"I had no experience" — When Shark Tank mentor Lori Greiner reflected on launching her first product on The Ellen Show

Lori Greiner, a Shark Tank mentor and entrepreneur, appeared on The Ellen Show on September 18, 2021. She talked about how she started her journey in business and inventing. Greiner shared that she had no experience before launching her first product, an earring organizer.

"I had no experience, no MBA, no business, no nothing," she said.

She had to figure everything out on her own and start from scratch. The idea came to her during a massage when she realized there was no good way to store earrings.

Excited, she quickly sketched it out at home. When asked if she saw herself as an inventor, Greiner admitted she always had ideas but never acted on them. This time, she was determined to make it happen. Her earring organizer led to more successful inventions, making her a key figure in business.

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Shark Tank mentor reflects on building a successful business from scratch

After successfully launching her first product, Greiner quickly realized that once an item sells well, retailers and customers expect more. This led her to brainstorm additional inventions, catering to everyday needs. While some of her early products focused on jewelry storage, she soon expanded into other categories, including cosmetic organizers, travel bags, and problem-solving household items.

"Once you're successful and you go on somewhere and things sell out, which they did instantly, then the buyers are like, we want more, we want more," Greiner said.

Her most successful invention was a mirror jewelry cabinet, which combined a full-length mirror with hidden jewelry storage. It allowed users to keep their accessories organized while maintaining a sleek and functional design. Greiner highlighted how the product's anti-tarnish lining provided convenience, ensuring that jewelry remained in good condition.

"It was a full-length mirror, and all your jewelry was there, and nobody even knew it was inside," she explained.

The approach to solving common problems helped her business grow, with her products eventually generating over a billion dollars in sales. During the interview, she discussed how appearing on Shark Tank allowed her to help aspiring entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life.

Her experience of starting with no background in business made her more empathetic toward inventors who had great concepts but lacked the resources or knowledge to scale them.

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Lori Greiner discusses her approach towards entrepreneurs in Shark Tank

Shark Tank star Lori shared that she follows a structured process when considering investments.

"I look at two things. I look at what is it, like the product, the business, and then I look at the person," she said.

The first step is to check if a product meets her four key criteria: "necessity, affordability, mass appeal, and problem-solving capability." If it aligns with these factors and she has a strong gut feeling, she then looks at the entrepreneur behind it.

Greiner believes that the person behind the product is just as important. Even if the idea is good, she would hesitate to invest if the entrepreneur doesn't seem like a good long-term partner.

"If it's not a good partner, I'm not going to do it," she stated.

During the interview, she also discussed a specific Shark Tank investment, pizza cupcakes. She highlighted how the product checked all the right boxes: it appealed to all age groups, used high-quality ingredients, and she liked the concept.

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New episodes of Shark Tank air every Friday at 8 pm ET on ABC.