So I watch TV. What can I say? Even though I wrote about American Idol last week, Shark Tank is the entrepreneur's reality show. An hour of that and everyone in your family wants to go blow all their money on a crazy invention they had since age six. For those that haven't seen it, entrepreneurs come into a massive room and stare down five potential hot-shot investors called Sharks. They usually do one of two things: rip the founder and his idea to shreds, or rip each other to shreds trying to secure the deal. Mark Cuban is the star and the most entertaining to watch. He has the tech background having sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo for $5.9KaBillion, and he has the celebrity/lifestyle background as the owner of an NBA team.
The new season started tonight and you can watch the episode here. During the first segment the founder walks in and and pitches his pastic bottle company Clean Bottle that did $750k in sales, and 150k units sold through in less than a year. Wow!
When the founder starts to get aggressive about his reasoning for the $1.2MM valuation, the sharks turn into fin soup victims: "You're here to make one of us work for 5%. I think you're smart, you're slick, you're greedy, and it's offensive," churps the founder of FUBU.
When the founder starts leaning towards Mark Cuban, instead of trying to find a way to get the deal, the other VC's pride gets slammed and immediately removes himself saying he doesn't like being ignored. His offer is off the table. Dumb move.
Here are the VC's comments that follow in the second segment as the entrepreneur, who remember has built this business to $750k in sales in under 6-months, continues to fight for the best deal for himself and his company; "I hope Mark (Cuban) does to you what I think he's going to do to you-screws you." "What is wrong with you?" "I have never seen such greed." "Unbelievable." "He's a greedy pig. I love him."
The founder sticks to his guns and risks it all for one last chance to keep an extra percent. In the end he settles on a $750k valuation and seems content despite the name calling. And guess what? The sharks are also impressed. They praise him as he leaves the room acknowledging and respecting a founder who can go toe-to-toe the way they probably did when they were in his shoes.
So are you a greedy entrepreneur? Hopefully when you fight for your company you are.
Bonus: Check out their cleaver Guerilla marketing at the Tour De France. Not much budget needed for something like this.