

What does HN think of the show Shark Tank? - lennysan
http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/shark-tank/

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BrandonWatson
I like seeing what projects on which people are working, but the investors are
ridiculous. There's no amount of diligence presented, they never justify the
valuations they pull out of the air, they always seem to want to own 51%, and
they act like they are the only way that one of the entrepreneurs is going to
make it. It feels almost predatory on the poor entrepreneurs they bring in
front of the panel.

Of course, I have it on my DVR and can't not watch it. Someone said it was
like a car wreck - more like a blimp accident.

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jack7890
It's a ridiculous caricature of what investor-entrepreneur relations are like.

I find the show vaguely nauseating. But even if you enjoy watching, realize
that it's an entertainment gimmick, nothing more. I doubt many of the "deals"
are ever transacted.

~~~
kyro
Yeah, I get it's injected with lots of drama. It's a TV show, so that should
be expected really. I doubt an hour of real-world entrepreneur/VC
pitching/negotiations would appeal to the masses, other than us, of course.

However, I really do like the show. I'm a fan of the British version -
Dragon's Den. Yeah, the stacks of money on the tables are a bit much, but I
actually find a lot of the ideas being pitched quite interesting, as well as
the questions the VCs do ask. They seem to be pretty quick to shoot down
stupid ideas, and do try to find flaws, so although it is a dramatization, I
don't think it's a gross misrepresentation of how any VC would view a
particular idea.

~~~
johns
I agree. I'm glad they don't hesitate to let people know they're on the wrong
track. On one episode, they mentioned that these people have probably never
had anyone among their friends and family tell them its a bad idea. For a lot
of these ideas, these people really needed a reality check.

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delano
Dragon's Den is a much better show. You can watch the Canadian version online
(which also features Kevin O'Leary and Robert Herjavec):

<http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/>

~~~
fnid
I'm glad to see others have seen Dragon's Den. There's also the BBC version.
There are lots of clips and episodes on Google Video:
[http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=dragons+den+series+1&#...</a><p>Shark's
Tank falls short because it doesn't have the same kind of dialog as either the
BBC or CBC dragon's den. The depth of analysis the dragons go into is great
and can really help entrepreneurs understand how to get into a good
business.<p>There was a CBC episode or two where some software products were
shown and one of the dragons had a background in software and he loved the
idea just for being software. I don't remember anything special about the
particular product, but 100% margins were the topic of conversation.

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alex_c
I think "Dragon's Den" is a better name. (the Canadian version)

I think it can be a great deal because you get to broadcast your pitch on
primetime TV for free - I probably wouldn't go on it for the money, though.

~~~
johns
It's not free. ABC has an option to take 2% of your company, even if you don't
strike an investment deal.

~~~
philwelch
By pg's equity equation, airing your pitch on national television would have
to increase your valuation by marginally over 2% (2.04% or so) to make that
deal worth it. I'd take it.

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p01nd3xt3r
Its a good show. Its funny to see people with really odd ideas like the "Ionic
Ear".

It also made me realize how good a deal YC is.

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hristov
Well I guess abc does not care what I think because they have decided not to
allow Linux users to download episodes.

~~~
amalcon
It's also on Hulu. Linux flash support is pretty bad, but at least it's
available.

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markbao
Complete and utter shit. Entertaining, but it smears both entrepreneurs and
VCs/angels, with insulting offers and dramatized acting.

Dragon's Den isn't much better, either. It just has worse startups.

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tjr
Based on the one-ish episode I've seen... there are some interesting bits, but
also a lot of absurdity. Both the valuations proposed by the business owners
and the ownership-percentages proposed by the "sharks" seem surprisingly high.

I suspect a lot of these deals could go quite a bit better on an order of
magnitude lower scale.

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pmorici
It's on Hulu, [http://www.hulu.com/watch/88498/shark-tank-series-
premiere#s...](http://www.hulu.com/watch/88498/shark-tank-series-
premiere#s-p1-so-i0)

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joez
I get a kick out of refreshing ideas but it feels like a horse kicked me when
I see these people who have no idea of what their underlying expenses and
scale are like.

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pmorici
Seems like all of the offers that are made are for greater than 50% of the
business. Doesn't that mean they are basically buying controlling interests?

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lennysan
I'm completely sucked into this show, but I have an uneasy feeling about
putting young entrepreneur in front of extremely experienced VC's.

