ABC’s Shark Tank is swimming along in the midst of its 18th season. The beloved reality series highlights budding entrepreneurs as they pitch their businesses or products to a panel of Sharks—successful and self-made multimillionaire and billionaire moguls—to get them to invest. After being on television for close to 20 years, viewers still tune in to the show each week to root for regular people as they put it all on the line to achieve the American dream. “It’s still very inspiring after all this time,” said Shark Robert Herjavec. “Anybody watching our show in their basement in middle America can invent a great product or a great business, end up on Shark Tank, and change their life.”
“Now is the perfect time to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs,” said Rashaun Williams, noting that most people “don’t have access to capital or information necessary to take their businesses or products to the next level.” Now a permanent Shark on the series, Williams values that the show gives budding innovators “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve all of the things that they’ve always wanted.”
While Shark Tank’s format is tried and tested, Shark Daniel Lubetzky appreciates that the show is constantly “evolving” by bringing in new guest Sharks to shake up the panel, like creator Mindy Kaling, former NFL player J.J. Watt, Dragon’s Den Dragon Steven Bartlett, Favorite Daughter co-founders Erin Foster and Sara Foster, and YouTuber Mr. Beast. “We’re doing a lot more social media-forward work, and nobody does that better than Mr. Beast,” said Lubetzky.
Herjavec and Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, have been with Shark Tank since Season 1. Despite their bustling business portfolios and the hundreds of entrepreneurs they’ve invested in over the years, both men are committed to their roles on the series. “We are the ambassadors of the American dream, every one of us,” said O’Leary. “During these really difficult political times, we’re bipartisan. We create jobs for red or blue, Democrats or Republicans. We just love doing it.”
Herjavec, Lubetzky, O’Leary, and Williams visited the Decider studio to talk about the series’ 18th season, dish on their fellow Sharks, share advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, and more.
DECIDER: Season 18 of Shark Tank is in full swing! How does the series stay so fresh after all these years?
KEVIN O’LEARY: We’ve learned over the years that Shark Tank is two years ahead of the market. What you see on Shark Tank now will be on shelves in about 18 to 24 months. We get a preview of what makes America hum.
ROBERT HERJAVEC: Anybody watching our show in their basement in middle America can invent a great product or a great business, end up on Shark Tank, and change their life. It’s still very inspiring after all this time.
RASHAUN WILLIAMS: I agree with Robert. Now is the perfect time to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. People are struggling with gas prices and all those things. They don’t have access to capital or the information necessary to take their businesses or products to the next level. When they show up on Shark Tank, they have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire all of the things that they’ve always wanted.
RH: Isn’t one of the great things about our show that we’re teaching America the language of money?
DANIEL LUBETZKY: Yes, and we’re just evolving with the times. We had Mr. Beast on our season premiere. We’re doing a lot more social media-forward work, and nobody does that better than Mr. Beast. Steven Bartlett joins us this season as well. Some of the most iconic leaders of our times are joining us as Sharks.
On that note, there are so many amazing guest Sharks this season, including Mindy Kaling, J.J. Watts, and more. Who surprised you the most out of this group?
KOL: I was impressed by the Foster sisters, Erin and Sara. They were crazy chickens. We had a lot of fun with them. They’re so witty; they’re so fun. They were great, spectacular. They came on our show as if they owned it.
RH: J.J. Watt was amazing. I knew he would be great, but his understanding of operating a business really surprised me.
RW: It’s funny. People look at these guest Sharks as judges, but these people are coming to write a real check for these entrepreneurs and help them scale their businesses. People are really going to enjoy the diversity of the guest Sharks we had on this season.
Robert and Kevin, you are two of the longest-running Sharks on the series. What keeps you coming back to the show year after year?
RH: Kevin. I only do this show because of my love for Kevin [laughs]. No, I love giving back. I feel I’ve been incredibly blessed to be in this position in life. We had 20,000 people apply for the show last year, and we’ll only see about 150 of those applicants. When they’re standing on that carpet, it’s their dream. I know it sounds cliché, but we have an opportunity to change their lives. I find that really inspiring.
