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What happened on the Shark Tank set
According to GeekWire, Naylor had spent the year before his appearance selling thousands of Esso Watches. He appeared on Shark Tank in February 2012. He said he prepared to demonstrate the watch with Lori Greiner, then was told shortly before the pitch to ask Kevin O’Leary to try it. GeekWire reports that Mark Cuban immediately called the product a scam. Naylor eventually demonstrated the watch with Greiner, but the Sharks stayed critical, and none of them invested.
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The pitch itself is the least instructive part of the story. What matters is how Naylor interpreted the moment afterward.
The realization: a fight he did not want to have
Naylor told GeekWire that the criticism prompted him to ask where his passion actually lay. He did not feel driven to defend himself or the technology. From that, he concluded that he lacked passion for the business itself. In his words, quoted in the article: “I realized I didn’t have a passion for it.”
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That distinction is easy to miss. Many founders who are publicly criticized respond by doubling down on the product. Naylor’s reaction was different. He treated the absence of a desire to defend the watch as information about the business, not as a problem to solve with more persuasion.
What he did next
Naylor turned toward helping people find work. GeekWire connects this to his own experience trying to earn money as a teenager. The article reports that he later created LocalWork.com, an employment platform meant to match people with jobs that fit their passions and values.
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GeekWire also reports that Naylor closed Esso Watches after Exxon Mobil claimed a copyright over the name “Esso” and the parties reached a deal. This is recorded as Naylor’s account as reported by GeekWire, not as an independently verified legal finding.
Reading the lesson in personal-finance terms
Naylor’s story is a useful case study in a narrower question than whether passion creates success: how do you tell whether a business is worth continuing when you have already invested time and money in it?
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- Test your willingness to defend the work. Naylor’s signal was not the Sharks’ verdict. It was his own lack of motivation to argue for the product once it was under pressure.
- Separate the opportunity from the operator’s interest. A product can be viable in the abstract and still be the wrong thing for a particular founder to spend years on.
- Be cautious about sunk costs. Having sold thousands of watches did not, by itself, commit Naylor to the business. Past effort is a reason to look closely, not a reason to continue.
Naylor framed this as a personal reflection. It is not evidence that passion predicts business outcomes, and the public record here is a single account, told after the fact.
What the record does and does not establish
- Established by the GeekWire report: the 2012 pitch, the Sharks’ criticism, the absence of investment, Naylor’s stated realization, his later work on LocalWork.com, and the closure of Esso Watches after the naming dispute.
- Not established here: the current status of LocalWork.com, whether Esso Watches is available anywhere today, and independent verification of claims made during the television pitch.
- Unverified statistic: GeekWire’s article mentions a percentage of Shark Tank entrepreneurs who later receive investment checks, but it does not name the study behind it. Treat that figure as unsourced.
Because the reporting dates from 2015, anyone looking for current details about Naylor’s companies should check primary sources or more recent coverage.
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Reader questions this story answers
The most direct answer is that Naylor learned he did not have a passion for the watch business and chose to pursue work he cared about. The more practical takeaway is to notice whether you are willing to defend an idea when it is challenged. If you are not, the criticism may be telling you something worth hearing.
The story is a single founder’s account, so it is best read as a prompt for your own evaluation, not a formula.
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