DNA of the USA

For a least four years M.S.(mother-in-law) recommended watching Shark Tank and I ignored her suggestion.  Then I discover Jenna and Ellen watching it religiously about two years ago. I became more aware of the program when Cincinnati Tom and Chee (Shark Tank recipients) hosted Social Venture Partners Cincinnati's first "Fast Pitch" (February 2013) competition of Non-Profits. 

It was then I began to occasionally watch episodes with Jenna and Ellen (who were watching the older episodes on our DVR).  Sometime this year, I got hooked and began binge watching the nearly 30 episodes that were filling our the DVR capacity (CNBC syndication started in 2014).

It seems natural that I only discover (I like to believe it is proper vetting) the good shows after the fifth season.  But the reality is that CNBC's flooding the airwaves with promotion helped spark my interest also.

Shark Tank is now in its sixth season with over 100 shows and is in the top 50 programs watched with almost 8 million loyal viewers.

So now when Ellen and I watch (as we did tonight) episodes, I pause the DVR when the entrepreneurs make their offer ($225K for a 15% state) and ask Ellen to value the company.  It doesn't take too many episodes to understand  the Sharks thinking and standard questions - value, sales, trend, margin, competitive landscape, management capability/passion, market size, intellectual capital, product vs company, differentiators, branding, growth potential, and new by products.  What a great show to teach the 18-49 year olds about entrepreneurship.

There is a reason this show is so popular (and on a Friday night)!  It's in our genes - by "it" I mean entrepreneurism - the DNA of the USA.