Shark Tank on Good Morning America

June 11th, 2009

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Busy Week in the Tank

June 10th, 2009

Tomorrow (June 11th) Good Morning America is set to air an interview with Mark Burnett and Kevin O’Leary (maybe more not sure) at around 8am.

Open Casting Call:

ORLANDO
Thursday, June 11th
Sheraton Hotel Orlando Downtown
60 S. Ivanhoe Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32804

9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

NEW YORK
Saturday, June 13th
Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge
333 Adams St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201

9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

CHICAGO
Satuday, June 13th
Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown/Lakefront
511 N. Columbus Dr.
Chicago, IL 60611

9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

As I said last time, arrive early, make sure you fill out this application (tell them you found out about it from InTheSharkTank.com) and be prepared to answer these questions.

Follow us on twitter at Twitter.com/SharkTankABC

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Shark Tank Premieres Sunday August 9th

June 7th, 2009

47001695ABC is set to premier Mark Burnett’s Shark Tank August 9th at 9pm, following the return of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. (Coincidence I think not!) Episodes will continue on Sundays at 9 through August 23, after which it will shift to its regular time period of Tuesdays at 8 starting August 25.

Shark Tank is a new reality show where entrepreneurs must try to convince five multi-millionaire business tycoons to part with their own hard-earned cash and give them the funding they need to jumpstart their business’s. Each week, ambitious entrepreneurs from across the country will present their breakthrough business concepts, products, properties and services to the panel of ruthless investors. Their goal is to convince these merciless moguls to invest their own dollars in the concept. Convincing real-life millionaires to part with their own money is no easy task, because when the idea is poor, the Sharks will tear into the ill-prepared presenters and pass on the idea with a simple, “I’m out!,” sending them running for the exit. Entrepreneurs will be asked to give up a percentage of their companies’ equity to the Sharks in order to get the investment they need.shark-tank8

Casting is still ongoing, so if you think you have what it takes to swim with the sharks then email SharkTankCasting@yahoo.com with your name, age, contact info, a recent photo, and a brief, NON-CONFIDENTIAL description of your idea. Tell them In The Shark Tank sent you.

Just one last note, be on the look out for scammers who may be taking advantage of would-be contestants during this casting process. You can never be too careful.

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Open Casting Call Today In LA

June 5th, 2009

This is just a reminder that the first of four open casting calls for ABC’s Shark Tank will be taking place today (Saturday June 6th) in Los Angeles. Auditions well be take place at the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown (map) between 9AM and 4PM make sure you arrive early. You will also need to fill out this application form.

Please be prepared to speak about the following in your casting interview:

1. What’s your name and your business?
2. How much money do you need from investors and why?  Be specific.  How will it be used?
3. What percentage of your company/idea/product are you willing to give up (e.g., 10%, 40%)?
4. What do you do for a living and where are you from?
5. When did you start inventing or become an aspiring entrepreneur?  What influenced this decision?
6. Please describe your product/invention/business idea.
7. Make your pitch!
Examples of interesting information:
• What is it?  Is it patented?
• How or why does it work? (Do a demonstration if you can.)
• What’s the market for this and why?
• How did you come up with the idea?
• Why is your idea the next best thing?
8. How much have you invested in your business? What would happen if you can’t get your business off the ground?
9. What does your business mean to you?
10. What is your ultimate goal for your business?
11. What has been your biggest challenge so far?
12. What do your family and/or friends think of your business?

Make sure you tell them that you learned about the casting call from InTheSharkTank.com, and send any pictures or stories about your day to InTheSharkTank@gmail.com or Tweet us at twitter.com/SharkTankABC

Good luck

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Meet The Sharks

June 1st, 2009

A few months back I introduced you to the Sharks. This week ABC has released a little more detailed bio’s of the Sharks.


Barbara Corcoran

Barbara Corcoran

Barbara Corcoran’s credentials include straight D’s in high school and college and 20 jobs by the time she turned 23. It was her next job, however, that would make her one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country, when she borrowed $1,000 from her boyfriend and quit her job as a waitress to start a tiny real estate company in New York City. Over the next 25 years, she’d parlay that $1,000 loan into a five-billion-dollar real estate business and the largest and best known brand in the business. As a speaker, Barbara brings her front-lines experience and infectious energy to each person in the audience. They laugh, cry and learn how to become more successful. Motivational, inspirational, and sometimes outrageous, Barbara Corcoran’s tell-it-like-it-is attitude is a refreshing approach to success. Barbara is the author of If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails, an unlikely business book that has become a national best-seller. She credits her struggles in school and her mother’s kitchen-table wisdom for her innovation and huge success in the business world. The book is a fresh, frank look at how to succeed in life and business and is as heartwarming as it is smart and motivating. Barbara is the popular real estate contributor for the Today Show and CNBC. She writes a weekly real estate column for the Daily News and monthly columns for MORE Magazine and Redbook. Springboard Press released Barbaras second book, Nextville: Amazing Places to Live the Rest of Your Life, last spring, to amazing reviews.

