Is DeskView Still in Business: What Happened to Kevin O’Leary’s Deal?

Sitting is the new smoking, but transforming a cramped apartment into an ergonomic office often requires bulky, expensive furniture.

Jason Grohowski and Michael Bolos walked into the Shark Tank with a sleek, minimalist solution: a portable standing desk that suctions directly to your window.

Their television pitch promised remote workers a literal room with a view, but building a scalable hardware business demands relentless execution and the ability to adapt to sudden market shifts.

The Bottom Line

• The Pitch: Grohowski and Bolos asked the panel for $150,000 in exchange for 7.5% equity, eventually securing a deal with Kevin O’Leary for $150,000 for 20% equity.
• The Peak: The company rode the massive wave of the 2020 remote work surge, hitting $2 million in annual revenue, expanding into commercial office spaces, and launching new product lines via Kickstarter.
• Current Status: DeskView is permanently out of business. Demand plummeted as corporate employees returned to physical offices, forcing the brand to cease operations, shutter its website, and liquidate remaining inventory.

What is DeskView?

DeskView is a portable, window-mounted standing desk that utilizes industrial-grade suction cups to attach to any smooth, non-porous surface. Designed specifically for minimalist workspaces, the temporary desk holds up to 40 pounds and installs in seconds without requiring permanent hardware.

The engineering behind DeskView sets it apart from traditional office furniture. Instead of relying on heavy metal legs, complex motorized lifting mechanisms, or bulky tabletop converters that clutter existing tables, the product features aerospace-grade aluminum brackets connected to patented vacuum suction discs.

By pressing down on the securing levers, users activate a heavy-duty vacuum seal strong enough to hold heavy laptops, desktop monitors, and the leaning weight of a working adult.

Priced originally between $235 for the standard wood finish and $265 for the clear acrylic version, DeskView positioned itself as a premium, design-forward accessory.

It catered to a highly specific demographic: professionals living in high-rise apartments, executives working in glass-walled corner offices, and minimalists seeking flexible working environments.

The product addressed the rapidly shrinking footprint of modern commercial real estate. Grohowski noted during their presentation that the average corporate office space per employee had dropped from 200 square feet down to just 120 square feet, making compact, temporary desks a logical necessity.

Product Overview Table

Feature	Details
Industry	Office Furniture & Ergonomics
Founder(s)	Jason Grohowski and Michael Bolos
Core Product	Window-Mounted Portable Standing Desk
Retail Price	$235.00 – $265.00
Target Audience	Remote Workers, B2B Offices, Minimalists

The Founder(s) Behind DeskView

Every business requires a catalyst. For DeskView, that catalyst was physical pain. Michael Bolos worked long hours sitting hunched over a traditional desk.

Over time, this poor posture led to severe, painful tendinitis. His doctor advised him to stand while working, but Bolos quickly realized the existing consumer market for standing desks lacked practical solutions for his specific living situation.

Most available options were either prohibitively expensive, visually unappealing, or simply too large to fit inside his apartment. Frustrated by the lack of choices, Bolos decided to build his own hardware. He envisioned a lightweight shelf that could stick right onto his window, allowing him to work while looking outside. His initial prototype, constructed with raw materials and sheer determination, functioned perfectly but cost a staggering $1,800 to piece together.

Realizing he had a viable concept but a massive manufacturing problem, Bolos partnered with Jason Grohowski. Grohowski brought a crucial perspective to the table.

He possessed extensive experience working alongside corporate executives who constantly searched for modern, space-saving ergonomic solutions. Together, they realized that DeskView could scale beyond consumer sales and penetrate the lucrative business-to-business (B2B) market.

Before pitching to celebrity investors on national television, Grohowski and Bolos proved market demand through grassroots crowdfunding. In May 2017, they launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund their second product iteration.

The campaign successfully raised $65,715, providing the necessary capital to partner with the Chicago-based product design firm Minimal. This strategic collaboration refined the aesthetic and engineering of the desk, ensuring it met strict commercial standards.

With initial inventory arriving in April 2018, the duo adopted guerrilla marketing tactics. Lacking the massive budget required to buy expensive booth space at major trade shows, they engineered a clever stunt. They approached a local coffee shop situated right next to a massive commercial furniture expo in Chicago.

