How ‘Shark Tank’ Taught Me To Be Myself In Business

by David Schwartz, founder and president of The Water Scrooge

By now, everyone’s familiar with ABC’s “Shark Tank”, the popular reality show in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to wealthy potential investors in hopes of a big break. It’s dramatic, fast-paced, and cutthroat; if you’re not prepared, you’re out before you know what happened.

I know because I took my company before the sharks, and I’ve returned to share what I learned with other business leaders and aspiring entrepreneurs.

Swimming With Sharks

The first thing I noticed about the show was its strict organization. The show’s directors had choreographed the experience so perfectly — they knew exactly when everything should happen and what it should look like. Sure, the show is about business, but it’s mainly about good TV.

When you go on the show, you stay on location for only a few days. You simply don’t have the time or opportunity to prepare as much as you might like. If you don’t have everything you need with you, be ready to improvise.

That’s precisely what happened during my time on set. I built a custom shower to demonstrate my product for the sharks, and because of the limited prep time, I got it working at only the last minute. Because of that complication, my pitch wasn’t as finely tuned as normal. Remember, “Shark Tank” isn’t a nice, pleasant meeting with jovial investors, and the sharks’ reactions are totally different from those you’d see during a real-life pitch.

Appearing in front of the sharks was a confusing experience. They began by asking a series of rapid-fire questions. I understand why, of course — they want to make sure the information you provide about your business is accurate and that you know it forward and backward.

They also gave me plenty of advice about how to pitch my business. They’re trained to talk to entrepreneurs of all stripes, so the information was generic and not that useful to me. And just when I thought we were about to discuss investing rather than pitching, one of the judges said something that stunned me: “Forget everything we said — just do your thing.”

Lessons From the Deep Sea

When the shark told me to ignore outside influences and make my own way, he could not have been more right, and it was the best lesson I took from the day.

As I said before, the show is predicated on making great television above all else. When you get in front of those sharks with the cameras on you and the lights shining bright, your business slips from the primary focus in your mind because you’ve been trained to hit on key points in your presentation.

Based on my experience in showbiz, if I could give entrepreneurs three pieces of advice about delivering a great pitch, they would be:

1. Be yourself.

You didn’t succeed until now by pretending to be someone else. Be the passionate person you are. Authenticity is a necessary building block for any entrepreneur.

2. Know your numbers.

Don’t try to convince smart investors that you’re worth their money just on the basis of your charming personality. Supply hard data so they can see you have a proven, effective strategy. Pitching your business to anyone — investors, buyers, or customers — requires being able to answer questions with supporting information in a rapid-fire environment.

3. Stick to the plan.

You know what your pitch needs to accomplish to be successful. In business, everybody has advice about what you should or shouldn’t do. You know your business best, so filter out the noise and tell others in your own words what makes your business great.

Was the experience worth it in the end? That’s hard to say. We spent about $6,000 to go on the show, all told, but we’re not sure yet whether our episode will air. It was a fun time, and perhaps the exposure it generates for our business will recoup our costs or catch the eye of another investor. Until then, we’ll just have to wait and see.

 

David Schwartz is the founder and president of Lynbrook, N.Y.-based The Water Scrooge, which offers maintenance-free, tamper-proof water conservation tools to landlords and homeowners.

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