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Lessons I Learned from Shark Tank

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Re: Lessons I Learned from Shark Tank

#21

Post by carbocation »

mirceagoia wrote: post #10
carbocation wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So would it be a fair paraphrase of his view to say that Mark Zuckerberg shouldn't have cared about the percentage of Facebook that he retained?

There are exceptions always, especially when an entrepreneur think he will do that thing his whole life (as Mark Zuckerberg is ought to do). If you are a first time entrepreneur and you have the mindset of "I like to start things, over and over again" then it's easy to give up larger chunks of your first company because you know you will come back to start another startup after a while. Serial entrepreneurs belong he…

Steve Jobs owned ~1% of AAPL shares vs Zuckerberg's much larger stake in Facebook. They are nearly on opposite ends of the spectrum of that particular spectrum.

Re: Lessons I Learned from Shark Tank

#22

Post by bipolarla »

I find it interesting that Barbara Corcoran had no money, was working as a waitress and used her boyfriends real estate license to start her business. I've witnessed many entrepreneurs start companies. There are many examples of people building huge businesses with nothing. I believe a show like this could help a contestant but for tv they want the most entertaining stories. I am excited that YCombinator takes a more serious and calculated way to figure out who they accept. I hope to meet some of you on these boards. Blake

Re: Lessons I Learned from Shark Tank

#23

Post by dsr_ »

> You just presented your product for 15 minutes on a nationally broadcasted TV show that will be re-aired at least two or three times and sell a ton of shows on itunes. That sort of advertising would cost about a million dollars or more.

Reality shows are about losing; game shows are about winning. But some people go into these shows with a completely different mindset: this is an interview and demo for the world, not for the on-show judges.

Top Chef players demonstrate how well they can run kitchens and work with people they didn't ask to hire and don't actually like.

Amazing Race players are usually demonstrating how well they can communicate and work effectively under severe stress in foreign countries. (If you're looking for a new overseas salesperson, look through a season of Amazing Race. You'll see what it takes to make them crack.)

Survivor players are either demonstrating team-leadership or diplomacy (defined as saying "nice doggy!" while picking up a rock). Choose carefully, there...

Re: Lessons I Learned from Shark Tank

#25

Post by waitwhat »

dotBen wrote: post #20

If you like Shark Tank, check out BBC's Dragon's Den (which the format is based on, and in turn, the BBC's format is based on a Japanese show of the same name). The BBC version seems a lot less "Hollywood", and admittedly a lot fewer deals are made. However the interaction tends to be a little more business orientated and the conclusions more valuable.

The Dragons' Den has always fundamentally been an entertainment show, but earlier seasons were excellent at also including bits of good, solid advice on how to launch and run a small company that the astute viewer could pick up on.

Later seasons dropped this, they go into the business side in less depth, and even the editing became lazy (you can predict who's going to get a deal when they walk in by just looking at your watch.)

Re: Lessons I Learned from Shark Tank

#26

Post by mirceagoia »

carbocation wrote: post #21
mirceagoia wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are exceptions always, especially when an entrepreneur think he will do that thing his whole life (as Mark Zuckerberg is ought to do). If you are a first time entrepreneur and you have the mindset of "I like to start things, over and over again" then it's easy to give up larger chunks of your first company because you know you will come back to start another startup after a while. Serial entrepreneurs belong he…

Steve Jobs owned ~1% of AAPL shares vs Zuckerberg's much larger stake in Facebook. They are nearly on opposite ends of the spectrum of that particular spectrum.

In the beginning they both owned a lot. And if it wouldn't be the luck of Sean Parker giving Zuckerberg his board seat and sided with him then Zuckerberg might have not been in charge at FB now (he would still own shares).

Re: Lessons I Learned from Shark Tank

#27

Post by wccrawford »

candeira wrote: post #11
mirceagoia wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, I have done that. I thought we are not to alter the original titles. Good to know...

I don't know the title posted originally, but I would say that "Lessons James Altucher learnt from Shark Tank" is arguably a better title, and one that's more faithful to the original article. If we read the pronoun "I" in a James Altucher penned column, it means something. If we read it on Hacker News, it means nothing. Dereferencing it should be ok.

It had '10 lessons' instead of just 'lessons', which is against the rules because of top-lists that are usually just garbage. If it can't stand on its own without a number, it's not worth posting.

Re: Lessons I Learned from Shark Tank

#28

Post by wccrawford »

Everyone has talked about the lessons in here and some of the other things to take away from this, but I haven't seen anyone talk about the fact that your teaching your children to open their eyes.

I think this is great, and I wish more people would teach critical thinking to their children.

Re: Lessons I Learned from Shark Tank

#29

Post by mjwalshe »

dotBen wrote: post #20

If you like Shark Tank, check out BBC's Dragon's Den (which the format is based on, and in turn, the BBC's format is based on a Japanese show of the same name). The BBC version seems a lot less "Hollywood", and admittedly a lot fewer deals are made. However the interaction tends to be a little more business orientated and the conclusions more valuable.

Having been at at some of the business shows where the BBC look for contestants - we even had the stand next to them one year.

They pick the contestants in terms whos the most loopy /and or will make the best TV.

And watching the live versions of Dragons Den they also did at some of these shows its brutally obvious that the Dragons are all property developers plus an accountant who got lucky and when they get a real high tech biotechstart-up pitching them the blank looks on their faces was priceless.

Re: Lessons I Learned from Shark Tank

#30

Post by a-priori »

carbocation wrote: post #21
mirceagoia wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are exceptions always, especially when an entrepreneur think he will do that thing his whole life (as Mark Zuckerberg is ought to do). If you are a first time entrepreneur and you have the mindset of "I like to start things, over and over again" then it's easy to give up larger chunks of your first company because you know you will come back to start another startup after a while. Serial entrepreneurs belong he…

Steve Jobs owned ~1% of AAPL shares vs Zuckerberg's much larger stake in Facebook. They are nearly on opposite ends of the spectrum of that particular spectrum.

At one point, when Steve Jobs was fired from Apple, he sold all but one share of Apple. So his 1% was the result of converting his NeXT shares, not original Apple shares.
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