The American business reality television show Shark Tank is available on ABC. The show is an adaptation of the international format Dragons' Den, which debuted in Japan as Money Tigers in 2001. The show has received high ratings for its time slot and has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Structured Reality Program four times (2014–2017) in the first four years of the category's existence. It received the Outstanding Reality Program Award in 2012–2013.
The show features a group of investors known as "sharks" who make investment decisions as entrepreneurs present their company or product to the panel. A business owner's product, business plan, or company valuation is frequently found to have flaws and weaknesses by the sharks.
Like panelist Barbara Corcoran, some of the investors are typically kind and work to lessen the blow of rejection, but others, like Kevin O'Leary, can be "brutal" and have "no patience, even for tales of hardship." Kevin O'Leary estimates that 20% of the handshake deals made on the show are never carried out because the investors conduct due diligence on the deal after the handshake, which includes testing the product and examining the contestants' businesses and personal finances.
Robert Herjavec, a fellow shark, estimates that the entrepreneurs account for 90% of those withdrawals, in some cases as a result of their appearance on the show being purely promotional. What is now known as the "Shark Tank effect" is frequently attributed to the program. Even without receiving an offer, simply being on the show has the potential to significantly increase sales for businesses. Some business owners claim that after the show aired, their revenue increased by 10–20 times.
Who are the producers of Shark Tank?
Shark Tank is produced by Mark Burnett. Each contestant was initially required to sign a contract with Finnmax, the show's producer, guaranteeing Finnmax the choice of taking a "2% royalty" or "5% equity stake" in the contestant's business endeavor. Due to pressure from panelist Mark Cuban, the network retroactively repealed this requirement in October 2013.
Cuban believed that the requirement would degrade the caliber of the business people because shrewd investors would be leery of giving up a piece of their business just to appear on the show. For this reason, a number of would-be business owners turned down the opportunity to take part in the show.
The show was moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the 12th season. The COVID-19 pandemic forced producers to produce the 12th season in a quarantine bubble (which did not apply to the sharks or entrepreneurs themselves). They rearranged the set so the sharks' chairs were at least six feet apart.
It forbade the sharks from approaching the entrepreneurs to shake their hands after a deal was reached (a wave or "long-distance fist bump" was used instead). In later seasons, the handshakes resumed, but the chairs remained divided.
Which eminent businesses participated in Shark Tank?
The following companies (recognized) participated in Shark Tank:
“Bombas”
“Breathometer”
“Coffee Meets Bagel”
“Doorbot,” now known as “Ring” (acquired by Amazon)
“Kodiak Cakes” (did not reach a deal)
“Scan” (acquired by Snapchat)
“Scrub Daddy”
“GrooveBook” (acquired by Shutterfly)
“Talbott Teas” (acquired by Jamba Juice)
“Manscaped”
“Plated” (acquired by Albertsons)
“Moki DoorStep”
Due to the show's popularity, businesses have falsely claimed to have appeared on Shark Tank when the air rate is actually 0.22%. (88 aired out of 40,000 applicants for the 2018 season.) On ABC's website, you can find a complete list of the businesses that actually participated in Shark Tank.
Cult websites like AllSharkTankProducts.com, Sharkalytics.com, and SharkTankTales.com provide information about all the businesses and their products, and the Gazette Review provides episode summaries and updates.
How was Shark Tank received?
Shark Tank received a generally favorable response during its first season. Entertainment Weekly's Josh Wolk wrote, "The moneymen ask informed questions and make shrewd decisions, a welcome relief from Donald Trump's capricious calls on Burnett's Celebrity Apprentice."
Salon's Heather Havrilesky reported that "ABC's Shark Tank is easily the best new reality TV show to air this summer." According to Tom Shales of The Washington Post, "It sounds gimmicky and visually tedious, with most of the so-called action taking place in a conference room.” “It's all those things, but the moments of misery make it memorable." Shales emphasized that the show premiered during a recession and that many of the aspiring business owners had made significant financial investments in their ventures; he praised "how deftly the show personalizes the desperation and pain experienced by victims of a broken down economy."
The New York Daily News' David Hinckley said, "Once you get past its somewhat misleading title, Mark Burnett's new Shark Tank is a well-paced hour that offers entertainment without humiliation."
FAQs
