

Lessons I Learned from Shark Tank - mirceagoia
http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/25/ten-lessons-shark-tank/

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spacefood
Having been on CBC's Dragons' Den to pitch Rejection Therapy:
<http://rejectiontherapy.com> this current season, I think I can add some
insights.

James nailed the essence of it, but there's a saying that goes a battle plan
never survives the first shot fired, and that's true when stepping in front of
the Dragons with cameras rolling.

You need to be super versatile with your pitch. It's a big mistake to go in
with a memorized script. Too much pressure, and the Dragons don't have to let
you finish your pitch if they don't want to.

In my case, Robert started making comments to me and the other Dragons at
about three seconds into my pitch. Kind of threw me off (but then again,
Robert is the wild card).

Just know your product and the numbers inside and out.

A few other surprises during the pitch. A Dragon made an agreement with me
(not for investment though) then reneged. I'll leave it at that.

Something that became perfectly clear early into the pitch: the Dragons aren't
risk takers. Not at all. They want proof of sales (and lots of sales) or a
promising intellectual property. Or maybe you have a tonne of orders you can't
fulfill until you get some manufacturing capital.

In most cases, those who land a deal are those who could get a deal elsewhere.

My most valuable takeaway from the experience? People's feelings get hurt on
that show. On Shark Tank, I've seen Kevin call someone pitching a line of
fashion belt buckles a "lying pig". On national television.

I should've sworn off the show after seeing that, but I underestimated how
that can irreparably harm someone. I'm more sensitive of people's feelings
now, even public figures.

Walk a mile in a man's shoes, as the saying goes.

For me, it was obvious I wasn't going to get investment from the Dragons. I
was like a lamb to the slaughter and I knew it.

Thing is, one of the cards in the Rejection Therapy Entrepreneur Edition is to
"apply for Shark's Tank or Dragons' Den" and I did. It was a failed rejection
attempt! I got on!

The experience wasn't so bad though. I got along righteously with Bruce Coxom.
He totally got it. He defended the idea all the way, and even stepped out of
his chair to give me his glass of water (I got the dreaded cotton mouth).
Arlene was a doll. Very polite and understanding.

P.S. I'm in bed with a raging flu, typing this out on an iPhone with a dirty
screen. If this runaway comment doesn't make a lick of sense, that's why.

~~~
paulhauggis
Thanks for the comment. I've been watching shark tank for a couple of years
now and it's interesting to hear what it's actually like on the inside.

~~~
spacefood
You're welcome Paul.

You know the question I get asked most about Dragons' Den, even from strangers
at the local grocery store?

What's Kevin really like? Is he different off-air than he is on air?

I tell them I can't answer that, but I suspect the Kevin you see is the real
Kevin.

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tatsuke95
I'm glad the author grasped that the show is entertainment, and actually has a
few words of wisdom. But the idea behind this show is disgusting and
disheartening.

This line bit me:

> _"What do you care about the percentage?"_

Only in Silicon Valley would you hear something like this. The ownership
structure of your company isn't a joke or a game. It _does_ matter. Why stop
at 40%? Why not give up 99%? If you're out looking for financing for your
company and "don't care" about how much equity you're giving up, you shouldn't
be in business.

~~~
mirceagoia
I think that he may refer at the first time entrepreneurs, unproven
entrepreneurs. Because after your first success (hopefully) bet you will know
more and they won't try to mess you too much anymore. My guess...

~~~
carbocation
So would it be a fair paraphrase of his view to say that Mark Zuckerberg
shouldn't have cared about the percentage of Facebook that he retained?

~~~
mirceagoia
There are exceptions always, especially when an entrepreneur think he will do
that thing his whole life (as Mark Zuckerberg is ought to do).

If you are a first time entrepreneur and you have the mindset of "I like to
start things, over and over again" then it's easy to give up larger chunks of
your first company because you know you will come back to start another
startup after a while. Serial entrepreneurs belong here.

If you think "This is something I'll be doing my whole life and I couldn't see
myself doing anything else" then yes, it's harder to give up good chunks of
your first and last company. Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs and others like them
belong here.

