--- title: Would You Use a Device that Shocks You When You Spend Too Much? description: The season finale of "Shark Tank" had some drama as the founder of a device that shocks people to kick bad habits rejected a deal. authors: - name: Ethan Wolff-Mann url: https://money.com/author/ethan-wolff-mann/ at_money_since: 2015 articles: 160 covers: - Shopping - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/ewolffmann former_staff: true published: '2016-05-23T15:23:14.000Z' modified: '2016-05-23T15:23:14.000Z' section: Shopping tags: - behavioral finance - Pop Culture - pubdesk - technology word_count: 257 canonical: https://money.com/pavlok-shark-tank-device-shocks-bad-habit/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Shark Tank Pavlok](https://img.money.com/2016/05/gettyimages-527380814.jpg) *Maneesh Sethi pitches his idea to the panel.* A device called "Pavlok" has been [making waves recently](http://www.inquisitr.com/3124859/kevin-oleary-has-more-scathing-words-for-pavlok-entrepreneur-when-shark-tank-season-finale-airs/), most notably in the reality television show *Shark Tank*. A wristband that looks similar to a fitness tracker, it functions as a small dog collar-like device that shocks you if you indulge in bad habits—[like spending too much](http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2016/05/19/a-real-personal-finance-shocker/). Named for Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov, who demonstrated the power of classical conditioning with reward and punishment, the device aims to change behavior. According to [marketing materials](http://pavlok.com/hello.php#), sensors and apps can trigger shocks, and you can manually shock yourself if you're self-aware. Testimonials include people who say they've stopped biting nails, quit smoking, and eating sugar in just a few days. The start-up has been around for a little while, but just gained some mainstream exposure thanks to the ABC show, where it finished off the seventh season with a bit of a zap. Pavlov CEO Maneesh Sethi rejected an offer of a $500,000 loan at 7.5% for two years and 3.14% equity from "Mr. Wonderful," due to not wanting to work for Wonderful, which sent the panel of potential investors into a very classic Friday-night reality-show conniption, complete with the weird zooms, music, and very poor acting. Of course, it's very possible Sethi did Wonderful a favor. The device has one big pro, it's social media-friendly concept, but it's likely to be simply a curiosity unless Sethi pivots significantly. It looks like a house-arrest bracelet for your wrist with loud branding, and the speed-bump of getting people to agree to shock themselves may be more like a wall. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/pavlok-shark-tank-device-shocks-bad-habit/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Shopping", "item": "https://money.com/shopping/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tech", "item": "https://money.com/tech/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Would You Use a Device that Shocks You When You Spend Too Much?" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/pavlok-shark-tank-device-shocks-bad-habit/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/pavlok-shark-tank-device-shocks-bad-habit/", "name": "Would You Use a Device that Shocks You When You Spend Too Much?", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-05-23T15:23:14.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/pavlok-shark-tank-device-shocks-bad-habit/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/pavlok-shark-tank-device-shocks-bad-habit/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2016-05-23T15:23:14.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Would You Use a Device that Shocks You When You Spend Too Much?", "articleSection": "Shopping", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/05/gettyimages-527380814.jpg", "width": 3000, "height": 2002, "caption": "Shark Tank Pavlok" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ethan Wolff-Mann", "url": "https://money.com/author/ethan-wolff-mann/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/ethan-wolff-mann/#author", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/ewolffmann" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-05-23T15:23:14.000Z", "description": "The season finale of \"Shark Tank\" had some drama as the founder of a device that shocks people to kick bad habits rejected a deal.", "abstract": "The season finale of \"Shark Tank\" had some drama as the founder of a device that shocks people to kick bad habits rejected a deal.", "@id": "https://money.com/pavlok-shark-tank-device-shocks-bad-habit/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2016-05-23T15:23:14.000Z", "wordCount": 257, "keywords": [ "behavioral finance", "Pop Culture", "pubdesk", "technology" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Shopping", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Tech", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tech" ] } ] } ] } ```