Kevin Harrington

Kevin Harrington

Kevin Harrington, CEO of TVGoods.com, LLC and co-founder of OmniReliant Holdings, Inc., is widely acknowledged as the pioneer and principal architect of the “infomercial” industry. 2009 marks the 25th year since Harrington produced the industry’s first infomercial; with milestones of over 500 product launches resulting in sales of over $ 4 billion worldwide and 20 products reaching individual sales of over $100 million — creating dozens of millionaires. Harrington’s first company, Quantum International, started in the mid-80’s and merged into National Media in 1991.That grew into $500 million in annual sales with distribution in over 100 countries in 20 languages. Additional entrepreneurial startups included ventures with HSN, Inc. (HSN Direct) and Reliant International; selling the latter to the Koo banking family of Taiwan in 2006. That same year, Harrington co-founded TVGoods.com and Omni Reliant Holdings, raising over $17 million in equity investment capital from a NY hedge fund. The firm recently purchased the controlling stake in Tampa Bay’s premiere production facility, OmniComm Studios, Harrington’s present office location — a 33,000 square foot film studio on 5.4 acres in Clearwater, Florida. Harrington’s philanthropy established two important global networking associations — the Entrepreneur’s Organization (E.O.) and the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA).


Robert Herjavec

Robert Herjavec

Robert Herjavec has lived the classic “rags to riches” story. The son of Croatian immigrants, he earned his incredible wealth by overcoming the odds with pure hard work and intuition. He remembers how his mother, who could barely speak English, lost the family savings to a smooth talking vacuum salesman. Since then, Robert vowed he would never let his family be taken advantage of again. In the early ’90’s, Robert eked out a living waiting tables at a posh Yorkville restaurant. During the initial stages of the dot com craze, he realized that technology was the ticket to serious money. By night, he launched BRAK systems, his first technology company. BRAK soon became Canada’s top provider of Internet security software, worth a reported $100 million dollars. Robert sold his company to AT&T in 2000. But that was only the start. He then helped negotiate the sale of another technology company to Nokia for $225 million dollars. Instead of retiring with his cash, Robert now heads The Herjavec Group, listed as one of Canada’s leading and fastest growing IT security and infrastructure integration firms. His palatial 50,000 square foot Bridle Path mansion hosts luminaries like Michael Bublé and Mick Jagger. For thrills, Robert jets to a private island near Miami or cruises Yorkville in one of his many luxury cars.


Daymond John

Daymond John

Daymond John’s creative vision helped revolutionize the sportswear industry in the 1990s. As founder, president and chief executive officer of FUBU–”For Us, By Us”–John created distinctive and fashionable sportswear and a host of other related gear. FUBU’s phenomenal success made mainstream apparel companies realize the potential for fashionable sportswear that appeals not just to trendsetting urban youth, but to mainstream teens, as well. John was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn but spent his childhood in the Hollis neighborhood of Queens during the 1970s. An only child, John grew up in a single-parent household headed by his mother, who was a flight attendant for American Airlines but often held more than one job at a time. His first foray into the apparel market came when he wanted a tie-top hat and was put off by the price. John asked his mother to teach him how to use a sewing machine, and he began making the distinctive tie-top hats in the morning and then selling them on the streets of Queens in the evening hours. One day in 1992, he and his friend sold $800 worth of hats and realized their ideas had definite potential. They created a distinctive logo and began sewing the FUBU logo on hockey jerseys, sweatshirts and t-shirts. John lured some longtime friends into the business and asked old neighborhood friend L.L. Cool J. to wear a t-shirt in a photograph for a FUBU promotional campaign in 1993. John and his mother mortgaged the home they collectively owned for the $100,000 in start-up capital. Even more amazingly, she then moved out so the quartet could use the home as a makeshift factory and office space. FUBU officially emerged in 1994 when John and his partners traveled to an industry trade show in Las Vegas. Buyers liked the distinctively cut, vibrantly colored sportswear, and John and his partners returned to Queens with $300,000 worth of orders. FUBU soon had a contract with the New York City-based department store chain Macy’s, and they began expanding their line to include jeans and outerwear. A distribution deal with Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung allowed their designs to be manufactured and delivered on a massive scale. As CEO and president, John guided FUBU to a staggering $350 million in revenues in 1998, placing it in the same stratosphere as such designer sportswear labels as Donna Karan New York and Tommy Hilfiger. Over the last 16 years, John has evolved into more than a fashion mogul. In 2007 the street-smart businessman penned his first book, Display of Power: How FUBU Changed a World of Fashion, Branding & Lifestyle,which was named one of the best business books of 2007 by the Library Journal. Known as the Godfather of Urban Fashion, Daymond is regarded as one of the most sought-after branding experts and keynote speakers in fashion and business today. With multiple business ventures on his resume, John can be seen sharing his knowledge and business genius on numerous business and entertainment television programs.


