What is Shark Tank About?

From Mark Burnett, executive producer of Survivor and The Apprentice, and Sony Pictures Television, comes Shark Tank, an exciting, new reality show that gives budding entrepreneurs the chance to make their dreams come true and become successful — and possibly wealthy — business people. But the entrepreneurs must first try to convince five tough, multi-millionaire tycoons to part with their own hard-earned cash and give them the funding they need to jumpstart their ideas.

In these trying economic times, it’s difficult for an individual possessing a dream or even a working small business poised for growth to get a loan for a risky venture. Whether it be an imaginative enhancement for an existing product, a family recipe that has all the ingredients to become a profitable culinary treat, or the latest technological gadget that could take the world by storm, most of these dreams die an early death because no one dared take a financial chance on someone with an unproven and oftentimes outrageous proposal. Many of these people now see Shark Tank as their last chance at success. Some have been laboring on their ideas for years or even decades, have invested large amounts of money, and are being pressured to throw in the towel by friends and family. Others have simply never had access to the means to live out their dreams, until now. Enter the Sharks of Shark Tank — five multi-millionaires who lifted themselves up by their bootstraps to make their own entrepreneurial dreams come true and turned their ideas into empires.

Each week, ambitious entrepreneurs from across the country will present their breakthrough business concepts, products, properties and services to the panel of ruthless investors. Their goal is to convince these merciless moguls to invest their own dollars in the concept. Convincing real-life millionaires to part with their own money is no easy task, because when the idea is poor, the Sharks will tear into the ill-prepared presenters and pass on the idea with a simple, “I’m out!” — sending them running for the exit.

But these Sharks aren’t just out for blood, they too have a goal: to own a piece of the next big idea. Entrepreneurs will be asked to give up a percentage of their companies’ equity to the Sharks in order to get the investment they need. But when the Sharks hear a really top-notch idea, and more than one of them wants to sink their teeth into it, a war between them will erupt. Then the once-desperate entrepreneur can rejoice when the Sharks reveal their true interest in the product and bid up the price of the investment.

The Sharks of Shark Tank are:

Barbara Corcoran
Kevin Harrington
Robert Herjavec
Daymond John
Kevin O’Leary

Barbara Corcoran
Barbara Corcoran’s credentials include straight D’s in high school and college and 20 jobs by the time she turned 23. It was her next job, however, that would make her one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country, when she borrowed $1,000 from her boyfriend and quit her job as a waitress to start a tiny real estate company in New York City. Over the next 25 years, she’d parlay that $1,000 loan into a five-billion-dollar real estate business and the largest and best known brand in the business. As a speaker, Barbara brings her front-lines experience and infectious energy to each person in the audience. They laugh, cry and learn how to become more successful. Motivational, inspirational, and sometimes outrageous, Barbara Corcoran’s tell-it-like-it-is attitude is a refreshing approach to success. Barbara is the author of If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails, an unlikely business book that has become a national best-seller. She credits her struggles in school and her mother’s kitchen-table wisdom for her innovation and huge success in the business world. The book is a fresh, frank look at how to succeed in life and business and is as heartwarming as it is smart and motivating. Barbara is the popular real estate contributor for the Today Show and CNBC. She writes a weekly real estate column for the Daily News and monthly columns for MORE Magazine and Redbook. Springboard Press released Barbaras second book, Nextville: Amazing Places to Live the Rest of Your Life, last spring, to amazing reviews.

Kevin Harrington
Kevin Harrington, CEO of TVGoods.com, LLC and co-founder of OmniReliant Holdings, Inc., is widely acknowledged as the pioneer and principal architect of the “infomercial” industry. 2009 marks the 25th year since Harrington produced the industry’s first infomercial; with milestones of over 500 product launches resulting in sales of over $ 4 billion worldwide and 20 products reaching individual sales of over $100 million — creating dozens of millionaires. Harrington’s first company, Quantum International, started in the mid-80′s and merged into National Media in 1991.That grew into $500 million in annual sales with distribution in over 100 countries in 20 languages. Additional entrepreneurial startups included ventures with HSN, Inc. (HSN Direct) and Reliant International; selling the latter to the Koo banking family of Taiwan in 2006. That same year, Harrington co-founded TVGoods.com and Omni Reliant Holdings, raising over $17 million in equity investment capital from a NY hedge fund. The firm recently purchased the controlling stake in Tampa Bay’s premiere production facility, OmniComm Studios, Harrington’s present office location — a 33,000 square foot film studio on 5.4 acres in Clearwater, Florida. Harrington’s philanthropy established two important global networking associations — the Entrepreneur’s Organization (E.O.) and the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA).

