Shark Tank is an American business reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on ABC. The show is the American franchise of the international format Dragons' Den, which originated in Japan as Money Tigers in 2001. It shows entrepreneurs making business presentations to a panel of five venture capitalists (investors in start-ups) called "sharks" on the program, who decide whether to invest in their companies.
The series has been a ratings success in its time slot, winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Structured Reality Program four times (2014–2017) in the first four years of that category's existence. In 2012–13, it won Outstanding Reality Program.
Premise
The show features a panel of investors called "sharks," who decide whether to invest as entrepreneurs make business presentations on their company or product. The sharks often find weaknesses and faults in an entrepreneur's product, business model or valuation of their company. Some of the investors are usually kindhearted and try to soften the impact of rejection, like panel member Barbara Corcoran, while others such as Kevin O'Leary can be "brutal" and show "no patience even for tales of hardship". The sharks are paid as cast stars of the show, but a disclaimer at the start of each episode states the money they invest is their own. The same disclaimer also states that no offer of investment is being made to the viewer. The entrepreneur can make a handshake deal (gentleman's agreement) on the show if a panel member is interested. However, if all of the panel members opt out, the entrepreneur leaves empty-handed.
The show is said to portray "the drama of pitch meetings and the interaction between the entrepreneurs and tycoons". A pitch of around 45 minutes by a contestant is edited to about 11 minutes. As of 2018, approximately 35,000 to 40,000 entrepreneurs apply each season with about 1,000 advancing to the next step, 150 getting to pitch the sharks, and fewer than 100 making it on the air; most episodes contain four pitches per broadcast hour.
Post-show
Shark cast member Kevin O'Leary believes about 20% of the handshake deals made on the show are never executed due to the investors' due diligence process following the handshake deal, which includes product testing and examining the contestants' business and personal financials. Fellow shark Robert Herjavec believes that about 90% of those withdrawals come from the entrepreneur, in some cases due to only appearing on the program for publicity.
The show is often responsible for what has become known as the Shark Tank effect. Simply appearing on the show, even without getting an offer, has the potential to significantly boost sales for companies. Some entrepreneurs have reported 10- to 20-fold increases in daily revenues after the show's airing.
Cast
Sharks
Two of the show's longstanding sharks, Robert Herjavec and Kevin O'Leary, are Canadian entrepreneurs who had previously appeared on the Canadian version of the series titled Dragons' Den. Since 2023, Herjavec also appears on Shark Tank Australia.
Notable companies
Some notable companies that have appeared on Shark Tank include:
Bala Bangles
Bombas
Boost Oxygen
Breathometer
Coffee Meets Bagel
Doorbot, now known as Ring (acquired by Amazon) – first entrepreneur to appear as a (Guest) Shark EverlyWell Kodiak Cakes (did not reach a deal) Scan (acquired by Snapchat) Scrub Daddy Sleep Styler Groove Book (acquired by Shutterfly) Talbott Teas (acquired by Jamba Juice) Manscaped Plated (acquired by Albertsons) Moki DoorStep
Due to show popularity, companies have falsely advertised that they've appeared on Shark Tank when the air rate is 0.22% (88 aired of 40,000 applicants for 2018 season). A full list of companies that actually appeared on Shark Tank can be found on ABC's website, with cult following websites such as AllSharkTankProducts.com, SharkTankContestant.com, Sharkalytics.com, and SharkTankTales.com documenting details and products for all companies, and Gazette Review documenting episode recaps and updates on what happened "after Shark Tank".
Episodes
Timeline
Early seasons (2009–2013)
Shark Tank premiered in August 2009 and aired 14 episodes through January 2010. In August, it was renewed for a second season.