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Shark Tank Australia.

Gingerbread Demon

Yelling at the Vorlons
Premium Member
Well it starts next week on the 20th and I was wondering if people didn't mind if I started a thread to discuss the show week to week?

I'm wondering how does our version also compare to versions in other countries.
 
Well, I might be biased, but I think the Canadian version (Dragon's Den) is best, which itself uses the UK name. I think the American version of Shark Tank was made due to the overwhelming success of the Canadian version. There is also some overlap, as two of Shark Tank's hosts, Kevin O'Leary and Robert Herjavic were former Dragons on the Canadian version and there's even been a bit of a crossover with Mark Cuban appearing on Dragon's Den.
 
Well, I might be biased, but I think the Canadian version (Dragon's Den) is best, which itself uses the UK name. I think the American version of Shark Tank was made due to the overwhelming success of the Canadian version. There is also some overlap, as two of Shark Tank's hosts, Kevin O'Leary and Robert Herjavic were former Dragons on the Canadian version and there's even been a bit of a crossover with Mark Cuban appearing on Dragon's Den.

So Dragon's Den is basically the same show with a name change. But what about the various business ideas / inventions on the shows? Are they often any good?
 
Some of them are very good, even good ideas that end up being big successes. Some of them are so unique that they fill a niche. For example, on the Canadian version, four local women pitched their idea of mining/industrial wear for women as there was nothing for women on the market. They searched and they searched but were disappointed when they couldn't find any and got to work in designing something to fit their needs. If I remember correctly, all 5 dragons signed up on that one and they've been very high in demand ever since. So, when things go right, it can be a very entertaining and educational show.

Some of the successes can be little more than gimmicks. For example, a product to protect bananas and other fruits by putting them in hard plastic shells.
 
Oh, I'm sure you will. There will even be laughing stocks that are good for comic relief. There's a classic episode where a Canadian woman pitches her marijuana macaroon cookie business to the dragons. I'm sure you'll enjoy the show. It's one of my favourites.
 
Oh, I'm sure you will. There will even be laughing stocks that are good for comic relief. There's a classic episode where a Canadian woman pitches her marijuana macaroon cookie business to the dragons. I'm sure you'll enjoy the show. It's one of my favourites.

OMFG I would have died laughing at that one...

marijuana oil seems to be good for people. It's legal in a lot of parts of the world even here now but the catch 22 is this, yes it's legal but no one is supplying it for purchase.
 
Yeah, it's legal for medical reasons in Canada but presenting it as a business opportunity... You could see why they laughed her out of the den. None of them wanted to touch that with a 10 foot pole. The woman looked like she had eaten some before her pitch too. Totally loopy and goes down as one of the worst pitches of the show.
 
In case anyone was curious here is her pitch. I found it.

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Contestant 1.

Tonight is the first episode of Shark Tank Australia.

The first entry are three doctors who have created an app for patient care. It's an app to do with cancer care.

Their product is called Canceraid. It's an app. Bascially an app to organise treatments, symptoms and the day to day life of someone with cancer so that they can keep track of things. I think it was a good idea.

So far there seems to be mixed interest in their product.

Four of the sharks have made bids Steve Baxter the tech oriented shark dropped out of the bidding and then he later jumped back into it. The four sharks that have made offers offered $500,000 for 10% but the three doctors who have made this are now in debate themselves.

Steve now is back into the bidding. This is funny. It's funny when a shark says they want to be out then jump right back into a deal when they think they might have a chance of winning the deal. I think that was what was going on here.

In the end they did make a deal with I think Andrew, as I had missed the last part of the segment.
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So far the show has been quite entertaining.

Contestant 2.

OMG. OK this guy is wanting to market a system that can make a 3D copy of you after scanning you into its 3D printed system. I'm not sure how this would work or if it would even be that popular. OK this guy it seems hasn't really done his homework. Naomi says she's out because she just doens't seem clear on the idea. I'm not sure how I feel about this idea. I think if anything it's more a novelty then anything really useful. So you end out with a 3D model of yourself, or a pet, or something elst that you bring in to get scanned. The beauty of the models though is that they are painted to match the originals in some way so it's not just a raw 3D model that comes out of a printer.

And with that the sharks have all dropped out. Bye bye dude. They didn't at all seem that enthused.
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Contestant 3.

He has created a system for automated sorting of resumes. He wants $200,000 for 2%.

Basically a system of information agregation using a storage of people's resumes via picking out the items that employers are looking for, from whatever criteria they are looking for. In asking about his experience it seems to be a little spotty. So far he has 5 people using his product but that's in closed testing.

So he doesn't really want anyone to invest in his idea, but rather he wants to make a very quick profit out of his idea, then flip it to someone else for profit. That sounds kind of scary.
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Contestant 4.

The granny with a yummy business idea. She's making breads and other items specially made for celiacs.

She's looking for an investment of $350,000 for 10%.

In the last financial year she has had a turnover of $1000,000,000 per year. But she feels that if she was to take on more work she would not be able to handle it all by herself and is seeking a shark to help her with running her business on a wider scale. Naomi seems to be a good fit for her. In the end I think it was good that she took her offer as she is old and said herself she wouldn't be able to cope.

Naomi has made her an offer, but for 25% of the business.
She has decided to take Naomi's offer.
 
Steve now is back into the bidding. This is funny. It's funny when a shark says they want to be out then jump right back into a deal when they think they might have a chance of winning the deal. I think that was what was going on here.

