In The Shark Tank

Dragon’s Den (the Canadian version of Shark Tank) is in the middle of a cross country audition tour. They have been stopping in both small and large city’s. Here is an article from the Canadian Press:

Slumping economy inspires Canadians to seek business ventures with Dragons

Thu Apr. 09 2009 3:45

Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press

TORONTO — The economic downturn has drawn out more entrepreneurial spirit than ever, the producers of CBC-TV’s reality business series “Dragon’s Den” said Thursday as they continued their search for Canada’s next great tycoon.

The show is in the midst of a cross-country audition tour that has brought scouts to such hard-hit regions as the Ontario communities of Windsor and Oshawa, which have borne the brunt of car manufacturing layoffs, and a first-ever stop in Campbell River, B.C., an area hit in recent years by pulp mill closures that threw hundreds of people out of work.

Associate producer Lindsey Neely says turnout has been strong and varied.

“We thought maybe with the recession that people are going to be playing it safe, that they’re not going to want to pitch their own businesses but I think it’s really been the opposite,” Neely said Thursday by phone from a stop in St. Catharines, Ont.

“People are looking for new things to do, where it’s someone who’s worked at a company for 25 years and they’ve been laid off and maybe they’re hurt and they’re upset and they’re thinking: `Why am I spending all this time working for somebody else when I could be working for myself and all this hard work I’m putting in should be going back to me?”‘

“I’d say almost a third of our pitchers are people that have lost their jobs at car manufacturing plants,” associate producer Rich Maerov said of investment seekers from the southern Ontario region.

“From last year, I’d say, there’s probably twice as many people that are unemployed right now. On the one hand, I think it’s sad to see that but on the other hand it’s actually instigating some thinking outside-the-box,” he said from a stop in Quebec City.

Continue reading the article

Robert Herjavec spoke briefly at the end of the article about Shark Tank

This year, Herjavec and O’Leary will be examining twice as many deals, since they’re both also cast as judges on the U.S. version of the show, “Shark Tank.” Produced by reality TV titan Mark Burnett (“Survivor,” “The Apprentice”), it’s set to debut on ABC in January.

Herjavec said the U.S. show will be a harder-edged take on the franchise, which originated in Japan and has spawned versions in England, Australia and eastern Europe. That tougher stance is clear by the name-change, he notes.

“It’s a typical American versus Canadian thing. The Americans, they don’t just want you to be a shark, they want you to be a shark who’s about to kill and eat something,” he said.

“We’re going to be the American sharks, proving that Canadians, once again, are much better at everything,” he joked.

I am excited to find out that the show will be “harder-edged” then Dragon’s Den. I expect the Sharks to be much more like Simon Cowell, blunt, to the point and at times quite critical. Kevin O’Leary will fit right in, take a look at this clip from the seond season of Dragon’s Den and you will see what I mean.

Previously we announced that Kevin O’Leary and Robert Herjavec would be some of the Shark Tank investor. I am happy to announce that
Kevin Harrington, Barbara Corcoran and Daymond John will be joining them.

Barbara Corcoran

Barbara Corcoran is a self-made millionaire. After borrowing $1000 from her boyfriend and quitting her job she started a real estate company in New York City. Twenty-five years later she grew The Corcoran Group into a five-billion-dollar real estate business.
In 2001 Barbara sold The Corcoran Group for $70 million.  After selling her business she wrote the book “If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails” which became a national best-seller.
Barbara continues to be the real estate contributor for NBC’s Today Show and CNBC, and she’s a columnist for The Daily News, MORE magazine and Redbook.

Kevin Harrington

Kevin Harrington is the CEO of TVGoods.com and the Co-founder of OmniReliant Holding. He is considered to be a pioneer in the Infomercial Industry.  In 1984 Kevin filmed his first infomercial. 25 years and over 500 shows late and he has had sales over $4 billion.
Kevin has taken his infomercial business around the world, opening offices in London, Tokyo, Sao Paulo and Jaddah (Saudi Arabia).

Daymond John

Daymond John is best know for his fashion line FUBU which he started in 1992. After seeing a over priced tie-top had selling for $20 he decided he could make and sell them himself. His mother taught him how to use a sewing machine and he begin selling the hats which turned into FUBU. FUBU’s collection later expanded to include hockey jerseys, t-shirts and baseball caps, all embroidered with the FUBU label.
With early support from John’s friend, entertainer LL Cool J, FUBU quickly became one of the leading urban clothing lines, setting fashion trends initially for young Americans. However, FUBU’s popularity extended beyond the inner city, from suburban malls in the Midwest to Russian Internet sites, making it a true international powerhouse.

Kevin O’Leary

Kevin O’Leary knows all about obtaining money. The Montreal native made a fortune helping to develop an educational software company in the 1980s and ’90s that eventually sold to Mattel in 1999 for $4.2 billion. After that success he move to the storage business, selling his stake in Storage Now in 2007 for $110 million. He’s now chair of Gencap Funds LP, which manages several global equity funds. Mr. O’Leary’s also co-hosts a show about invention on Business News Network.

O’Leary is all about the money, often ignoring spay stories and concentration on profit. “I don’t worry about people’s feelings when it comes to money. I worry about their money.” He says. I like to just speak the facts. If people find that emotionally distressing, so what? I speak the truth.”

Robert Herjavec

Robert Herjavec’s parents did not have money, and he tells the story of how his mother, a Croatian immigrant with a poor command of English, once bought a vacuum cleaner from a smooth-talking door-to-door salesman. Or at least she thought she’d bought it, with a sizeable payment. It wasn’t until 12-year-old Robert came home from school and read the contract that she realized the payment was part of a lease, to be just one of many. He says he vowed then never to be taken advantage of again
Robert waited tables to put himself through school. After school he saw the opportunity in IT and founded his own company BRAK systems. BRAK systems soon became Canada’s top Internet security provider. In 2000 he sold is company to AT&T for $100 Million. Soon after Robert helped negotiate the sale of another tech company for $225 million. Lately Robert has been heading up The Herjavec Group, which is Canada’s Fastest growing IT Security company.

Robert Herjavec of CBC’s Dragon Den will be joining Kevin O’Leary in the Shark Tank.

His parents did not have money, and he tells the story of how his mother, a Croatian immigrant with a poor command of English, once bought a vacuum cleaner from a smooth-talking door-to-door salesman. Or at least she thought she’d bought it, with a sizeable payment. It wasn’t until 12-year-old Robert came home from school and read the contract that she realized the payment was part of a lease, to be just one of many. He says he vowed then never to be taken advantage of again
Robert waited tables to put himself through school. After school he saw the opportunity in IT and founded his own company BRAK systems. BRAK systems soon became Canada’s top Internet security provider. In 2000 he sold is company to AT&T for $100 Million. Soon after Robert helped negotiate the sale of another tech company for $225 million. Lately Robert has been heading up The Herjavec Group, which is Canada’s Fastest growing IT Security company.

Take a look at Robert rip apart this “interesting” pitch: