Article 01: Yatra swapna avasara prapnotihi!
यत्र स्वप्न अवसर प्राप्नोतिः।
Fancy this: You are a business owner and you need investment in your business either for expanding or for survival. Ok, so the obvious thing is to go to a few friends and ask for funds. What!? Did you mean you need hand-holding and support in strategizing your game plan? Umm hmm, you need a business partner — someone you could trust and rely upon. Shark Tank is the place where you seek investment and business advice from distinguished investors (sharks) who had been successful entrepreneurs. “Yatra pratibha avasara prapnotihi ” are the Sanskrit words engraved on the gold plated, most coveted trophy of the Indian Premier League (Cricket League). Analogous to those words is the title of this piece and it means “Where dreams meet opportunity!”. That’s what Shark Tank is!
Sharks had the gumption and conviction to make strides in their chosen businesses and they succeeded. Sharks are self-made millionaire and billionaire business tycoons. The idea of interacting with such personalities might sound intimidating; but whether you believe it or not, the sharks are actually there to take a chance at your proposals. Having invested in a variety of businesses, learning from their experiences (and other’s), the sharks have become large knowledge repositories on the topics of money, people, and industries. Interestingly, Sharks don’t only invest in ideas or businesses, they invest in people. Reading people for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is what they do. They read people and they tap into that talent pool.
When business owners dive in the tank, the conversation is like a gaze at a crystal ball. Just like the scientific community needs to publish papers to get a valuable critique which ultimately raises the quality of research. A businessman needs a shark who can provide a reality check, some tough love if you will, to make essential changes. Of course they say, Sales don’t lie but at times they do, and Sharks can see that through. They evaluate your product, service, and business and provide honest feedback that in turn raises the quality of doing business. It is not easy to find constructive criticism.
While Shark Tank is a lot about Sharks, it is also about the 9 million+ viewers who have the potential of being your eventual customers. One striking example of the power of Shark Tank is Jamie Siminoff. He pitched his video doorbell company, Ring (formerly Doorbot) in S05 E09 but couldn’t land a deal as the sharks found it too early to invest. He was later approached by Sir Richard Branson (Founder of the Virgin Group) for an investment opportunity. 5 years down the line, Siminoff sold his company to Amazon for over a Billion Dollars! The world is round. Come Season 10, Siminoff appeared as one of the Sharks on the show.
What Shark Tank has been doing over the years is to educate people about business, democratize the knowledge of pitches and business fundamentals. This in general has created awareness about the ever so interesting life in entrepreneurship! We observe that this has resulted in increased quality of pitches year on year, with a significant spike in the younger people taking to entrepreneurship. Businesses are about freedom, creativity, financial prudence and most importantly, about belief! Shark Tank is that rocket ship where you don’t ask which seat, you just get in. It’s the place where dreams truly meet opportunity, because sometimes, what you seek is seeking you!
By Ambarish Kulkarni & Sapna Patni.
This is our first in a series of articles on Shark Tank, where we try to deconstruct the pitches, business fundamentals, and the Sharks.
* Copyrights of all pictures are owned by ABC Studios and creators of Shark Tank. Authors do not claim any ownership of the pictures.
