Matt Gronberg

In 2017, Wake Forest University freshman Sam Chason started Storage Scholars to store students’ belongings over the summer; his classmate Gronberg joined while the business was still run from the dorms, after working as an intramural referee for $7.25 an hour. Both were 18 at the time. In its first year the company served 64 students and brought in $18,000.⁠[1][2][3]

In October 2022, Gronberg and Chason appeared on a Friday episode of ABCABCABC (American Broadcasting Company) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It grew out of NBC’s Blue radio network, took its name after becoming independent in 1943, developed into a national television network after merging with United Paramount Theatres in 1953, was acquired by Capital Cities in 1985, and has been owned by The Walt Disney Company since 1996. With CBS and NBC it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks, and it is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry’s Shark Tank, asking for $250,000 for a 5% stake. At the time Storage Scholars operated at 48 schools across the United States, students paid about $559 on average, and its 2022 revenue up to the taping was $1.86 million. Kevin O’LearyKevin O’LearyKevin O’Leary is a Canadian entrepreneur, investor and television personality, publicly known as Mr. Wonderful. He founded software business SoftKey and became widely known through Dragons’ Den and Shark Tank. His activities span venture investment, financial products and consumer brands.Open the full entry and Daymond JohnDaymond JohnDaymond John is an American entrepreneur, investor and television personality. He founded and serves as CEO of streetwear brand FUBU and brand strategy consultancy The Shark Group. An original investor on ABC’s Shark Tank, which premiered in 2009, he was appointed a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship in 2015 and founded Black Entrepreneurs Day in 2020.Open the full entry each offered $250,000 for 20%, and Robert HerjavecRobert HerjavecRobert Herjavec is a Croatian-born Canadian entrepreneur, investor and television personality. He founded BRAK Systems and Herjavec Group, became a longstanding Shark Tank investor, and serves as a Cyderes board member, advisor and investor.Open the full entry offered $500,000 for 20%; Mark Cuban first offered $250,000 for 12%, was negotiated down to 10%, and the deal closed on those terms, valuing the company at $2.5 million.⁠[3][4]

On the show Gronberg said: “As two 18-year-olds terrified at the thought of student debt, we built Storage Scholars in college, which allowed each of us to graduate debt-free.”⁠[3]

On September 23, 2026, Hard Knocks Business released the short video “He built a $13 MILLION business from his DORM ROOM.” and, the same day, the compilation “Asking Shark Tank Millionaires How To Make Your First $1,000,000!”, which includes a longer version of the interview. In the video Gronberg said the company was on track for $13 million in sales that year; the business began when two international hallmates asked him and Sam what to do with their belongings at the end of the year, and the pair offered to haul them to a storage unit in a pickup truck for a couple of hundred dollars, then went door to door selling the service.⁠[5][6]

He recalled that in the second year they sold far more than they could fulfill: only about three people, himself included, were willing to move boxes for $10 an hour, yet they had 175 customers moving out over four days, and instead of hiring and building systems they worked until four or five in the morning. He said the company expanded by spending two to four years building trust with university administrators at conferences, using its track record at schools such as Wake Forest, Elon and Georgetown to win new ones; the Shark Tank appearance brought press coverage and links to its website, and about 25% of customers now come from organic search.⁠[6]

Gronberg said the biggest lesson Mark Cuban taught him was to slow down and focus on profitability and the customer experience; without that mentorship, he said, they might have run the company to zero trying to double it every year. He also said he was 27, the company was ten years in, and his biggest change over the previous 12 months had been learning to step back, work less and focus only on what was broken.⁠[6][5]

When working with institutions such as universities, start by understanding their incentives: what moves them is often not money but brand risk and quality, so incidents must be handled properly (video at 14:38)⁠[6]

Prepare thoroughly before pitching: they wrote out 150 major questions that service businesses had been asked on past episodes and rehearsed their numbers and answers (video at 01:20)⁠[5]

When you get to ask a successful entrepreneur a question, skip generic advice and ask about what they are best at, tied to your biggest constraint; solving one specific problem that moves the needle for three months beats generic advice (video at 01:53)⁠[5]

Things start slow, so do not put too tight a timeline on success: pressure and feelings of inadequacy come from rushing, and not being in a hurry leads to clearer decisions (video at 17:44)⁠[6]

As chief operating officer of Storage Scholars, Gronberg is involved in the leadership and operations of every department and handles the technical side of the website, the finances and pitching to college administrators. The company is headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.⁠[2]

Seven years after its launch, Storage Scholars had served more than 8,600 students at 73 campuses, with 13 full-time staff and about 1,000 seasonal workers, mostly students at client universities, and it planned to expand to 150 campuses.⁠[1]

Storage Scholars: Official website: https://www.storagescholars.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[2]