Kevin O’Leary

Kevin O'Leary

Kevin O’Leary is opinionated, ruthless, hungers for big deals and loves to take control, yet he made his millions helping children learn how to read. Kevin’s success story starts where most entrepreneurs begin: with a big idea and zero cash. From his basement, he launched SoftKey Software Products. As sales took off, Kevin moved to headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts and went on an industry consolidating acquisition binge. From 1995 to 1999 he bought almost every one of his software competitors, including Mindscape, Broderbund and the Learning Company in the industry’s first vicious public hostile battle. Shareholders love his take-no-prisoners cost cutting style and fueled him with billions to do his deals. In 1999 Kevin sold his company to the Mattel Toy Company for a staggering 3.7 billion dollars, one of the largest deals ever done in the consumer software industry. To keep his money working hard, Kevin took control of his wealth from his lackluster money managers and founded his own mutual fund company, O’Leary Funds. He raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors who share his “get paid while you wait” yield oriented value investing philosophy. He shares his tips and tribulations with a national television audience and turns the Street upside down in the process. As a self-proclaimed “Eco-preneur,” Kevin looks hardest for investments that make money — and are environmentally friendly. When he’s not squeezing the market from his office in West Palm Beach, he travels the world looking for new opportunities to deploy his capital. He is a founding investor and director of Stream Global, an international business outsourcing company. Kevin is on the investment committee of Boston’s prestigious 200-year-old Hamilton Trust, and is the Chairman of O’Leary Funds. He also serves on the executive board of The Richard Ivey School of Business. Kevin escapes on weekends with his family to his luxurious cottage that spreads over prime Canadian wilderness on the shore of an ancient glacial lake.

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Open Casting Call

June 1st, 2009

Its time to put your best foot forward and meet the Shark Tank casting team face to face. Shark Tank is hosting four open casting call audition in Los Angeles, Orlando, New York and Chicago. If you want to audition for the show and are in the area I would highly recommend you attend one of these auditions. You will need to fill out this application form, and arrive early.

LOS ANGELES
Satuday, June 6th
Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown
711 S. Hope St.
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

ORLANDO
Thursday, June 11th
Sheraton Hotel Orlando Downtown
60 S. Ivanhoe Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32804
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

NEW YORK
Saturday, June 13th
Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge
333 Adams St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

CHICAGO
Satuday, June 13th
Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown/Lakefront
511 N. Columbus Dr.
Chicago, IL 60611
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

For those of you not in the area remember you can still apply by email: SharkTankCasting@yahoo.com with your name, age, contact info, a recent photo, and a brief, NON-CONFIDENTIAL description of your idea. Tell them In The Shark Tank sent you.

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Casting Poster

May 24th, 2009

shark tank poster

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The Power of the Tank?

May 24th, 2009

There is no doubt in my mind that Shark Tank will make or break some companies. Even if you don’t get a deal with the Sharks, your company will just been advertised to millions of people for free (well almost free).
ABC had previously aired two seasons of the show called American Inventor, a group of inventors were chosen and given $50,000 and expert help to develop their product and then judges and viewers pick the winner of the $1 million prize. The problem with American Inventor was that most of the inventors do not benefit from the exposure they got from TV. Their products were not ready to be sold and by the time they were most of the audience had forgotten about them. Businesses that pitch on Shark Tank will hopefully be ready to sell their product, meaning the exposure that the show brings will lead to increased sales.

Now something to keep in mind when applying for Shark Tank, the producers have the right to between 2% and 10% of gross revenue of your business for three years.