Robert Herjavec
Robert Herjavec has lived the classic “rags to riches” story. The son of Croatian immigrants, he earned his incredible wealth by overcoming the odds with pure hard work and intuition. He remembers how his mother, who could barely speak English, lost the family savings to a smooth talking vacuum salesman. Since then, Robert vowed he would never let his family be taken advantage of again. In the early ’90′s, Robert eked out a living waiting tables at a posh Yorkville restaurant. During the initial stages of the dot com craze, he realized that technology was the ticket to serious money. By night, he launched BRAK systems, his first technology company. BRAK soon became Canada’s top provider of Internet security software, worth a reported $100 million dollars. Robert sold his company to AT&T in 2000. But that was only the start. He then helped negotiate the sale of another technology company to Nokia for $225 million dollars. Instead of retiring with his cash, Robert now heads The Herjavec Group, listed as one of Canada’s leading and fastest growing IT security and infrastructure integration firms. His palatial 50,000 square foot Bridle Path mansion hosts luminaries like Michael Bublé and Mick Jagger. For thrills, Robert jets to a private island near Miami or cruises Yorkville in one of his many luxury cars.

Daymond John
Daymond John’s creative vision helped revolutionize the sportswear industry in the 1990s. As founder, president and chief executive officer of FUBU–”For Us, By Us”–John created distinctive and fashionable sportswear and a host of other related gear. FUBU’s phenomenal success made mainstream apparel companies realize the potential for fashionable sportswear that appeals not just to trendsetting urban youth, but to mainstream teens, as well. John was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn but spent his childhood in the Hollis neighborhood of Queens during the 1970s. An only child, John grew up in a single-parent household headed by his mother, who was a flight attendant for American Airlines but often held more than one job at a time. His first foray into the apparel market came when he wanted a tie-top hat and was put off by the price. John asked his mother to teach him how to use a sewing machine, and he began making the distinctive tie-top hats in the morning and then selling them on the streets of Queens in the evening hours. One day in 1992, he and his friend sold $800 worth of hats and realized their ideas had definite potential. They created a distinctive logo and began sewing the FUBU logo on hockey jerseys, sweatshirts and t-shirts. John lured some longtime friends into the business and asked old neighborhood friend L.L. Cool J. to wear a t-shirt in a photograph for a FUBU promotional campaign in 1993. John and his mother mortgaged the home they collectively owned for the $100,000 in start-up capital. Even more amazingly, she then moved out so the quartet could use the home as a makeshift factory and office space. FUBU officially emerged in 1994 when John and his partners traveled to an industry trade show in Las Vegas. Buyers liked the distinctively cut, vibrantly colored sportswear, and John and his partners returned to Queens with $300,000 worth of orders. FUBU soon had a contract with the New York City-based department store chain Macy’s, and they began expanding their line to include jeans and outerwear. A distribution deal with Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung allowed their designs to be manufactured and delivered on a massive scale. As CEO and president, John guided FUBU to a staggering $350 million in revenues in 1998, placing it in the same stratosphere as such designer sportswear labels as Donna Karan New York and Tommy Hilfiger. Over the last 16 years, John has evolved into more than a fashion mogul. In 2007 the street-smart businessman penned his first book, Display of Power: How FUBU Changed a World of Fashion, Branding & Lifestyle,which was named one of the best business books of 2007 by the Library Journal. Known as the Godfather of Urban Fashion, Daymond is regarded as one of the most sought-after branding experts and keynote speakers in fashion and business today. With multiple business ventures on his resume, John can be seen sharing his knowledge and business genius on numerous business and entertainment television programs.

