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/

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]

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.

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.

Barbara Corcoran, self made real estate millionaire who sold her company The Corcoran Group for $70 million in 2001.

Kevin Harrington, pioneer in the Infomercial Industry banking tens of millions of dollars in sales each year.

Daymond John, founder of FUBU his company has made record sales to the tune of $6 billion dollars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_Tank_(TV_series)

I am just curious to know HNers opinion before I check it out.

[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.

[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...

[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.

[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.

[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.

[johns]

Also been discussed here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=767380 and here http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=780647

[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)?

[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.

[FreeRadical]

dragon's den is one of the best shows on british tv :/

[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).

[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.