a company that sells home warranties.
He has an office in an office park in Carmel, and in it is a bookshelf filled with titles such as "Net Success" and "Raising Capital" and "Buying Stocks Without A Broker."
He recently discussed the potential he sees for his atypical candles and his entrepreneurial inspirations.
INTERVIEW
Will Higgins: Who do you envision as your fart candle customer?
P. Nathan Thornberry: The kind of person who will walk up to a shelf in a gift store, see a candle that says 'fart candle' on it and take a big whiff is exactly the audience we're targeting here. (continued...)
Carmel resident P. Nathan Thornberry discusses the potential he sees for his atypical candles and his entrepreneurial inspirations.
He didn't invent the fart-scented candle. He didn't conceive of it, didn't think it up.
He is, however, the person who saw the fart candle's potential — and acted. He was the one who invested cash money in the concept, going where other financial risk-takers, including the high-profile tech entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, dared not go.
And he now is the one in charge of the company, Original Man Candles, manufacturer and marketer of, among other weird-scented candles, the fart candle. Whether the fart candle sinks or swims is now up to him.
He is P. Nathan Thornberry. The 33-year-old Carmel resident learned of the fart-scented candle by watching the ABC TV show "Shark Tank," in which entrepreneurs seeking capital pitch their ideas to flashy millionaire tycoons, including Cuban.
During the 2010 season a chubby, lively business major from Oklahoma State University named Johnson Bailey strode onto the show's set and tried to sell a 25 percent stake in OMC for $50,000. The company's products, besides fart-scented candles, included candles that smelled like bacon, popcorn, pot roast and "new car." The investors, the "sharks," listened intently and even sniffed Bailey's candles. You had, on national television, millionaires sniffing a fart-scented candle then passing it to the next millionaire to sniff.
In the end the sharks did not bite, and Bailey walked away with nothing but some publicity. But Thornberry, an entrepreneur since high school (the first of his friends to have a driver's license, he charged them $1 for rides to Taco Bell etc.; they paid gladly), was captivated.[P. Nathan Thornberry, 33 of Carmel, is a young entrepreneur] Buy PhotoP. Nathan Thornberry, 33 of Carmel, is a young entrepreneur and outside of running Residential Warranty Services, Inc., manufactures the Original Man Candle featuring many different scents one being fart-scented. (Photo: Matt Detrich/The Star)
There's money in candles, about $2 billion a year in the U.S. alone, according to the National Candle Association. There's money in gag gifts, too. "Billy Bob Teeth" have grossed tens of millions of dollars, according to a report on CNBC's "Big Idea." It's uncertain how sustainable such success is, but fake vomit has been around since the 1950s, and those handshake joy buzzers since the Great Depression.
Within minutes of seeing Bailey on "Shark Tank," Thornberry contacted him. Soon the two were partners. Thornberry invested $65,000 in OMC in exchange for a 35 percent stake. That was in May 2011.
The alliance between the two youngish capitalists ended badly, according to Hamilton Superior Court records. Thornberry filed a breach of contract suit against Bailey, winning a $71,647 judgment but not collecting because Bailey filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Bailey could not be reached for comment. A blog post indicated that he had gone to work for Stupid.com, whose products include shot glasses shaped like toilets and "Instant Mullet w/Headband."
"Johnson is no longer with us," a Stupid.com spokesperson said in an email.
Thornberry, the son of parents who started a successful home inspection company, runs a company that sells home warranties.
He has an office in an office park in Carmel, and in it is a bookshelf filled with titles such as "Net Success" and "Raising Capital" and "Buying Stocks Without A Broker."
He recently discussed the potential he sees for his atypical candles and his entrepreneurial inspirations.
INTERVIEW
Will Higgins: Who do you envision as your fart candle customer?P. Nathan Thornberry: The kind of person who will walk up to a shelf in a gift store, see a candle that says 'fart candle' on it and take a big whiff is exactly the audience we're targeting here. (continued...)
INTERVIEW
WH: Do you think people will actually light the fart candles?
PNT: Oh, I don't expect people to actually light them up and enjoy them, per se. I think they'll enjoy the responses they get out of others. It'll be a prank, a gag. That's about it.
WH: What makes you think you're a better judge of investments than Mark Cuban?
PNT: It just wasn't a deal for Cuban. He could have made it a success, but it wasn't worth his time. But I'm no billionaire. My time is not as valuable.
WH: What is your profit margin?
PNT: Not huge. Our cost on a candle is around $3. They retail for around $12. So we wholesale them for $6, and the sales reps make 15 percent. So at the end of the day we make a buck or two on a candle.
WH: How do you sell your candles?
PNT: They're in 100 gift stores so far. We have 150 reps around the country, selling to retail stores.
WH: What are your sales projections for this year?
PNT: Total sales half a million (dollars) — $200,000 of that will be from the fart candle.
WH: What does it say about the culture we live in when a fart-scented candle can potentially generate $200,000 in sales in one year?
PNT: Well, it says we as a culture have a sense of humor, that's for sure.
WH: What's your ultimate goal in business?
PNT: It'd be pretty sexy to be Virgin Companies. But it's not realistic. But that weird CEO that goes skydiving every Tuesday? That would be ideal.
WH: Who are you role models?
PNT: Well, not Larry Flynt (publisher of Hustler magazine). Who'd be the ultimate? You'd have to go back to J.P. Morgan, that'd be really cool. John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie. Did you watch (the 2012 History Channel series) "The Men Who Built America"? Everybody would like to feel like they changed things a little bit.
WH: What's your view of Donald Trump?
PNT: I think he's kind of a jerk. I guess it's working for him. I respect what he does. He's a superstar.
WH: I bet you'd kill to be on "The Apprentice."
PNT: I'm not sure I'd make a good reality TV star. I wouldn't bring enough drama.
Contact Star reporter Will Higgins at (317) 444-6043. Follow him on Twitter @WillRHiggins.
11 Questions For The Fart Candle Mogul
Original article published in the Indy Star Newspaper 11:04 a.m. EST February 3, 2015
Will Higgins, will.higgins@indystar.com
Will Higgins, will.higgins@indystar.com
photo by: Matt Detrich / The Star