Kevin O’Leary
Kevin O’Leary is opinionated, ruthless, hungers for big deals and loves to take control, yet he made his millions helping children learn how to read. Kevin’s success story starts where most entrepreneurs begin: with a big idea and zero cash. From his basement, he launched SoftKey Software Products. As sales took off, Kevin moved to headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts and went on an industry consolidating acquisition binge. From 1995 to 1999 he bought almost every one of his software competitors, including Mindscape, Broderbund and the Learning Company in the industry’s first vicious public hostile battle. Shareholders love his take-no-prisoners cost cutting style and fueled him with billions to do his deals. In 1999 Kevin sold his company to the Mattel Toy Company for a staggering 3.7 billion dollars, one of the largest deals ever done in the consumer software industry. To keep his money working hard, Kevin took control of his wealth from his lackluster money managers and founded his own mutual fund company, O’Leary Funds. He raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors who share his “get paid while you wait” yield oriented value investing philosophy. He shares his tips and tribulations with a national television audience and turns the Street upside down in the process. As a self-proclaimed “Eco-preneur,” Kevin looks hardest for investments that make money — and are environmentally friendly. When he’s not squeezing the market from his office in West Palm Beach, he travels the world looking for new opportunities to deploy his capital. He is a founding investor and director of Stream Global, an international business outsourcing company. Kevin is on the investment committee of Boston’s prestigious 200-year-old Hamilton Trust, and is the Chairman of O’Leary Funds. He also serves on the executive board of The Richard Ivey School of Business. Kevin escapes on weekends with his family to his luxurious cottage that spreads over prime Canadian wilderness on the shore of an ancient glacial lake.

Mark Burnett, Clay Newbill and Phil Gurin are the executive producers of Shark Tank, based on the Japanese Dragons’ Den format created by Nippon Television Network Corporation. The series is from Sony Pictures Television.

Check all the info on How to audition for Shark Tank

The producers of the new ABC reality series Shark Tankare on a nationwide search to discover the next successful – and possibly wealthy – entrepreneurs, inventors, businesspersons, dreamers, promoters, creators and innovators. In each episode, budding entrepreneurs are given the unprecedented chance to make their business ideas come true. The show will premiere over the summer following the special 10th anniversary primetime return of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

If you feel you have a lucrative business idea but just can’t seem to secure the financial backing to get it off the ground, then Shark Tank is just the show for you. Casting is looking for aspiring entrepreneurs who can pitch their breakthrough business concepts, products, properties and services to moguls in hopes of landing investment funds. If selected, five real-life, tough investors could be willing to part with their own hard-earned cash and give you the funding you need to jumpstart your idea. But the investors, also known as Sharks, aren’t just out to invest; they too have a goal — to own a piece of your next big idea.

There are two ways to apply for your chance to enter the Shark Tank and see if your idea survives:

IMPORTANT NOTICE – IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THE FOLLOWING DO NOT APPLY:

By making an email submission, you acknowledge and agree that you are making a submission solely for purposes of being considered by Mark Burnett Productions, Inc., Sony Pictures Television, Inc., American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. and their respective affiliated or related entities (collectively “Shark Tank Entities”) to be a participant on Shark Tank and will not receive any compensation or credit for making a submission. BY MAKING AN EMAIL SUBMISSION, YOU ARE ACCEPTING AND AGREEING TO THE ABC.COM TERMS OF USE . You understand that your email submission is not confidential nor submitted in confidence or trust and no confidential or fiduciary relationship is intended or created by making an email submission. You understand that the Shark Tank Entities are diversified companies who may possess or come to possess information similar or identical to information contained in your email submission, and you agree that any such similarity or identity shall not give rise to any claim or entitlement, whether for compensation, credit or otherwise. By making an email submission, you hereby release the Shark Tank Entities and their respective directors, officers, shareholders, employees, and licensees from any and all claims relating to your email submission, including without limitation arising from the risk of misdirection or misdelivery of your email.

Be sure to include your name, age, contact info, a recent photo (no larger than 1 MB) and a brief description of your idea.

You can also apply by attending one of our Open Calls. This is your opportunity to meet face to face with the Shark Tank Casting Teams. Bring your completed application and arrive early. Click here to download the application for the Open Calls. Be advised that security may check your bag and you are responsible for your own parking. We do not validate.

OPEN CALL INFO:

ORLANDO
THURSDAY, JUNE 11TH
Sheraton Hotel Orlando Downtown
60 S. Ivanhoe Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32804
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

NEW YORK
SATURDAY, JUNE 13TH
Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge
333 Adams St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

CHICAGO
SATURDAY, JUNE 13TH
Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown/Lakefront
511 N. Columbus Dr.
Chicago, IL 60611
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Your business idea should be top-notch and something the Sharks will really want to sink their teeth into and might even spark a bidding war between them. Who knows – you could be the fortunate entrepreneur who gets the Sharks to reveal the true level of their interest and bid up the price of your investment!