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CiCi’s Pizza exec featured on CNBC’s 'Make Me a Millionaire Inventor'

CiCi’s Pizza VP of Operations Brian Cassidy provided expert feedback to a Marinara Tower inventor on the premier episode of CNBC's "Make Me a Millionaire Inventor."

August 13, 2015

Brian Cassidy, CiCi’s Pizza vice president of operations, offered his insights to Samantha DeMaria, the creator of the "Marinara Tower," on Wednesay's debut episode of CNBC’s "Make Me a Millionaire Inventor."

The Marinara Tower is similar to a chocolate fountain, however, marina sauce flows from the tower's top instead of chocolate. The thinner sauce runs up the 4-foot-tall tower and falls into an 18-inch bowl (heated to 200 degrees) so guests can dip their favorite appetizers — such as meatballs, fried cheese sticks and other skewered meats — in the sauce.

"When I was first approached about this new show, I was immediately intrigued by its premise,” Cassidy said. “Then, when the producers told me I would be presented with a Marinara Tower, I knew I had to check it out.”

The six-episode series produced by CNBC and ALL3MEDIA (creators of "Undercover Boss" and "Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsey") is an extension of  the "Shark Tank" series and focuses on what it takes for an inventor to become a successful entrepreneur. Each week on “Make Me a Millionaire Inventor,” two hosts/engineers search the country for new and exciting mainstream inventions. Some of these inventions are stuck in the concept stage, while others are fully patented with prototypes already built. The hosts provide their support and expertise, then guide the inventors in structuring a business plan, producing and market-testing a prototype, and preparing them for a pitch, where they will meet real potential investors and industry buyers ready to invest their money and resources to bring their innovations to market.

Coppell, Texas-based CiCi’s Pizza opened its first restaurant in Plano, Texas, in 1985 and has more than 450 restaurants in 32 states.