This is something that you'll see from time to time. From my time watching Dragon's Den, there will sometimes be a dragon that goes out, but if the pitch proves popular enough with the others, will throw his hat back into the ring as long as they can make a deal with all of them. If an idea is really good, you'll see them dealing amongst themselves which is when the show can be at its best as it can be inspiring. You'll also see the opposite when none other than 1 of them decides to go for it if a pitch is bad enough, but the investor believes in the idea. Then the rest of them will turn around and call them crazy and berate them for doing that.
 
This is something that you'll see from time to time. From my time watching Dragon's Den, there will sometimes be a dragon that goes out, but if the pitch proves popular enough with the others, will throw his hat back into the ring as long as they can make a deal with all of them. If an idea is really good, you'll see them dealing amongst themselves which is when the show can be at its best as it can be inspiring. You'll also see the opposite when none other than 1 of them decides to go for it if a pitch is bad enough, but the investor believes in the idea. Then the rest of them will turn around and call them crazy and berate them for doing that.

I think that happened with the 3D cloning idea. The guy didn't seem to have a clue.
 
Yeah, you'll see a lot of those kinds of pitches. I guarantee you there'll be at least one per episode. Sometimes there are some good ideas with bad pitches, where sometimes they get completely shut out. You'll sometimes see the hearts of the investors go out for these people if they like the idea enough. But sometimes the pitch is so bad and the pitcher simply hasn't prepared very well. In this case, you'll often seen the dragons/sharks berate them for not doing proper research and wasting their time.

Then there's the odd time when someone will actually pitch something that's already been done. I kind of feel for those people, because if the idea's already been done, then it's likely a good idea. There was actually one time recently where someone pitched a product to the Dragons that turned out to be very similar to something that had already been pitched to them, and the dragons told them that, but surprisingly instead of turning them down, one of them went for it, essentially becoming a competitor to the previous product/investor, and they were in that same room...

Dragon's Den here has been successful and long-running now, It was in its 4th or 5th season, I think, when the Shark Tank in the US started, and next season will be its 12th.. Since then we've had a lot of special episodes such as family episodes in which whole families appear to pitch their businesses, student episodes, second chance episodes in which previous unsuccessful inventors try again with different ideas to pitch, sometimes successful, sometimes not. There are also update episodes from time to time where they go back to previous investments or those that ended up getting backing through some other means and update the viewers on how they're doing with their businesses. So, it's a really interesting show that has a lot of merit.
 
LOL I just had this rather humorous thought of someone on one of these shows doing a pitch for a working transporter. :D

"OK can I have a volunteer?"
 
Tonight was a weird show.

First up are two people who have a fashion label that needs some investment.

They claim to have had thousands of orders and interest from people like Kylie Jenner and other celebrities. It's good when you can namedrop lol. Their company is called Generation Outcast Clothing. I found both of them kind of engaging but the sharks didn't and this I find is the problem with this show because what we see of the presentations is often a very edited down version of what went on. I felt like there was some disconnect and missing information on why everyone seemed to not be that interested in their idea. At least that's how I read the segment.

None of the sharks offered to make a deal.
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Next two guys who have a unique kind of idea. A bag that can become a hammock, and a carry bag.

They want $45,000 for 12.5% of their business. They have presold 50 units but don't have current stock. OK all the sharks seem to have bowed out. Not surprised. One is left and he thinks they have a market with teenagers, but at the last moment it seems he bowed out as well.
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Next up is a couple who have made a device that they think will help save the Barrier Reef.
Their invention is a devic that can pick up a boat anchor without damagine the reef on the surface or ground. They are looking for $200,000 for 20% of their business.

The sharks are concerned with the price of the device as it stands being a bit of a hindrance to making more sales. WOW this looks like another no sale. But after some agonizing it seems they did get some kind of deal.

OK they got a deal. One of the sharks offered to buy the business for 100% for 5% royalty to the inventors. The risky side of the deal as presented is that they let their patent lag a bit, and they have only three years left on their patent. I think they'd have been more enthusiastic from the get go had they not let their patent almost lapse.
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The last guy had a pair of headphones with a retractable cord. This one felt a bit like a joke in that he was only after an investment of $20 It had to be a gag.
 
I found both of them kind of engaging but the sharks didn't and this I find is the problem with this show because what we see of the presentations is often a very edited down version of what went on. I felt like there was some disconnect and missing information on why everyone seemed to not be that interested in their idea. At least that's how I read the segment.


Yeah, unfortunately that is a common problem among these shows. It's only become more of a problem on Dragon's Den as of late. In the past, the editing has been very good. Kind of makes the viewer wonder what happened and in those cases, I wish they wouldn't use those. My guess is it was a long pitch that needed to be condensed, but you'd think they would cut out some of the uninteresting parts and leave some of the pertinent details for viewers to see what was going on. I'm surprised it only took two episodes for that to happen though.
 
Tonight was I don't know. One guy got a deal of $2.5 million for a 22.5% share of his business in coffee capsules. Such a generic product. Coffee is a very saturated marketplace yet he got a deal. The best thing about his product was that the capsules are fully biodegradable. His product was called Icapsulate.

The other entries were a woman who is manufacturing butter (not kidding here) a pole dancing fitness studio, and a fishing lure that drops berlei into the water to attract fish.
 
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