Sep 05, 2013 SharkTank and Dragon’s Den
Lately, I’ve been on a pretty gnarly SharkTank and Dragon’s Den kick, where hopeful entrepreneurs get an opportunity to pitch their business to a panel of potential investors. The panels are sharp, direct, and, at times, incredibly insulting, but it’s the price these entrepreneurs pay for pitching on live television. Sounds like a pretty sweet gig to me: apply to go on the show, get accepted, pitch on live television, and get a massive amount of “free” publicity in a matter of minutes. If only…
According to this website: if you pause the end of the credits, you’ll see this notice: “SONY PICTURES TELEVISION, A DESIGNEE OF MARK BURNETT, AND ABC MAY RECEIVE EQUITY IN OR A SHARE OF REVENUES GENERATED BY THE BUSINESS INCLUDED IN THIS PROGRAM.” Long story short, the producers can either claim a 2% royalty in perpetuity of the company, OR a 5% equity interest in the business. Not bad for getting a massive amount of PR in return, but it just goes to show that nothing really ever is free.
Here’s one of my recent favorites from Dragon’s Den. Enjoy.