100% agree - the seatbelt guy was a complete idiot. As was so stupid, the sharks couldn’t even believe it. Saying, “I’m not going to take a million dollars just to see the product sit on a shelf” WTF. Who, pray tell, would pay a million dollars just to sit something on a shelf. It makes absolutely no sense. I could see why one of the conditions was that the guy couldn’t call them. Because the sharks already knew that nothing was ever going to be good enough for that guy and that he was so out of touch with how business operates you would be wasting your time talking to him.
Also, I agree that if the car companies wanted to, they could have put that in ages ago. If I had a car like that, it would be such a pain in the ass, I’d just disarm it - buckle the seat belt closed and leave it that way.
Last night was the first time I watched Shark Tank. I’m not too certain I’ll watch another one.
Comparing it to Dragon’s Den on BBCA:
In the UK’s Dragon’s Den there are obviously cuts and edits but it’s well edited to keep a coherent story and make it feel as if you’re not losing anything in the telling. In Shark Tank the edits are too jarring and are done to try to build suspense, which I’m really not feeling. I sit there watching, hoping I can see more of the negotiation that goes on, and I’m not getting that.
The Sharks are all rich, no doubt about that. And if you’ve earned billions of dollars from IT software you’ve developed or other similar one shot deals then kudos to you. But I’m really not sure how all the Sharks are qualified to be business entrepreneurs. The Dragons, on the other hand, seem to all be qualified business men and women who understand how to take an idea and make it a profitable reality.
The misogyny of calling the women coming in front of “crazy” and the female Shark a “sharkette” was a little off putting.
But the number one reason I’m not enjoying the show is that the deals the Sharks offer make no sense whatsoever. You can joke about needing 110% of the company to consider making a deal, but you can’t seriously offer to take a 65% stake and have anyone accept. Because if you do that, I guarantee you the first thing that will happen when the contract has been signed is a check will be presented to you with the words “congratulations, I’ve now bought out your share and own the entire company.”
The Shark on the end I couldn’t follow at all. First, he invites the two women with the crib liner to go outside to discuss the offers on the table (as if he’s the host of the show). But all the offers weren’t yet on the table! So when they come back in, he then makes his own offer and it’s 100,000…no wait, $150,000 more than they were asking for! WTF? Why would you do that? Don’t you care about what your investment is going to buy? What were they going to do with $350,000? What will they do with the extra $150,000 you’ve just thrown at them for no reason whatsoever? Aren’t these important questions to ask?
The Dragons wanted to make money. They all made it perfectly clear that this was a business decision and it was all about how much money they could make on the investment. OK, Fine. But you never got the feeling they were trying to fuck over the people presenting business ideas. With Shark Tank that’s all I was feeling. They didn’t care about the people or the business, it was just a matter of seeing who could effectively fuck over the naive people that came before them with the most assinine deal. “65% and you can be my employee?” Seriously? I’d have pissed on the guy’s shoes.
Yeah I enjoyed the first couple episodes, but last night’s was really dull. It’s getting boring always seeing the Sharks make offers of 50%. The people that come on have no negotiating power with them. The Sharks can say any figure they like and if the people are really in need of the money they end up taking the deal because the Sharks have no incentive to going lower. And another thing that is becoming tiresome is hearing them complain that if someone is just getting started and doesn’t have a lot of sales, then there business isn’t worth anything, yet if they have a lot of sales and are very successful they complain about why are they there asking for money.
I tried with the show as well, but the two “main sharks” (that being the two oldest men) have an arrogance and manner about them that would lead me to believe that they are the worst kind of people someone could possibly become financially involved with.
Two low-rent Donald Trump wannabes, with the bald one trying to create his own signature catchphrase by spouting “Money dosent have feelings” at every mollyfocking opportunity; this show wont be around much longer, so these Very Important Titans Of Industry can go back to being unknown rich people, like tens of thousands of others in this country…
On the other hand, last night had probably the first example in this series of a Shark going for less-than-controlling interest. The guys told her she was being too generous by asking for 40%, but of course she ended up with the deal. I expect, since the company is already selling through a major retailer, that she’ll have no trouble making more than $350K back on that one.
That’s what I came in here to mention; “You’re dead to me!” is about the stupidest catchphrase I have ever heard, and I would happily retort, “Good! At least one good thing came of this, asshole.” Can you imagine working with that arrogant butthead?! One of us would be dead in a month, and I know a guy in New Jersey…
Dragon’s Den (shown here on BBC America) is a bit better, but still the same dickheads, just with a British accent.
Granted, many of the people presenting their ideas are somewhat clueless, but it doesn’t help to watch these business people screw them out of percentages and try to rip them off. Makes me glad to see some big Wall Street investors losing millions.
[shrug], I have had the opposite reaction. Almost without exception every single person coming in has asked for HUGE amounts of money for companies making very small profits.
As just one example the 2 ladies who were marketing covers for baby play pens were asking for 350,000 for a 15% stake in their company. This would mean that they think their company is worth a little over 2.3 million dollars. Yet, last year their company only sold $200,000 worth of orders. With a 20% profit margin that would mean their company is making 40,000 dollars a year. You could invest the 2.3 Million in T-bills and get a better rate of return!
I consider the initial offer by the presenters to be a combination of shrewdness and naivity. Shrewdness because they know there’s going to be negotiation, so you start with your own lowball offer and see where things go. Naivity because most of them truly have no idea how to value a company or the potential for profit.
So yeah, you’re going to start off with 10% or 15% stakes because if you start with 40% you really just have nowhere to go. If I were on the show, I wouldn’t consider any deal above 50% to be an offer I’d even entertain unless my goal was to sell the company or get bought out. Another name for losing your controlling interest isn’t “investment.” It’s “hostile takeover.”
If you agree to it, it’s a friendly takeover. If they take majority control without the consent of the current majority owners, it’s a hostile takeover.
He stars in two ‘dragons den’ type shows, co-hosts another, hosts his own show and is a frequent commentator on others. You can call him arrogant, but he is not an unknown.
If you consider someone an unknown because he isn’t known in the USA, then yes, I guess he is.
As the thread is about a show airing on an American television network, I think it’s completely reasonable to consider someone who is not known in the USA as an unknown.
Are stay-at-home mothers capable of coming up with any ideas that have nothing to do with child rearing? They are a self-perpetuating market: coming up with inane ideas that get sold to other mothers who will buy anything if they think it will “aid their child’s development.” Kids are so smothered these days. We don’t need anymore of these products.