5 Lessons I Learned From Appearing on Shark Tank

In November of 2012 I was blessed with the opportunity of a lifetime. I found out that our startup technology/fashion company (TieTry.com) would be featured in an episode of ABC's hit reality television show, Shark Tank. Though we had filmed the episode over the summer we still had not received word from the producers as to when (or even if) our episode would air. Due to our contractual obligations we were not able to tell friends and family the outcome of the show until it aired but, we did start immediately applying the lessons that we learned.

In fact, these lessons are still applied every day, and have been for the past 7 years, both for our own businesses, and those of our clients.

TieTry.com was the first online platform in the sharing economy to feature menswear. We were described throughout the media as the "Netflix of neckties." Our subscribers rented ties from us, kept them as long as they wanted, and sent them back as soon as they wanted, all for one low monthly price. At the time my business partner and I were full time attorneys who were both working TieTry as a side hustle. I walked away with a key lesson from each of the sharks!

1. Timing REALLY matters! Robert Herjavec was the first shark to engage with us after we finished our pitch. Though he liked the concept he thought we were there too early and didn't yet have enough sales or proof of concept. Robert was right! We filmed the episode in June of 2012 and the business was not even 8 months old at the time. My response to Robert - "Hey, this is the day y'all told us to be here. Just let me know what day you want us to come back." Though he smiled and laughed, with this - Robert was out. Timing is a crucial part of developing and growing any business. You can have a great idea at the wrong time and it will not flourish. Jeff Bezos couldn't have built Amazon into the monster it has become had the internet not been ripe for expansion. Similarly, because of the internet's boom many average ideas have created substantial revenue. Lesson #1 - Timing matters!
2. You can't sell to people who don't want to be sold! Next up was Barbara Corcoran. Barbara is known for her tough, New York City, personality and she came right at us. One of Barbara's first questions was, with an investment who would run the company? We said that I would quit my job to run TieTry full time. Barbara asked if I had a family and children. When I said that "yes I did," she immediately told me with no hesitation to quit this foolishness now and keep being an attorney, less I find myself homeless and my family living in a van. Ha! That was a direct way of approaching the conversation for sure. The great lesson here is that Barbara didn't see the vision. She wasn't interested in our numbers or how we intended to grow the business. Actually, I appreciated the candor. It's always easier to interact with someone who is an authentic version of themselves, and tells you what they're actually thinking rather than someone who placates you, and only tells you what they think you want to hear. I'm grateful for Barbara's authentic nature. Of course, with this - Barbara was out. Lesson #2 - Be grateful for authenticity and don't let it hurt your feelings. Not everyone wants/needs/ or believes in your business or product.
3. I'll give you part of what you're asking for IF . . . With two sharks down in the first 10 minutes things were not looking really spectacular, but we still had hope. After a brief back and forth on the concept and our personal backgrounds, Kevin O'Leary, Mr. Wonderful himself, came in with an offer . . . kind of. Kevin offered us 50% of what we were asking for IF we could get another shark on board. Kevin mentioned that he liked the concept, and thought we could execute the vision, but he didn't know enough about this particular space. Lesson #3 - There are people who will believe in you if there is third party validation. Sometimes people believe in you and your vision but they want a safety net! This also encompasses lessons 1 and 2. In 2012 the sharing economy was in its infancy, and there was a great deal of education that had to take place as to whether people would actually share consumer products. And, at least we authentically knew where Kevin stood. He was willing to back us, but he wasn't interested in leading the charge. With Kevin half in, and Robert and Barbara out, we turned our attention to Daymond and Marc.
4. Passion is a necessity! Throughout the first 30 or 40 minutes of the pitch Daymond Johns sat quietly. When he did finally speak, he dropped a hammer on us. Daymond said that he didn't see any passion and he didn't hear a single statement about the different types of materials, patterns, or styles of knots. We didn't have a passion for this business, and he rightly called us out on it. Of course, we didn't walk into the room thinking we weren't passionate about it. We were working full time jobs and spending an additional 40 hours a week on the side trying to build this business. We believed in the concept and we were confident we could make it work but we certainly did not have a passion for fashion. I tried to explain to Daymond that as our subscribers were "renting" ties, they too didn't have a passion for fashion, and that they just didn't want to be seen wearing the same 5 ties over and over again. Daymond would have none of it, and with that, he was out. Lesson #4 - If you're going to be successful you MUST be passionate or else you will not persevere when times get tough, and they ALWAYS do. Dr. Angela Duckworth wrote the best selling book GRIT, and in it she defines grit as the "unique combination of passion and perseverance." It's this definition that we apply every day to our own businesses and clients. In fact, we now make it a point to only work with clients when we can be passionate about them, their product, or the people who will benefit from their work. This helps guide our focus so that we can help them persevere when we all find ourselves at the bottom of the roller coaster.
5. THINK BIGGER! With 3 sharks down and 1 shark half in, our hopes rested on closing the deal with Mark Cuban. Though we wanted a deal with any of the sharks we thought Mark's technology background, and team, would be a major benefit for us as neither of us had a tech background, and we were attempting to implement a complicated technical solution. Mark asked a dozen varieties of similar questions surrounding our financial projections and customer acquisition costs. Of course, we were a very new company and most of these acquisition projections were just that. On the date of our recording we had acquired our subscribers through free press and earned media from the Today Show, NPR, Fox Business, USA Today, and many others. Once again, timing was working against us. After a 20 minute song and dance Mark finally asked the question that would open my eyes to the scale and scope of what could be accomplished. Mark wanted to know what would happen if we did a deal together and we just started crushing it . . . and making $20 million a year. To a kid from the Gulf Coast of Alabama that seemed like a fortune. I paused for what was likely just a moment, but in my brain felt like a lifetime. Before I could respond Mark jumped back in. He said, Scott, I'm not interested in investing in a $20 million company. I want to invest in a $200 million company. You have to think bigger. I'm out! Lesson #5 - if you're going to tackle all of the challenges and heartaches that come from starting a business do so with a massive vision of thinking bigger. Don't try and create good enough products or services. Create world class ones. Don't dream to be the best in your community, strive to be the very best version of yourself that is possible.

We then looked back to Kevin who without hesitation said "oooohhh, no more sharks left. You're dead to me. Get out!"

Bonus Lesson - My experience on Shark Tank brought me a number of opportunities, and I realize it was through good fortune that we were selected for the show. Though we didn't get a deal on the show we were able to leverage the millions of people who watched our episode to grow our subscriber base and sell to a group out of Manhattan just a few months later.

Too often I encounter entrepreneurs who say, "if I could just get on Shark Tank, and get funded, my business will explode." Unfortunately, the math tells us that appearing on Shark Tank is an extremely unlikely scenario. We can't rely on lucky breaks to build and grow our businesses. But, if we apply the lessons from the show we can continue to grow and thrive.

We have taken these lessons, and others, to create our own formula of G.R.I.T. By applying gratitude, relationships, innovation, and teamwork, we can increase our odds of successful outcomes. While success is never guaranteed we have found that when we build businesses with a foundation of gratitude we have a much better chance. And, when things don't go as planned, we'll forgive ourselves and our teammates and try again. Because, after all, you can't have innovation without failure.

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