

Ask HN: Has anyone seen Shark Tank (VCs are sharks)? - ujjwalg

I came to know about this show yesterday. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1442550/<p>Entrepreneurs pitch their businesses to five multi-millionaire business tycoons called the "Sharks". The Sharks decide if they will fund the company and then negotiate on what percentage of the company they will get in exchange for their money. Before the show, contestants decide what amount of money they need to get from the Sharks. They must get at least that amount from a single Shark or combination of multiple Sharks or they walk away with nothing.
The Sharks are as follows:[2]<p>Robert Herjavec, who sold his IT security firm at the height of the dot-com bubble for over $100 million. Also on the Canadian version of Dragon's Den.<p>Kevin O'Leary, co-host of Business News Network's SqueezePlay, formerly president of The Learning Company, which was sold to Mattel for $3.7 billion in 1999. Also on the Canadian version Dragon's Den.<p>Barbara Corcoran, self made real estate millionaire who sold her company The Corcoran Group for $70 million in 2001.<p>Kevin Harrington, pioneer in the Infomercial Industry banking tens of millions of dollars in sales each year.<p>Daymond John, founder of FUBU his company has made record sales to the tune of $6 billion dollars.<p>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_Tank_(TV_series)<p>I am just curious to know HNers opinion before I check it out.
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ashishk
i like the show, but there are things i do like and things i dont like. i dont
like the silly pitches used for entertainment value. i feel like they belittle
entrepreneurship/ startups.

that said, once in a while there is an inspiring story. like the african
immigrant who runs a profitable site (it is a marketplace for gift cards) and
raised a small round of funding.

overall its nice for entertainment, but you could probably learn a lot more
reading pg's essays.

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Readmore
Yeah, but I've already read all of those twice ;)

I think it's interesting to see how quickly the investors try to flip the deal
around to be extremely in their favor. Only a few founders have been able to
talk them back to reality but when they do it's awesome to watch.

The element bar guy in the latest episode is a great example this is a short
clip of him but the whole episode is available too.
[http://www.hulu.com/watch/95380/shark-tank-power-and-
ambitio...](http://www.hulu.com/watch/95380/shark-tank-power-and-ambition)

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ashishk
i agree 100%.

he was a very sharp guy. worked in VC and definitely knew what he was doing.
it was also impressive how he was prepared to walk out with nothing.

my favorite line of his was something to the effect of "i will fight the same
way for you, when someone comes along down the road to dilute your equity"

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tarouter
I rewind and hear this remark again and again. Because the Sharks seemed to be
taken aback a little after hearing it. But I didn't quite understand this
remark. Can somebody please explain to me?

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ujjwalg
I fight for the right evaluation, no matter what. So, for future rounds, you
will be benefited by this trait of mine.

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uptown
It's amusing to watch, but my speculation is that most of the "deals" they
strike in front of the camera probably break down once the small businesses
and the "sharks" actually begin to work out the details on paper.

From the perspective of the small businesses, while they're getting some great
exposure, they're being asked to make a decision in what's probably the worst
possible environment to do so .... standing in some studio, surrounded by
cameras, without any of their numbers in front of them, and in front of a
panel of individuals that have an interest in creating conflict between the
both the businesses and the other sharks for the sake of making the show
interesting.

I like to think of it as the People's Court of venture capital meetings.

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Readmore
I've tried to get people on here interested in the show before:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=761443>

I think it's a great show and I really like seeing all the different business
ideas. Most of the founders seem to make mistakes in the negotiations but I
think there have been some pretty good deals on the show so far.

I definitely recommend watching it, either live or on Hulu, it's one of the
best shows on TV and definitely one of the best reality shows, other than The
Colony.

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bjclark
It seems like no one ever asks for enough money. Last week there was a woman
on that had invested $100k of her own money into the business and was asking
for $50k more. It seems like if she would have asked for $500k or $2mil, or
something like that, they would have taken her seriously, but they weren't
interested in $50k.

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spydez
It's the American version of Dragon's Den.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon%27s_Den#United_States>

I've seen a few episodes of the UK's Dragon's Den on BBC America and was
unimpressed. Anyone have any comparisons between the two (better or worse)?

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bemmu
Would pick Dragon's Den over Shark Tank any day. Although both shows try to be
very dramatic, Dragon's Den at least has a hint of plausibility in the deals.

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bdmac97
I've been thoroughly enjoying the show personally. There are certain parts
that are obviously overdone/dramaticized for TV but I'm sure it's necessary
for non-entrepreneurs to be interested.

A good sign that it's doing OK is its recent shift into a better time slot
(Tuesday nights instead of Sunday nights).

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kinetickid
amazing show! It is so entertaining I watch it every week and always am trying
to identify the founder's main hurdle before all the sharks chime in. So far
I've been kicking ass at it.

It's on sunday nights for those of you who don't know, and it is worth
watching for sure.

