Startup Founders Can Learn From Reality Television

As an advisor to entrepreneurs and active angel investor, I often get questions about the realism of the Shark Tank TV series, compared to professional investor negotiations. The simple answer is that with all the staging of TV lights and billionaire investors, it’s nothing like Silicon Valley. Yet the process is eerily realistic, and every entrepreneur can glean some important lessons.

Here are eight key points that I believe should be taken from the show by every startup founder looking for investors in real life, across the range of venture capitalists, angel investors, or even friends and family:

1. You will be judged first as a person, then by your idea. If you’ve watched the show, I’m sure you remember entrepreneurs who appeared doomed by their presence, almost before they started. Others with the right confidence and personality were able to garner funding, despite a weak business plan. Investors invest in people, more than ideas.

2. Grab investor attention in the first couple of minutes. Skip the background story and customer pitch, which every investor has heard all too often. Investors want to hear a quantified problem, a simple solution description, opportunity size, competition, traction, team qualifications, how much money you need, and what equity you are willing to give.

3. Personalize your presentation, if possible, for every investor. Smart Shark Tank presenters have done their homework on each investor, and customize their sample product or anecdote for each. In a more general sense, find out as much as you can about every group and person you address, and tune your pitch ahead of time to match.

4. There is no substitute for knowing your business. We have all seen the entrepreneur who believes that passion and emotion will overcome all investor objections and requests for answers. The most common failures on the show, and in real life, are people who don’t know their margins, cost of customer acquisition, channels, or other key data.

5. Dress to impress and be credible to investors. A colorful costume may catch TV viewer attention, but may hurt your image and turn off investors. Remember that most business investors are from an era where sandals and frayed jeans were not associated with hard work and business success. Exceed the expectations of the investor.

6. Keep calm, and never get defensive when questioned. Entrepreneurs who interrupt investor questions, or show a temper, will quickly lose investor respect, and likely lose the deal. Be sure to pose your counterpoints as clarifications rather than disagreements. Agree to evaluate investor views on subjective issues, rather than just dismissing them.

7. The value of an investor goes far beyond cash. Many entrepreneurs feel that investor money is all green, and thus the same. On Shark Tank, you can easily see that some people need Lori and QVC, while others need Damon and his apparel connections. Investor knowledge and experience routinely have more value than the money.

8. The initial outcome is the beginning, not the end. All handshakes in investor forums, or on the show, are subject to follow-on due diligence reviews. According to reports, the investors on Shark Tank close as little as one-third of the deals you see them make on the show. On the other hand, many who don’t get an initial deal win later through good visibility and connections. Based on my experience, both of these are also true in real life.