By mounting four DeskView units directly on the coffee shop’s front windows, they created an unmissable display. The stunt generated significant industry buzz, catching the attention of major corporate buyers and setting the stage for their television debut.

DeskView’s Shark Tank Pitch & Deal

Jason Grohowski and Michael Bolos appeared on Season 10, Episode 22, seeking an investment of $150,000 in exchange for 7.5% equity. This aggressive ask implied a $2 million valuation, a number that immediately put the investors on high alert.

The pitch opened strong. After explaining the mechanics of the suction system, Bolos climbed onto the mounted desk, successfully supporting his entire body weight.

This theatrical moment impressed the panel, providing immediate visual proof that squashed doubts about the suction cups failing and dropping expensive computer equipment onto the floor.

However, the conversation quickly shifted to the harsh realities of manufacturing, pricing, and scaling.

Barbara Corcoran asked directly about the unit economics. Bolos revealed that a single desk cost roughly $80 to manufacture, with a retail price hovering around $235. While the gross margins looked healthy, the sales volume left room for skepticism.

At the time of filming, they had sold just 800 units, resulting in approximately $162,000 in lifetime revenue. Furthermore, their projected revenue for the current year sat at a modest $100,000.

To improve profitability, the founders explained their strategy to reduce manufacturing costs by 20% to 30%, which would allow them to either widen their profit margins or lower the retail price to capture a broader market.

Robert Herjavec voiced immediate concerns about the core functionality of the product. He questioned whether a 25-inch by 12-inch surface provided enough physical area to function as a primary daily workstation.

In response, the founders unveiled a larger prototype priced at $275, but Herjavec remained unconvinced that consumers would adopt it as a permanent desk replacement. He dropped out of the negotiation.

Barbara Corcoran followed suit, stating that the product did not fit the actual needs of large-scale corporate offices. Mark Cuban analyzed the business model, determined that the path to massive scale was too narrow, and decided to pass.

With three investors out, Lori Greiner jumped into the conversation. Recognizing the product’s potential but wary of the required workload, she offered $150,000 for a massive 33.3% equity stake.

Kevin O’Leary, seeing an opportunity to undercut Greiner, swooped in with an aggressive offer of $150,000 for just 15% equity.

Greiner defended her high equity demand, insisting that she would need to completely overhaul their retail distribution strategy.

Listening to Greiner’s rationale, O’Leary suddenly realized the massive amount of work involved and amended his offer on the spot, raising his equity demand from 15% to 20%.

The founders quickly huddled. They countered Greiner, asking if she would match O’Leary’s 20% offer.

When Greiner refused to budge from her 33.3% demand, Grohowski and Bolos confidently accepted Kevin O’Leary’s offer of $150,000 for 20% equity.

Pitch & Offers Table

Pitch Detail	Information
Season / Episode	Season 10, Episode 22
Initial Ask	$150,000
Initial Valuation	$2,000,000
Sharks Present	Mark Cuban, Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Barbara Corcoran
Notable Offers	Lori Greiner ($150k for 33.3%), Kevin O’Leary ($150k for 15%)
Final On-Air Deal	$150,000 for 20% equity (Kevin O’Leary)

Did the DeskView Deal Actually Close?

Shark Tank negotiations serve as verbal agreements subject to intense, months-long due diligence. Frequently, deals fall apart off-camera when investors uncover hidden financial liabilities or founders decide they no longer want to surrender massive chunks of equity.

However, the DeskView deal successfully closed. Kevin O’Leary and his team at O’Leary Ventures finalized the paperwork, wired the funds, and officially joined the company’s advisory board.

O’Leary’s involvement immediately lent institutional credibility to the brand, helping Grohowski and Bolos open doors with commercial real estate developers and corporate office managers.

The influx of venture capital allowed the team to ramp up manufacturing, stabilize their supply chain, and begin designing brand new product lines.

DeskView After Shark Tank: The Latest Update

In the immediate years following their television appearance, DeskView experienced a meteoric rise, largely fueled by a sudden global crisis. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 forced millions of corporate employees out of their commercial offices and directly into their homes.

Suddenly, the demand for compact, easy-to-install home office furniture skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. DeskView found itself perfectly positioned to capture this sudden market shift.

