When Millionaires Fail! - Shark Tank Gone Wrong

Sorry im a little late to the conversation but I pitched to the sharks about 3-4 years ago and I even got a deal until it fell apart two days after taping it (It is true, what you see on the Air is only a good faith agreement, the legally binding stuff comes later). My pitch never aired and Im under a Non-disclosure agreement, so i cant reveal too much about what I pitched and who I made a deal with or why the deal fell through (Since my deal fell through and it didnt air, I cannot tell my Shark tank experience as a way to promote my product at all And they are very litigious about this). But I can say this. My pitch was not nearly as emotional or entertaining as some of the ones ive seen on the show and after talking with some other people who pitched to them, i conclude that the majority of them are like my own where they dont make good television and the deal falls apart a few days later. If I were to be really cynical about it, I think that the sharks may allow for the deal to fall apart if the producers decide that the pitch will not air (Since there will be no exposure obviously). Apparently, Shark Tank used to show all the pitches when the producers automatically got 2 percent equity of any idea that was pitched but since they discarded that, they have no reason to air all the pitches anymore; except the ones that get high ratings.

After dealing with them and talking to other people, Ive actually been able to piece together how the sharks work:

Robert Herjavec - Several people have told me he is the worst shark to work with because he is apparently extremely difficult to get in contact with and is apparently prone to buyers remorse. One woman I met told me that she tried for 6 months to get in contact with him after making a deal until he dropped it completely. Apparently, unless you are a Yes Man and can delude yourself into thinking that every idea he comes up with is the greatest idea ever made, you are not going to survive with him.

Lori Greneer - She is one of the most involved but also the most controlling of the Sharks. While she does have automatic space into several retail stores, Most people who sign a deal with her are often forced to sign exclusivity agreements with her saying that they can only go into those places for a period of time (one deal apparently was for 2 years) and only Lori herself can designate which retail outlets can they go with. One person told me that she does get commissions from those retail stores to make the products exclusive with them. Many people are automatically enticed to work with her because of QVC (even though many of them have never even watched the channel before), and while she is apparently very friendly and easy to get along with, she does not allow for much wiggle room to find other ways to sell their product. Lori also does not handle much manufacturing and expects you to get that done on your own, she is only something of a promoter (read the next section).

Daymond John - Daymond is reportedly a hardworking guy who probably has the most amount of connections out of all the sharks, something that is often overlooked by a lot of people. Most people who walk in there (Besides clothing people) probably dont have him as the shark they want, so he is bitter about being overlooked by the pitchers (Partially his fault, From my experience, he barely talked until he made his opinion of the pitch), so he often has much respect for people who make a deal with him. But similar to lori, his preference of licensing requires people to sign exclusivity agreements with him, which does not give people much freedom to experiment on their own. If your product requires heavy manufacturing, that might actually be a small price to pay considering that he will take care of that for you (Something about Lori is that she does not handle manufacturing at all, so A lot of people who assume they want Lori should instead think about Daymond instead)

Mark Cuban - By most accounts, he is the best shark to work with and is generally the most balanced when it comes to control and freedom. While he can be strict, he generally only takes people who he trusts and as such, gives them much freedom when deciding what avenues to work with. Although I know that if you are not willing to take advice from Mark Cuban, you are an idiot, so most people do listen carefully to what he says. Furthermore, since he is the wealthiest of the sharks, he usually gives a huge line of credit and will fund whatever you need but the key to getting him is to be honest and realistic with im about your finances. The best example is that guy with the Bacon Alarm clock, While Mark was willing to pay the 250 thousand (or something like that, im not too sure), because he only asked for 50,000 (indicating that he didnt know what he needed), mark turned him down. Key to getting mark, dont BS.

Kevin O'leary - While many people ridicule his Royalty agreements, his deals are actually some of the best in the long term. Personality wise, he is actually very friendly and flexible to what you need but there is a underlying cynicism within his strategy in which he wants to make the product good enough to sell it for a lot of money to some big company. Thats also a plus considering that he doesnt take any of your equity but the idea he has is to make money and run with it. So if you want to build a brand or a empire, dont take O'leary. He ridicules such ideas (again, his cynicism about competing with the big guys).

Barbara Corcoran - I dont know much about her honestly.

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