~~~
carbocation
Steve Jobs owned ~1% of AAPL shares vs Zuckerberg's much larger stake in
Facebook. They are nearly on opposite ends of the spectrum of that particular
spectrum.

~~~
mirceagoia
In the beginning they both owned a lot. And if it wouldn't be the luck of Sean
Parker giving Zuckerberg his board seat and sided with him then Zuckerberg
might have not been in charge at FB now (he would still own shares).

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rogerbinns
Mark Cuban posted some more details on his blog the other day (eg they have no
computer access, due diligence is done later which is why some deals don't go
through.)

[http://blogmaverick.com/2012/02/17/your-quick-and-dirty-
guid...](http://blogmaverick.com/2012/02/17/your-quick-and-dirty-guide-to-
sharktank/)

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yaliceme
I watched a few episodes of Shark Tank and thought to myself "I can't imagine
all of those deals actually go through." I'm really glad altucher actually
researched some of the deals that fell through, and reported it for us to see.
It's really important to be reminded not to treat money like it's real until
it literally shows up in your bank account. I've known people to get into big
trouble by failing to observe that principle.

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dsr_
> You just presented your product for 15 minutes on a nationally broadcasted
> TV show that will be re-aired at least two or three times and sell a ton of
> shows on itunes. That sort of advertising would cost about a million dollars
> or more.

Reality shows are about losing; game shows are about winning. But some people
go into these shows with a completely different mindset: this is an interview
and demo for the world, not for the on-show judges.

Top Chef players demonstrate how well they can run kitchens and work with
people they didn't ask to hire and don't actually like.

Amazing Race players are usually demonstrating how well they can communicate
and work effectively under severe stress in foreign countries. (If you're
looking for a new overseas salesperson, look through a season of Amazing Race.
You'll see what it takes to make them crack.)

Survivor players are either demonstrating team-leadership or diplomacy
(defined as saying "nice doggy!" while picking up a rock). Choose carefully,
there...

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TheBoff
I particularly enjoyed the little comment on modern society: "Money doesn’t
buy happiness but it certainly solves your money problems".

~~~
mirceagoia
Indeed...

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dotBen
If you like Shark Tank, check out BBC's Dragon's Den (which the format is
based on, and in turn, the BBC's format is based on a Japanese show of the
same name).

The BBC version seems a lot less "Hollywood", and admittedly a lot fewer deals
are made. However the interaction tends to be a little more business
orientated and the conclusions more valuable.

~~~
waitwhat
The Dragons' Den has always fundamentally been an entertainment show, but
earlier seasons were excellent at also including bits of good, solid advice on
how to launch and run a small company that the astute viewer could pick up on.

Later seasons dropped this, they go into the business side in less depth, and
even the editing became lazy (you can predict who's going to get a deal when
they walk in by just looking at your watch.)

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bipolarla
I find it interesting that Barbara Corcoran had no money, was working as a
waitress and used her boyfriends real estate license to start her business.
I've witnessed many entrepreneurs start companies. There are many examples of
people building huge businesses with nothing. I believe a show like this could
help a contestant but for tv they want the most entertaining stories. I am
excited that YCombinator takes a more serious and calculated way to figure out
who they accept. I hope to meet some of you on these boards. Blake

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amohame9
I started watching this show a while back, at the beginning it was really
interesting and I got really invested in the entreprenaurs fate, but the more
episodes you watch, the line between real business and reality show kept on
becoming more blury, until eventually you couldn't see any business but a
murkey form of reality tv show.

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wccrawford
Everyone has talked about the lessons in here and some of the other things to
take away from this, but I haven't seen anyone talk about the fact that your
teaching your children to open their eyes.

I think this is great, and I wish more people would teach critical thinking to
their children.

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timerickson
Per the HN guidelines, I'd suggest you rename the title to "Lessons I Learned
from Shark Tank"

~~~
mirceagoia
Ok, I have done that. I thought we are not to alter the original titles. Good
to know...

~~~
candeira
I don't know the title posted originally, but I would say that "Lessons James
Altucher learnt from Shark Tank" is arguably a better title, and one that's
more faithful to the original article.

If we read the pronoun "I" in a James Altucher penned column, it means
something. If we read it on Hacker News, it means nothing. Dereferencing it
should be ok.

~~~
wccrawford
It had '10 lessons' instead of just 'lessons', which is against the rules
because of top-lists that are usually just garbage. If it can't stand on its
own without a number, it's not worth posting.

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nirvana
I've been a huge fan of this show since I caught about 2 episodes of the
Canadian version years ago. I was glad to see Shark Tanke come to america. On
the wikipedia page you can find that the show has been licensed around the
world and varies in name by country (e.g.: Tigers Den, Shark Den, Shark Tank,
Dragons Den, etc.) and originated in Japan.

The thing is, I can't find any way to watch the BBC or the Canadian versions
online.

I can VPN to most countries so its not the geographic restrictions so much as
it doesn't seem there's a HULU in every country.

Any suggestions for how or more importantly where to watch the UK or Canadian
versions of this show? Maybe Australian even? Or singapore? Hong Kong? (just
listing all the english speaking countries that might have produced it.)

