Mark Cuban makes Shark Tank remove equity clause in contract • Hacker News Board

Re: Mark Cuban makes Shark Tank remove equity clause in contract

#51

Post by hayksaakian » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 5:05 PM UTC

nchuhoai wrote: post #45

I know everyone here is cheering for that move and inherently it probably is good. But what will inevitably happen is that we will see more people that come on the show for solely/mainly publicity reasons. We already see that happening right now occasionally when people ask for like 5% equity with clear objective or not making a deal with the sharks

Sure, but now that the show is well known, the producers probably have options to pick from among candidates.

So its at their discretion to allow so called "publicity whores"

Re: Mark Cuban makes Shark Tank remove equity clause in contract

#52

Post by contextual » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 5:23 PM UTC

FamousWarrior wrote: post #47

contextual wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having been on the Canadian Dragons' Den[1] to pitch my game Rejection Therapy[2], I can verify a lot of what you said. To add: the narrative and chronology of the exchange between contestant and the Dragons is sometimes manipulated, either to spice up the drama (let's face it, some contestants are boring) or create a more logical sequence of events or questioning. That said, there was lots of drama before and during…

Why can i not buy your game? :/

Not sure what you mean. Are you having problems with the purchase process?

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Re: Mark Cuban makes Shark Tank remove equity clause in contract

#53

Post by ahc » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 5:58 PM UTC

While I love Mark Cuban, this move is clearly not just out of the "goodness of his heart". He is a savvy investor. The production company (Finnmax) was receiving the equity stake, not the sharks. He rightly felt that the clause was limiting the quality of startups trying to get on the show. Now that he's used his leverage to get rid of it, he will get better opportunities to invest in.

He also gets the benefit of now seeming more entrepreneur friendly than the other sharks, which increases he chance of participating in deals.

Re: Mark Cuban makes Shark Tank remove equity clause in contract

#54

Post by mountaineer » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 6:00 PM UTC

lesterbuck wrote: post #46

Recently, the I Love Marketing podcast had an hour discussion with former-Shark Kevin Harrington: http://ilovemarketing.com/episode-118-the-one-with-kevin-har... Harrington details why he left the show, mainly because all the little deals were sucking his time and it would be a full time, low return occupation managing them. Apparently Barbara Corcoran now does nothing other than tend to her Shark Tank flock.

I watch the show regularly and I've heard Cuban mentions this nearly every time he says no. My time is what's valuable, etc. etc.

Re: Mark Cuban makes Shark Tank remove equity clause in contract

#55

Post by Zimahl » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 6:08 PM UTC

marcamillion wrote: post #9

I love this. Never knew this was a clause...glad he pushed for this. Mark really does seem like a stand up guy. Shark Tank sounds kinda 'fluffy' and I never paid it much attention for the first few seasons - but then I heard about a company that pitched and I was intrigued so I was searching through the episodes of one of the earlier seasons and I realized how awesome the show is. It is amazing to watch and see how q…

I knew about the 2%/5% but thought it was a pretty fair deal. The amount of advertising that this brings to a many of the companies on the show is worth a ton. Some of the food or plain merchandise companies where all the sharks passed have updates where their sales have grown enormously.

Re: Mark Cuban makes Shark Tank remove equity clause in contract

#56

Post by mindcrime » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 6:37 PM UTC

ck2 wrote: post #4

I know very little about him but this instantly makes me think he is a decent person at heart. (and retroactive too, nice detail)

I can't claim to know Mark, but I have met him once, and had a brief conversation with him. I also got to listen to his keynote at the event and see him interact with the rest of the people who mobbed him trying to get a word (or a pitch) in edgewise after his keynote.

My impression was very favorable, to be honest. I thought he seemed like a laid back, down to earth guy.. not at all like what I thought a billionaire would be like. He was just a guy in jeans and a polo shirt, hanging around in front of the stage talking with people. If you had not known who he was, there was no clue that he was ultra rich or a celebrity, other than the crowd milling around him.

FWIW, his response to our company idea was basically "sounds good, you just have to execute". :-)

Re: Mark Cuban makes Shark Tank remove equity clause in contract

#57

Post by rada » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 6:47 PM UTC

larrys wrote: post #37

Larrikin wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well the meetings are heavily cut, I remember reading that typically each of the pitches is atleast a couple of hours. The sharks have no information on the companies pitching before they walk in to the room, but I'm sure the producers do some home work to only let in entrepreneurs that will make for good TV. The sharks are all smart people so they know what to ask but its no where near a ten minute affair. All the d…

"but I'm sure the producers do some home work to only let in entrepreneurs that will make for good TV. " Also heavily favors attractive women particularly those with blond hair (I'm serious).

Oh really? "Heavily favors attractive women particularly those with blond hair"?

http://abc.go.com/shows/shark-tank/episode-guide?category=Se...

Looks the usual to me - mostly white guys, that is.

Re: Mark Cuban makes Shark Tank remove equity clause in contract

#58

Post by omnivore » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 7:04 PM UTC

contextual wrote: post #52

FamousWarrior wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why can i not buy your game? :/

Not sure what you mean. Are you having problems with the purchase process? Contact me via email and I'll get you a copy for free.

Glad I ran across this thread. Just the game I needed. Checking it out.

Re: Mark Cuban makes Shark Tank remove equity clause in contract

#59

Post by eponymous » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 7:32 PM UTC

I always suspected that ABC (or whoever) got equity in the companies, because they have (or used to have) a brief notice at the end of the show at the bottom of the screen with suggests that. But surely this must have tainted the whole process, because while an entrepreneur is considering a deal with the sharks, they would also have to take into account the equity they give away by just being a part of the show. I'm glad that's gone now.

It probably means though, that the entrepreneurs will be able to buy back the equity, or buy their way out of the profit sharing agreement, more than likely at the highest possible valuations. But at least there is a way out. And it's good to know that future contestants won't have that to deal with.

Re: Mark Cuban makes Shark Tank remove equity clause in contract

#60

Post by alttag » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 8:10 PM UTC

ahc wrote: post #53

While I love Mark Cuban, this move is clearly not just out of the "goodness of his heart". He is a savvy investor. The production company (Finnmax) was receiving the equity stake, not the sharks. He rightly felt that the clause was limiting the quality of startups trying to get on the show. Now that he's used his leverage to get rid of it, he will get better opportunities to invest in. He also gets the benefit of now…

Because surely, when self-interest and altruism align, the real cause must be self-interest.

In retrospect, that's an easy argument to make, but maybe there was some risk they'd accept his ultimatum and not bring him back for the second season?