Kube

Do they really invest their own money?

Or is it against their salary for being on the show?

How does it work?

Does ABC also get a portion of future sales...as they do give these businesses a plug.

whotony

Yes.

Deftones

ABC doesn't get anything, but the production company that owns the show gets a percentage of each business that is on the show. I read it used to be 2.5%, now I think it is 5%.

JuryDuty

Here's an excellent article that talks a bit about the behind-the-scenes part of Shark Tank: http://www.success.com/articles/1661...the-shark-tank

What's most interesting to me is that it says the producers coach the pitchers to make sure they have the strongest pitch possible, know all their numbers, etc. Given that, it's amazing how little some people still bring to the table.

I've also read that just about everyone who pitches something on Shark Tank gets investor calls after the show. In other words, if you can just get on the show, you'll likely get funded even if the sharks aren't interested. But also, the sharks have "outs" after the TV deal is made. If facts and figures don't add up, they can jump ship even though on film it looks like it's a go.

Crocker Jarmen

It's the same for the Canadian version of the show, called Dragon's Den. They did one show following up on various people who had made a deal on the show for investment, and the majority of them never wound up going through with the deal, there was alwasy some problem where either they or the dragon/shark walked away.

AVP77

I've watched a bit of Dragon's Den, and I started getting the impression that a lot of the pitches looked at it more as a 10-minute commercial for their business, rather than an honest attempt to get investors - from a lot of numbers they talk about, the more successful businesses would seem to be be much better off just getting a loan rather than wanting to sell off 50% or so of their business.

And yeah, most of the 'deals' that get done on the show don't go through after the details are looked at. Another "reality" show that doesn't have that much reality.

PopcornTreeCt

I kinda hate how some of the guys treat the people on the show. Especially, the bald guy whose names escapes me right now. He did, what, created a software that a big company bought from him for tons of money. That's not making your own business, it's winning the lottery. Same goes for Cuban but he actually comes off less douchy than the other guy.

GuessWho

He doesn't have a name -- it's just "Mr Wonderful"

islandclaws

I love Mr. Wonderful. He knows the real world is a meat grinder, and he doesn't sugar coat it a single bit.

spainlinx0

I gained a lot of respect for Robert during a promotional interview he had on a radio show I listen to. He seemed like a genuine nice guy. He actually has very little respect for people like Mr. Wonderful and his type of businessman in general. He doesn't feel like they contribute to the economy in a positive way.

spainlinx0

I would say this show is very realistic as a reality show. From the description in that article I would say it's actually very close to what happens. So some deals don't go through because the people on lie about something doesn't change that for me. In the real world they would know they were lying because they would research the company/product before and after.