… as a condition of my participation on the Series, Producer or its designee shall receive an irrevocable option to take a perpetual ten percent (10%) royalty of 100% of the gross receipts derived from the idea, product, invention, service or business that I present to the “sharks” …

Update: I mistakenly quoted a unreliable source. To clarify Shark Tank has the right to 2% of net revenues, if and only if they decided to activate it. Meaning if your business becomes the next Google then I would assume they would activate it but for most business it would not.

You will have to examine the cost-benefit of giving up, up to 10% 2% in exchange for the huge exposure you’ll get from prime time television.

Last week I posted a first look at Shark Tank.  I have been able to pull it out four companies that appeared in the video.

WiSpots
WiSpots provides interactive centers for medical waiting areas. Which helps to generate additional revenue and educates patients.

LifeBelt
Lifebelt The device that is installed in cars to ensure that all the occupants are wearing their seatbelts. The vehicle will not start if the driver is not buckled up, and if the seatbelt is removed while the car is running the radio will turn off and loud annoying noise will come out of the radio until the seatbelt is re-buckled.

Mr. Tod’s Pie Factory
Mr. Tod’s sells personal sized pie, they are very popular in Somerset, New Jersey and they currently operate two retail locations.

College Foxes Packing Boxes
College Foxes Packing Boxes provide organization, moving and unpacking services.

When Shark Tank airs this summer we will find out if these companies can sink or swim and if the exposure helped them grow.

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Your First Look

May 20th, 2009

Sharks

The Sharks

Kevin O’Leary

Kevin O’Leary

Barbara Corcoran

Barbara Corcoran

Kevin Harrington

Kevin Harrington

Daymond John

Daymond John

Robert Herjavec

Robert Herjavec

Mascot

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Shark Tank to air Tuesday’s at 8

May 19th, 2009

ABC adds Shark Tank to its fall line up, it will air Tuesday at 8pm. The show will start this summer and continue running this fall.
Shark Tank will be up against other reality TV heavy waits like Biggest Loser and So You Think You Can Dance.

shark tank logo

From Mark Burnett, executive producer of Survivor and The Apprentice, and Sony Pictures Television, comes Shark Tank, an exciting, new reality show that gives budding entrepreneurs the chance to make their dreams come true and become successful — and possibly wealthy — business people. But the entrepreneurs must first try to convince five tough, multi-millionaire tycoons to part with their own hard-earned cash and give them the funding they need to jumpstart their ideas.

In these trying economic times, it’s difficult for an individual possessing a dream or even a working small business poised for growth to get a loan for a risky venture. Whether it be an imaginative enhancement for an existing product, a family recipe that has all the ingredients to become a profitable culinary treat, or the latest technological gadget that could take the world by storm, most of these dreams die an early death because no one dared take a financial chance on someone with an unproven and oftentimes outrageous proposal. Many of these people now see Shark Tank as their last chance at success. Some have been laboring on their ideas for years or even decades, have invested large amounts of money, and are being pressured to throw in the towel by friends and family. Others have simply never had access to the means to live out their dreams, until now. Enter the Sharks of Shark Tank — five multi-millionaires who lifted themselves up by their bootstraps to make their own entrepreneurial dreams come true and turned their ideas into empires.

Each week, ambitious entrepreneurs from across the country will present their breakthrough business concepts, products, properties and services to the panel of ruthless investors. Their goal is to convince these merciless moguls to invest their own dollars in the concept. Convincing real-life millionaires to part with their own money is no easy task, because when the idea is poor, the Sharks will tear into the ill-prepared presenters and pass on the idea with a simple, “I’m out!” — sending them running for the exit.

But these Sharks aren’t just out for blood, they too have a goal: to own a piece of the next big idea. Entrepreneurs will be asked to give up a percentage of their companies’ equity to the Sharks in order to get the investment they need. But when the Sharks hear a really top-notch idea, and more than one of them wants to sink their teeth into it, a war between them will erupt. Then the once-desperate entrepreneur can rejoice when the Sharks reveal their true interest in the product and bid up the price of the investment.

The Sharks of Shark Tank are:6a00d83451d69069e201156f9fe446970c

Barbara Corcoran
Kevin Harrington
Robert Herjavec
Daymond John
Kevin O’Leary

Mark Burnett, Clay Newbill and Phil Gurin are the executive producers of Shark Tank, based on the Japanese Dragon’s Den format created by Nippon Television Network Corporation. The series is from Sony Pictures Television.

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