Dolphins VC Matt Higgins to appear on Shark Tank Sunday night
By Brian Miller
Miami Dolphins Vice Chairman Matt Higgins will appear as a guest investor on the hit ABC series Shark Tank later tonight. He spoke with us outside Hard Rock Stadium.
On Sunday night Matt Higgins will serve as a guest investor on Shark Tank but today outside of Hard Rock Stadium he made an appearance with &pizza founder Michael Lastoria. We talked with both of the men at the event.
Asked if he was going to have a viewing party tonight Higgins said, “Yeah hoping to make some pizzas and then get back for the viewing party tonight. I’m excited.”
Higgins also said that he is proof that if you set your mind to it you can accomplish your dreams in this country. Tonight, while he wouldn’t give away anything he did say that he went on the show to find more &pizza opportunities and that investing in businesses and people is very important.
The Washington, D.C. based chain, &pizza got a big boost from the Matt Higgins and Stephen Ross founded RSE Ventures in 2017 reportedly more than $25 million although not fully disclosed. Higgins has been at the forefront of the investment and both he and Ross serve on the company’s board of directors.
The pizza chain that is actually a fast-casual pizza restaurant started in D.C. and expanded to New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and of course Miami. Thanks largely to the investment of Higgins and Ross through RSE.
Lastoria had a vision for delivering quality product, in this case pizza in a unique way that he says can cater to the community more specifically. The idea is to “pin” locations between high traffic times like 12-2 and 6-8 in locations that are high demand areas.
“We have partnered with Uber Eats to get the product out in addition to the &pizza truck.” said Michael Lastoria.
Tonight, Higgins will make his Hollywood debut as one of the “sharks” on ABC’s Shark Tank but he isn’t ready to give away what his plans are for this episode or whether he invested in anything or anyone. Season 10 will see several celebrity type guest sharks including Higgins.
Higgins has been paramount in assisting Stephen Ross with changes in and around Hard Rock Stadium. He was a close advisor to Ross in 2014 and continues to work closely with Ross with the Miami Dolphins as the V.C.
As for Lastoria, he is hoping that his ‘outside the box’ thinking can bring a new way to serving one of America’s most popular foods in an easier way including Uber delivery in areas that the &pizza trucks will be stationed at.
Tonight we will get to see what and who Higgins, a self-proclaimed fan of the show and claims to have seen every episode, will invest in or if he will at all as he enters the Shark Tank.