The assignment and the dog
The invention has an unusually precise origin. A school project required a fourth-grader to invent something. A dog named Zara kept sweeping ornaments off the tree with her tail. Ayaan's observation was that the problem had no product attached to it: as he put it, there had never been an invention used to save an ornament from falling off.
The solution is mechanically simple, which is the point. The Ornament Anchor is a loop-and-pull fastener that secures an ornament to a branch so that it survives interference from pets and children. It is patent pending and sold in four colours. Simplicity is what allows a product like this to be manufactured cheaply, shipped flat and sold at a price that does not require a customer to think twice.
Two appearances on Shark Tank, no deal
The brothers pitched the product on Shark Tank in 2019 and again in 2021. Neither appearance produced an offer.
It is worth being exact about what that means. Shark Tank is an audition for investment, and the investors declined twice. The programme is also, for a consumer product, a national advertisement watched by millions, and appearing without a deal still puts the item in front of an audience no start-up budget could buy. The brothers treated the outcome as instruction rather than verdict. Mickey's summary: “You can keep going. That’s what we did. And now we are more successful than ever.”
From $5,000 to Lowe's
First-year sales, in 2019, came to roughly $5,000. By December 2022 Entrepreneur described the business as multi-million-dollar, with more than 500 reviews on Amazon and stock in over 500 Lowe's stores.
The route into that retailer was not a broker or a trade show. The brothers made a video demonstrating the product inside their local Lowe's and interviewing customers about it, then used it to make their case. Lowe's agreed to stock the anchor in more than 500 locations, which for a seasonal product is the difference between a website and a business.
Why a seasonal product is hard
A Christmas product sells in a window of a few weeks and is dead weight for the rest of the year. Everything must be manufactured and shipped months ahead, on the strength of a forecast, and whatever does not sell by late December sits in storage until the following autumn.
That is why the retail placement matters more than the invention. Getting a novelty item into a national chain requires packaging, barcodes, liability cover and delivery guarantees that most inventors never navigate. The brothers were 14 and 15 when Entrepreneur profiled them, and had cleared all of it.
Where Ayaan Naqvi is now
The last documented position is December 2022: Ayaan at 14, the business described as multi-million-dollar, stated plans to expand into more retailers, develop new variations of the anchor and increase online advertising.
The sources used here record nothing later. No revenue figure beyond that description is published, no school or home town appears in the material used for this page beyond his being American, and no personal net worth figure exists in it. What is established is the sequence: a school project at 10, two televised rejections, and a product on the shelves of a national chain by 14.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rishi Shiv Prasanna | India | Winning the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar in 2023 at eight, for… | Age 0 |
| Ayaan Naqvi | United States | Inventing the Ornament Anchor at 10 | Age 10 |
| Cannan Huey-You | United States | Presenting research on a Milky Way gas cloud at the American Astronomical… | Age 11 |
| Ángela Olazarán Laureano | Mexico | An AI medical assistant built in Veracruz, designed to work where there is | Age 14 |
| Émer Hickey | Ireland | Co-winning the 2014 Google Science Fair grand prize | Age 16 |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Invented the Ornament Anchor at 10 for a fourth-grade project in 2018, prompted by his dog Zara (Entrepreneur)
- Pitched on Shark Tank in 2019 and 2021 without receiving a deal (Entrepreneur)
- First-year sales about $5,000; by December 2022 a multi-million-dollar business stocked in over 500 Lowe's stores (Entrepreneur)
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- No date of birth or home town published in the source used here
- No exact revenue figure beyond the multi-million-dollar description
- No reporting on the business or the brothers after December 2022
Questions people ask about Ayaan Naqvi
How old is Ayaan Naqvi?
Entrepreneur described him as 14 in December 2022, placing his birth around 2008. No date of birth is published.
What is the Ornament Anchor?
A patent-pending loop-and-pull fastener that secures Christmas ornaments to a tree so pets and children cannot knock them off. It is sold in four colours.
How did he come up with it?
He needed an invention for a fourth-grade project in 2018 and noticed his dog Zara's tail knocking ornaments off the family tree.
Did they get a deal on Shark Tank?
No. The brothers pitched in 2019 and in 2021 and received no offer either time.
How much does the business make?
Entrepreneur described it as a multi-million-dollar business in December 2022. First-year sales in 2019 were about $5,000. No exact revenue figure is published.
Where can you buy the Ornament Anchor?
It was stocked in more than 500 Lowe's stores and sold on Amazon, where it had over 500 reviews by late 2022.
Who is his brother?
Mika'il Naqvi, known as Mickey, a year older, who built the business with him.
Where is Ayaan Naqvi now?
Nothing after December 2022 appears in the sources used here.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Ayaan’s story?
What prompted the Ornament Anchor?
How did the Shark Tank pitches end?
Which retailer took the product into more than 500 stores?
Sources
- These Teens Went on 'Shark Tank' With a Product That Will Change the Way You Decorate Your Christmas Tree. Now, It's a Multi-Million-Dollar Business. — Entrepreneur, 2022-12-12
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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