'Shark Tank': Top shocking moments on show from rejecting million dollars from sharks to chauvinism
While 'Shark Tank' might be unlike any other reality show, the popular entrepreneurial-based reality show has its own fair share of drama. The popular ABC show serves as the perfect platform for entrepreneurs to raise capital from investors, who are known as sharks. The entrepreneurs lay out their unique pitch to the sharks, with the hopes of raising some capital; while some pitches are full of interesting ideas that have sharks fighting amongst themselves to invest in the unique business opportunity, few other pitches, unfortunately, draw the attention for all the wrong reasons. But nevertheless, every episode of 'Shark Tank' has at least a few shocking moments that will leave you wondering, "what were the sharks even thinking?" As we eagerly await for the premiere of 'Shark Tank' season 12, we compiled some of the shocking moments from the previous season.
Mark Cuban's PSA service and advise against 'scam' weight-loss bar
Mark Cuban is definitely not an easy shark to please. His strict no-nonsense approach towards ideas and his outspoken personality can definitely hurt some pitches. One such pitch was by Barret Jacques and Carmichael, who were trying to raise $500,000 funding for their weight-loss snack bar called ‘MinusCal’. The presenters explained how their snack bar helps fight fat from entering the body through their "proprietary all-natural blend derived from fermented green tea” called "cholive", which according to them could also lower cholesterol. Although their publicity material clearly stated “weight loss” as one its claims, the presenters kept stating that it wouldn’t do much for weight-loss. The presenters themselves ended up confusing themselves with the science behind the product. This resulted in all the sharks backing out from investing in the venture, and Mark clearly told the audience not to buy the snack bars as he believed it to be a scam.
Couple rejects $1 million from sharks and walks away empty-handed
Deborah and Jonathan Torres, came on the show seeking an investment of $500,000 for a 10% stake in their company Atlas Monroe, which sells a vegan version of chicken wings. Despite the couple's confusing pitch which had confusing numbers, they managed to pique the interest of none other than Mark Cuban. Mark saw great potential in the company, so he roped in fellow shark - Rohan Oza, and together they both decided to invest $1 million in the company, in exchange for 10% in royalties, and 100% stake in the company. Most people would have grabbed the offer, but not Deborah and Jonathan. The couple politely declined the offer and decided to walk away without raising any capital from the sharks. The couple justified their decision by explaining, that they didn’t want to work for someone and would rather own their own company and work for it.
Sharks chase down entrepreneur duo into hallway to close deal outside of the tank
Season 11 of 'Shark Tank' featured a "first-time ever in the history of Shark Tank" moment when not one or two but four sharks chased an entrepreneur duo down the hallway to get the duo to accept their investment and closed a deal outside of the tank for the first time. Mikael Soderlindh and Marc Lickfett came on the show and pitched their in-mail knife sharpening enterprise - ‘Knife Aid’. The duo designed a system that makes it easy for the customers to get their knives sharpened without any hassles. The entrepreneurs came on the show seeking $400K for a 15% stake in the company. Four sharks -- Lori Greiner, Rohan Oza, Kevin O’Leary, and Barbara Corcoran -- were interested in getting a piece of the action. They fought each other’s offers and to get the entrepreneur duo to accept their offer. After an intense bidding-war, Rohan and Lori teamed up with an offer of $400 K for a 20% stake, while Kevin and Barbara made a joint offer of $500K for 20% stake. The entrepreneurs stepped aside into the hallway to make a decision. Lori who got impatient with the wait, walked down the hallway to convince the entrepreneurs to accept her offer, Kevin and the remaining sharks followed Lori’s suit and were in the hallway again bidding for their investment to be accepted. Finally, the duo shook hands with Lori and Rohan for a final offer of $500K for a 20% stake. A disappointed Kevin remarked that he would have gone an extra $100K to secure the deal.
Myostorm entrepreneurs snub Mark Cuban and Kevin O'Leary by rejecting their offer
While most times we see sharks playing hard to get and doling out investment offers on terms best favorable to them, occasionally we see tables flip, and the entrepreneurs instigating a bidding war of sorts between the sharks. On an episode of 'Shark Tank', entrepreneurs Jona Diperi, Shaquille Walker, and Jared Ward came on the show hoping to secure a deal from one of the sharks for their electric massage ball company- Myostorm. After explaining their product and demonstrating its unique properties of providing heat with vibrations, they ended up reeling in all the four sharks. They were seeking $150K for a 10% stake. Mark Cuban was the first one to jump up and put a time-bound offer on the entrepreneurs, by saying that if they chose to hear other sharks' offers then they wouldn't get a deal from him. The entrepreneurs took a smart risk of rejecting Mark's offer and hearing out the other sharks. Soon, Lori and Kevin got into a bidding war of sorts, and made similar offers. The Myostorm trio surprised everybody by choosing to accept Lori's offer, despite Kevin making the same offer before Lori. The snub by the entrepreneurs definitely didn't sit well with Kevin and Mark, while Lori was over the moon on securing the deal!
Lori calls out a 'chauvinist' entrepreneur
When Dr, Sarath Malepati came on the show to pitch his five-day immune support pack called EZC Pak, little did he know what was awaiting him. As Malepati made his pitch explaining how the doctors prescribed a lot more antibiotics than needed owing to consumer preference and thus compromised the health of the patients, Mark Cuban wasn't convinced with the pitch, and kept interrupting it saying the product wouldn't work. Mark's criticism seemed to have gotten under Malepati's skin, who went out of his way trying to convince Mark about his product. Unfortunately, he did it at the cost of offending the other sharks who were interested in the product. Lori Greiner, was intirgued by the product and wanted some clarification from Dr, Malepati about it, but Malepati not only ignored Lori, but also refused to make eye-contact with her or even engage in a discussion with her, but instead kept looking at Mark and trying to capture his attention.
'Shark Tank' Season 12 premiers on Friday, October 16, at 8/7c only on ABC.