With the entire American workforce scrambling to assemble functional workspaces in small apartments, sales surged. The company capitalized on this momentum by launching new accessories.

They introduced the “Two-Tier,” an attachment designed to hold a wireless keyboard or notebook, and the “Motis,” a highly portable folding stand-up desk.

In October 2020, the founders returned to their crowdfunding roots, launching a second Kickstarter campaign specifically for the Motis desk. The campaign proved successful, raising over $64,000 and demonstrating that their customer base remained highly engaged.

By 2021, DeskView achieved remarkable financial success. Industry reports indicate that the company generated approximately $2 million in annual revenue during this peak period. They expanded their B2B operations by partnering with Signature Offices, installing their suction-mounted desks in premium coworking spaces across the country.

During the height of the pandemic, they even pivoted their manufacturing resources to produce wall-mounted personal protective equipment (PPE) stations for commercial buildings.

But the pandemic boom could not last forever.

As 2022 progressed, the corporate world shifted again. Widespread return-to-office mandates emptied out home workspaces across the United States.

Simultaneously, massive furniture retailers flooded the direct-to-consumer market with highly competitive, motorized standing desks at heavily discounted prices. Consumers now had access to full-sized, automated ergonomic furniture for the exact same price as DeskView’s compact window shelf.

Demand for window-mounted desks plummeted rapidly. The high cost of domestic manufacturing and rising raw material expenses severely compressed their profit margins.

By late 2022, the company’s social media accounts went silent, and their official website began showing major inventory shortages.

What is the Net Worth and Valuation of DeskView?

Calculating the exact net worth of a private hardware startup involves tracking its funding rounds, asset liquidation, and revenue multiples over time. During their initial television pitch, Grohowski and Bolos valued their company at $2 million. By accepting Kevin O’Leary’s offer, they agreed to an implied valuation of $750,000.

However, during their peak operational years in 2021 and early 2022, the company successfully generated $2 million in annual revenue. Based on standard consumer goods revenue multiples, DeskView’s valuation briefly hovered between $3 million and $4 million.

Unfortunately, the consumer hardware market punishes stagnation. Managing physical inventory, handling supply chain logistics, and battling cheap overseas copycats drains cash reserves at an alarming rate. As sales stalled in the post-pandemic market, the company’s valuation cratered.

As of today, the estimated net worth and valuation of DeskView is exactly $0. The business holds no operational value, and any remaining physical assets or intellectual property have likely been liquidated to cover outstanding vendor liabilities.

Is DeskView Still in Business?

No. DeskView is completely out of business.

While the company survived significantly longer than many consumer hardware startups featured on television, the sharp decline in remote work demand proved fatal. The official PitchBook financial database categorized the company’s status as “Out of Business” on May 19, 2024.

Currently, the primary DeskView website domain is offline. The products have been completely removed from Amazon, and secondary retail partners report the items as permanently out of stock.

Grohowski and Bolos have transitioned away from the company, officially closing the chapter on their window-mounted desk venture.

Top DeskView Alternatives To consider

Because DeskView is no longer operational, consumers searching for space-saving standing desk solutions must look to other brands. The market has evolved significantly, offering several high-quality alternatives that solve the exact same ergonomic problems without relying on vacuum suction cups.

• Compact Motorized Standing Desks: Companies like FlexiSpot and Vari now manufacture extremely compact, single-motor standing desks. These desks feature footprints as small as 30 inches wide, making them ideal for tight apartment corners. Unlike window-mounted shelves, these desks provide smooth, motorized height adjustments and can safely support well over 100 pounds of heavy equipment.
• Clamp-On Balcony Desks: For remote workers who genuinely want to work with a view, several brands have introduced clamp-on railing desks. These weather-resistant wooden or metal surfaces attach securely to apartment balcony railings, allowing users to work entirely outside without permanently modifying their living space.

Carbon Fiber Laptop Stand Converters: Brands like MOFT and Roost dominate the portable ergonomics market. Instead of mounting a heavy desk to a glass window, these lightweight, foldable carbon-fiber stands elevate laptops directly to eye level.

When combined with a separate wireless keyboard, they provide the exact same physical ergonomic benefits as a standing desk while folding flat enough to slide right into a backpack.