Sinus Buster will be featured on CNBC during an episode of "The Big Idea" with Donny Deutsch (Monday Night July 16th at 10PM & 1AM).
It was a great experience! The Big Idea crew is filled with excellent people, and Donny Deutsch is a really great guy. He really cares about the passion of starting a business and inventing the next big idea. We got to the CNBC studios in the early afternoon, and we met some incredible people. I even got to see Jim Kramer stealing (LOL) chocolate chip cookies from the green room. The episode is all about people who started successful businesses with less than $500.
This was the first time I got to tell my story to a national audience. I talked about my experiences on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and how I accidentally discovered that hot peppers could stop my chronic cluster headaches. It was a hard story to tell because I wish I had more time to discuss the rest of this giant story.
I never intended to sell Sinus Buster when I first invented it back in 1995, but after seeing how well it worked for myself and my friends, I realized it could help many other people. Then in 2003, I found myself out of a job, and I was a single "full time" dad with a child to raise. That's when I decided to start selling Sinus Buster on eBay, and the reaction was incredible. Once I started getting emails and calls from hundreds of people praising Sinus buster, I launched our website and the rest is history. I actually invented the world's first capsaicin (hot pepper) nasal spray.
Today (thanks to all of you faithful customers), Sinus Buster is sold in thousands of stores, but the story doesn't end there. Our entire Sinus Buster line is registered with the FDA as the first over the counter capsaicin nasal sprays. It makes me proud to know how many people we've helped, and I dream every night of helping millions more.
But on the eve of what should be a happy occassion for me, I am very VERY SAD! It's all because I was raised to be a trusting and caring person - something that can bite you in the ass if you're not careful, and boy has it bitten me!
Back in 2003 (while I was literally starting my business in my kitchen), I never realized how fast this thing was going grow. Within a few months Sinus Buster was featured in The Wall Street Journal and on the Howard Stern Show. I thought the world was my oyster when suddenly all these business sharks started swimming around with lots of promises.
One guy in particular was brought in by an ex-friend of mine. He was slick from the start, and told me how I would never make it because I had no business experience. He spent the next year or so promising he would become a distributor and an investor. He claimed he could help me get into stores right away, and he laid the BS on so thick. I wanted to believe him and I bit the hook. Although I thought I was protected because I made him sign a non-disclosure agreement that spelled everything out so perfectly, or so I believed.
At that time, I knew nothing about patents and figured I could not afford one for quite a while. This guy picked my brain, and took notes concerning everything we were doing. He said this was all because he was going to take Sinus Buster to the next level. He kept feeding me full of self doubt, telling me I couldn't do it myself. After all, I'm a guy with a ninth grade education, and all I cared about was getting Sinus Buster to as many people as possible so it could help them the way it helped me years earlier.
By the summer of 2005, I realized this guy was playing me for a fool, and I cut all ties with him thinking I was protected by the agreement he signed. We moved on with business and prayed he was out of our lives for good. Unfortunately this guy had received nearly 500 units of Sinus Buster under false pretences, and soon he started selling them on eBay at a cut-rate price. I pleaded with him to stop, but he basically told me to go F---myself. Finally after complaining to eBay, he stopped selling the old sinus busters and I thought it was all over, but boy was I wrong!
In the spring of 2006, he started selling the nearly expired product on eBay once again. I complained, but it did no good. Then in May of 2006, he launched his own so-called pepper nasal spray (I won't mention the brand name), although it is an inferior product in every way. We immediately started a lawsuit against him and his company, and we've been fighting the "good fight" ever since.
The thing that hurts the most isn't the fact that he's a big money guy who scammed us for ill-gotten gains. What hurts the most is he is claiming to have invented capsaicin nasal spray even though we have tons of evidence against him. This is a guy who at first thought my ideas were stupid, and now here he is claiming to have invented it. He even copied my marketing strategies that he had once claimed were no good. In other words, he is trying to steal from very soul. He is trying to steal my dreams. I can't even relate to this kind of evil person!
Our lawyers have a ton of evidence, but the road to justice is long and hard, and very expensive. Not only has this person stolen from my heart and mind, but he has tried on numerous occassions to sabotage our business using his money and connections - all in the name of greed.
The personal pain I have faced over this has been devastating, but it also has made me stronger than ever. As Sinus Buster and SiCap Industries have developed and grown into a potential giant, I continue to garner personal strength from all of you out there. Every time I recieve an email from someone thanking us for Sinus Buster, it gives me the strength of a thousand men, and for that I thank you all. God Bless all of you wonderful people out there who contact me everyday. You are the ones who keep me going.
Thankfully we have patented all of our innovative Sinus Buster formulas to date, and we will continue to grow and achieve our rightful place in the history of this world. But on the eve of what should be one of my happiest days (thanks to Donny Deutsch), I am sad. Nobody in this world has the right to steal your dreams - not to mention your blood, sweat and tears. And I know I must continue the fight because I still believe in the goodness of this world!
You have to fight for your dreams in this world because nobody else will unless you do it for yourself. And I'd like to get this message out there to warn those of you who may have similar dreams. You must protect your dreams from the start, and you must continue on no matter how hard things may seem. The world is never fair, but I still believe most people are! If we stick together we can beat the unscrupulous people of this world because what's right is right! I will always believe that people mean far more than money ever will. In a world filled with wrongs, we must always try to do the right thing.
Thanks for your support my friends.........
I just saw Sinus Buster showcased on CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch!
Where can I get this product locally?
How can I help you get it stocked locally?
What store should I ask to carry it?
Is it easier to get this through a health & vitamin store?
I have suffered with chronic sinus troubles for the last 25 years. I do not want to wait for the mail to deliver it in order to try this product. I am going to call health & vitamin stores tomorrow morning to see of they stock it or will order it immediately.
Posted by: Dan Snyder | July 16, 2007 at 09:50 PM
Caught the show lastnight. I already use sinus buster and I thought your's was the best story.
Posted by: Bill Diamond | July 17, 2007 at 08:19 AM
I cannot wait to try your pproduct. After I saw the show I checked it out on the web and have read so many great things. When are you going back on oprah? I cannot wait to try it. I am going to vitamin world first thing today.
Posted by: Judy | July 17, 2007 at 08:22 AM
I love your story and your passion. I'm sorry to see what that scumbag has done stealing from you but it's obvious you have a terrific line of products that nobody else has. I have been in business for many years and there are always scubags that come around to steal because they can't do it themselves. Nobody can steal Sinus Buster and that's all that counts. Yoou have to fight on. I am telling everyone I know about your products and your fight! Fight on!!!!!!!!!!
PS: I just bought some Buster on cvs.com. I'm trying the headache formula for my wife and the sinus & headache for me.
Posted by: Marc Ryan | July 17, 2007 at 08:28 AM
I love your story man. You are my inspiration for fighting the good fight. If you can make it I can make it. And your sinus buster is the best! Thanks for keeping up the fight. I hate those guys who screwed you man. I'd like to kick their asses for you. I heard about buster on sirius with howard stern, and I'm suprised stern hasn't helped you in your fight. You are the thomas edison of peppers man!
Posted by: Johnny Clabatari | July 17, 2007 at 07:19 PM
You kicked ass on the Deutsch show. Is a Donny a nice guy for real? Iit was a great segment. It's cool to see that people really can start a big business with 500 smackers.
Posted by: rocco | July 20, 2007 at 04:53 PM
If you post more of this great stuff, I'll visit your blog again!
Posted by: Silver Nose Spray | October 24, 2011 at 12:53 AM