Silicon Valley, February 5, 2016
Getting selected to air on TV’s hit show Shark Tank®, and actually getting a deal are two different animals, as they say.
There are businesses that get on the show, but don’t get a deal.
And there are many businesses worth of a deal, that never get on the show.
To complicate matters further, only a certain percentage of those who TAPE a show, actually get on the air.
Why does this matter? Because there are two ways Shark Tank® can explode your business:
- Get a deal with one or more sharks.
- Get massive national TV exposure to millions of potential buyers.
Of course, landing a deal gets you money, plus the wisdom and resources of a shark investor.
But many businesses that appear on the show have experienced a million dollars in sales 24 to 48 hours after airing. One even reported $10 million.
In return for what giving you what is essentially a free 13 minute infomercial, ABC network required you to give up a 5% royalty on gross sales in perpetuity, or 2% of net profits, whether or not you secured a deal. Thanks to Mark Cuban’s pressure on the network by threatening not to appear on the show, ABC caved and dropped this requirement.
Your Odds Stink
As shark investors ourselves, we watch and study every episode. We have obtained stats these stats:
- .02% of applicants are selected to tape a pitch episode.
- 40-50% of taped showed actually air
However, if you are selected to pitch, your chances are much better, because each shark makes an offer an avg. of 22 to 31% of the time, with an avg. of 2.34 offers made per pitch, and 48% of pitches end in a deal.
How to Improve Your Odds
- Submit a killer application. Make it CLEAR and CONCISE. Many good opportunities aren’t accepted because of T.M.E., or “Too Much Explaining”. After you write your answers, go back and figure out a way to say it with less words. Then do that about 10 more times. Remember, not all information has equal value, so rather than try to give them everything and drown out the gems, instead just give them all the gems. List things in bullet points phrases, not long grammatically perfect sentences. The producers have to sift though thousands of apps, so yours needs to STAND OUT. How are you and your business different or unique?Watching many of the past episodes on their website or youtube can help you prepare. Notice the trends. Listen for shark feedback, like if they hated or loved the presentation, and other praise or criticism.
- The show’s producers screen the applications the way investors do. They know what the sharks look for, because without offers and deals, there is no show. Therefore, you also need to know these 4 things:
- WHAT the sharks like to invest in most often.
- HOW MUCH equity their sweet spot is that attracts the most offers: Offer less than this %, and you risk no deal, no matter how good the business is. Offer more than this %, and you might be giving away too much.
- HOW MUCH money their sweet spot is for offers.
- HOW MUCH in annual sales has resulted in the most offers and deals.
You can get these key 4 Shark Tank® stats, and some others, by attending the free Business Funding Symposium 2016.
BFS 2016 is also a great place to practice your Shark Tank® pitch with seasoned Silicon Valley investors in your home city, and get valuable feedback to help you improve your odds of both getting on the show, and getting a deal.
Think of BFS 2016 as “Shark Tank® School”
The host of BFS 2016 is Manchester Capital Ventures based in Silicon Valley. They and all the other VCs, angel investors and lenders in attendance), want to fund as many businesses as possible in these 2 days, and they would be thrilled if you got on Shark Tank® and secured a deal, because then they will benefit too.
BFS 2016 is much like Shark Tank® in that you get to pitch to multiple investors, and when you present them a really good opportunity, they sometimes will start fighting over funding you. If you don’t attend BFS 2016, and you go off pitching investors solo like most business owners do, you’ll spend quiet a bit more time, and you won’t have the benefit of multiple sharks competing to fund you.
The Flow of Valuable Info Starts Today
When you register for BFS 2016 you will immediately receive via email a lot of extremely valuable and professional guidance for preparing your pitch, how to think like sharks do, and even get a copy of a template you can use.
A Prepared pitch + Pitch Practice + Expert Feedback = Way Better Odds
Whether you want to get on Shark Tank®, or just get funding ASAP, then we recommend checking out the Business Funding Symposium 2016. Since there probably isn’t a better chance of getting funded or help for getting on Shark Tank® anywhere else.
And we recommend that you register for BFS 2016 ASAP, because it’s free and fills up quickly, due to the small number of slots for businesses, which ensures everyone gets a chance to pitch, and isn’t rushed.
