A new business reality show to rival Shark Tank, Wolf PAC also has the Philadelphia Eagles on board

Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, Kent Griswold hasn’t ridden an elevator in nearly a year.

But his elevator pitch is far from rusty. Asked to recite the pitch for his streaming TV series, he spills it fluidly without wasting a second.

“Wolf PAC is a reality show targeted to entrepreneurs with a dream that features a group of local investors who will work together to provide capital and resources and exposure to help those companies achieve their dreams,” he said without taking a breath.

Griswold, 62, launched four episodes of the streaming TV series this month. It’s a more realistic rival to the wildly popular ABC show Shark Tank, now in its 12th season. Called Wolf PAC, the show is filmed primarily at Lincoln Financial Field with the support and participation of the Philadelphia Eagles.

“It’s educational and entertaining, supports local charities and inspires businesses to do the same,” he added.

Featuring plenty of drama, sly humor, and professional polish, Wolf PAC gathers a team of five local investors to teach business fundamentals as it mentors start-up owners from the Philadelphia region. It debuted Jan. 12 an independent production posted to Amazon Prime’s open video platform.

Griswold served for 20 years as president and CEO of Griswold Home Care of Blue Bell, a multi-national provider of non-medical home care services — such as helping people with hygiene, or house-cleaning or pet care — before selling it to a private equity fund. The Wharton School grad started his first venture, a summer day camp, at age 14.

He eventually wants to take the show into other markets.

“We started in Philadelphia, because Philadelphia is the best city in the country — and I live here,” he said. The longer-term plan is to have seasons in Boston, Detroit, and San Francisco.

Philadelphia is more than a backdrop in the first season. Wolf PAC employs the city as a major character in the show. Griswold’s luxury box at the Linc is home base for panel discussions. The Linc’s 50-yard line is the stage where the Wolves strike investment deals with aspiring entrepreneurs. Such restaurants as the Moshulu on the Delaware River and Francoluigi’s High Note Cafe in South Philadelphia host celebrations after the deals are struck.

The investors in of Wolf PAC work as a team. unlike the Sharks on Shark Tank, who aggressively pursue their own individual agendas., For the show, Griswold corralled the red-shoed Wharton marketing professor Leonard Lodish, veteran Comcast sportscaster Leslie Gudel, venture capitalist Courtney Lawless, and branding expert Judy Chang Cody. Former Eagles linebacker Seth Joyner and cheesesteak impresario Tony Luke Jr. serve as advisors.

All of the PAC members have skin in the game. If a majority of the investment team likes a business proposition, each ponies up a minimum of $10,000. “And the members have the ability to put additional money on top of that,” Griswold said.

Along with the show’s audience, contestants learn the basics needed to construct a successful enterprise: What is EBITA, how to put together a pro forma, how to write a business plan. Winning contestants get plenty of guidance.

Michael Peacock was stuck in a rut.

An executive chef, Peacock was on a mission to bring his savory Australian meat pies to a broad American market. He’d already developed his stand-alone food truck into a popular presence at brew pubs. His pies, often topped with mashed potatoes and mushy peas, have a devoted following. Celebrity foodies championed them and encouraged Peacock to take his treats to a national audience. Tony Luke Jr., called Peacock’s hand-held treats “one the most delicious foods I have ever eaten.”

But Peacock, 51, “didn’t have a clue” about how to scale up. Though he’d sunk $400,000 into his business, he needed a cash infusion to take it past his stagnant $200,000 a year revenues and onto the next level. He needed someone who could help shepherd his dream into the retail grocery chains.

Enter the Wolf PAC. Tony Luke told Peacock the show was looking for entrepreneurs. Peacock called producer Craig Shoemaker. Suddenly, Peacock was the show’s first contestant Shooting began in February.

“I was just one guy in a truck. I had two weeks to prepare,” said the 6-foot-7 Aussie. “Just before the pandemic hit, we filmed for two and a half days in the Philly area.”

Peacock set up his truck, then called the Flying Pie Guy, at Love City Brewing just north of Center City. The pub’s customers raved about the pies. That convinced the Wolf PAC they had an investment worth making. But the Wolf Pack didn’t like the name.

“They asked me if I was willing to rebrand,” said Peacock. “I was shell-shocked.”

After mulling it over, Peacock said he would reluctantly drop “Flying Pie Guy” for the more straight forward “G’Day Gourmet.” He said he was willing to take on a CEO and a partner who could take care of the business essentials . That would let him to play to his strength: making pies. In a meeting with the Wolf PAC, the Eagles’ media manager offered to stock Peacock’s pies both inside the Linc and outside the stadium for tailgaters.

On the Eagles home field, the Wolf PAC offered a $100,000 investment for a 25% stake in the firm. Peacock, with tears in his eyes, accepted.

A month later, the pandemic struck and forced him to shut his truck down for three months. Yet despite the setback, Peacock’s business is thriving.

“Things are blasting off,” said Peacock. “The cash influx was a fantastic thing, I was able to scale up. But better still, they’ve helped me organize business and streamline the process.”

Wolf PAC gave Peacock something that Shark Tank never could have provided, Peacock said.

“Mentoring. You don’t see it with Shark Tank. You get it with the PAC,” Peacock said. “I couldn’t put a price on Kent Griswold being a phone call away anytime I need him. He’s like a partner. Leslie Gudel has also been there for me, she’s amazing. She is helping me take the brand national.”

Producer Craig Shoemaker and Tony Luke introduced Peacock to MBB Hospitality, a Philadelphia-based food services consultant, for management expertise. Through MBB Peacock landed contracts with Aramark. He has a new packer to manufacture his full range of pies.

“We’re going to take them into LaSalle University and four more schools and then branch out,” Peacock said.

The next season of Wolf PAC will depend on COVID and financing, said Griswold, who paid for Wolf PAC’s production costs out of his own pocket. He’s looking for business sponsorships to fund the next round of shows.

So far, reaction is strongly positive, said producer Shoemaker. “It is too early to get the stats from Amazon, but all of our ratings have been five stars.”

Griswold hopes the show will be picked up by Comcast, Netflix or another streaming service. “Come April or May, when the vaccine in place, we hope to be back in production. We plan to reboot and do another eight episodes as soon as we can.”

“We’re starting to fill the pipeline,” Griswold said. “My fear is that we’ll be too successful and be inundated with ideas. There are so many people who would love to be on the show.”