PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: SHARK TANK: PURSUING THE AMERICAN DREAM IN PRIME TIME {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented at The Paley Center for Media in New York. This evening celebrates "Shark Tank," the reality series in which aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to established business experts, or "sharks," in the hopes of attaining a financial investment. Host Maureen Reidy (president and CEO, The Paley Center for Media) offers opening remarks and introduces a series of highlight from the series, including Sebastian Garcia and Raul Bernal's pitch for "The Lapel Project," a fashion accessory that instantly transforms an ordinary suit into a tuxedo.
After the clips, Arianna Huffington (founder, Huffington Post, and founder/CEO, Thrive Global) moderates the following panelists: executive producer Clay Newbill; and "sharks" Chris Sacca (proprietor, Lowercase Capital venture capital fund), Daymond John (founder/president/CEO, FUBU apparel company), Barbara Corcoran (founder, The Corcoran Group real estate company), and Mark Cuban (chairman, AXS TV, and owner, Landmark Theatres and the Dallas Mavericks basketball team).
The panelists touch on such topics as: what makes a good entrepreneur, including an ability to handle failure and a strong sense of confidence; the need to take "unreasonable" risks and believe in one's success as "inevitable"; Cuban's previous unsuccessful collaboration with Travis Kalanick, who then went on to found the highly successful Uber company; the importance of discussing one's failures, as described in John's book "The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage"; how Newbill and the other producers have learned about business from the show; presenting complex business principles in an accessible way for viewers; why one cannot "fake it 'til you make it" in the business world; balancing hard work with "fun days," and how the sharks manage their personal work habits and schedules; why their interest in their investees' success is "not altruistic"; debate about poorly-made products that somehow find great success, including the infamous "Scrub Daddy" from season four; how Sacca was "talked into" joining the series after Twitter fans reacted angrily to his assessment that the show was "hokey"; the process of editing long pitches down to short segments while maintaining a sense of authenticity; the sharks' need for "due diligence" before committing to a project; why the show is now a first choice for budding entrepreneurs, rather than a "last resort" for an investment; their camaraderie despite their competitiveness with one another; ideas for "raising the bar" in the new eighth season while staying true to the "beauty" of the show's simplicity; John's on-set engagement to fiancée Heather Taras; Newbill's inspiration from Jim Henson in creating a "family" amongst the cast and crew; and the show's behind-the-scenes statistics, including how 40,000 applicants are whittled down to 180 pitch presentations, roughly half of which are then given deals.
Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics, among others: debate about the positive and negative connotations of the term "opportunist"; the importance of "socially responsible values" to entrepreneurs and consumers under thirty-five; the show's popularity with young people and families; their attempts to bring much-needed balance to the racial and gender aspects of the business world; Corcoran's regrets about investing in "a good cheater app"; and debate about the best time to seek an investment in one's product, including the dangers of doing so too early and the advantages of being careful with one's limited funds.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: November 30, 1999 6:15 PM
- RUNNING TIME: N/A
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 127172
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Maureen Reidy … Host
- Arianna Huffington … Moderator
- Chris Sacca … Panelist
- Daymond John … Panelist
- Barbara Corcoran … Panelist
- Mark Cuban … Panelist
- Clay Newbill … Panelist
- Raul Bernal
- Sebastian Garcia
- Jim Henson
- Travis Kalanick
- Heather Taras