KOL: We are the ambassadors of the American dream, every one of us. The number one export of America is not energy or oil; it’s the American Dream. During these really difficult political times, we’re bipartisan. We create jobs for red or blue, Democrats or Republicans. We just love doing it.
Rashaun, congratulations on your first season as a permanent Shark! The series is also filming in your stomping grounds—Atlanta. What did you think about the location change? Is Atlanta the next hot spot for entrepreneurs?
RW: Atlanta’s been the hotbed for entrepreneurship—especially for sports and entertainment —for a very long time. I’m really happy that entrepreneurs from all across the country get to come there and experience Southern hospitality. You don’t feel the pressure that you feel in LA or in Hollywood. You can just lose preconceived notions about Shark Tank and about entrepreneurship and raising capital, and you can be yourself.
We were able to see some entrepreneurs who haven’t really had access to capital before. That’s such an important part of keeping this American dream alive, right? In my venture capital world, we see the same guys from the same schools with the same CVs backing them, whose uncles gave them $2 million to start their business. On Shark Tank, we saw a farmer from the Midwest who was selling sunflower seed oil. We saw a guy from the South Side of Chicago. It’s just all these different people. People who are looking for a new chance at life now come to Atlanta. We had an amazing time.
Daniel, you are an amazing judge of character. What makes Rashaun and Kendra Scott such great additions to the permanent panel?
DL: Besides their looks? [Laughs] Besides being a very handsome set, they’re just great people. Kendra and I have known each other for many years. She and I are very good friends. Rashaun and I have become very good buddies. Rashaun, when I listen to him give advice, I often find myself thinking, “Oh wow, I hadn’t thought about this.” I’ve been there eight seasons, and all of a sudden, Rashaun is bringing in new insights. It’s incredible. I love learning from him. Kendra’s also very intuitive. She also understands people very well, and she’s very passionate.
Kevin, you mentioned the Foster sisters earlier, but I think it’s incredible that you were the lone male shark on Episode 2 this season with Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran, and the Fosters. What was it like to be faced with so much girl power?
KOL: I crushed them like the cockroaches they are [laughs]. I’ve been working with the Sharkettes for a long, long time. I know them all very well. What’s great about Lori and Barbara is that they have different perspectives. They connect with entrepreneurs in a different way.
DL: You were talking about judging character earlier, and that’s where Barbara excels. She gets to the essence of the person.
KOL: She doesn’t care about the numbers.
RH: She doesn’t know the numbers [laughs]!
DL: But guess what? She does really well by listening to her gut.
RW: [Laughs] She’s always like, “I’m not going to invest in your company, but I want to marry you.”
DL: She said that to me in front of my seven-year-old son when I first met her [laughs]. I was like, “What is going on?!” Then, you just fall in love with her because Barbara is just so authentic.
KOL: The truth is, her returns have been just as good as anybody else’s. She invests in character alone, not numbers.
Rashaun, you recently joined former Shark Mark Cuban and your firm Harbinger Sports Partners to acquire a stake in the Athletics. What inspired this decision? Also, do you give Mark all the Shark-y gossip?
RW: I am giving him all the gossip, and he’s planting jokes and little secrets with me to help me have a competitive edge on the show [laughs]. But yeah, he and I share a passion for sports. Mark has a wealth of knowledge as an NBA owner since 1999. Our other partners include the former CFO of Major League Baseball. We put this whole group together, and we put our own money into these teams. We’re helping Americans for the first time have access to professional sports teams. For a hundred years, the average American couldn’t do that. Now they can invest through a private equity fund and have access.
Sports owners are notoriously successful people and billionaires. There’s one person who I’ve seen sports owners listen to and take advice from and it’s Mark Cuban. I don’t care if their net worth is 100 billion.They will listen to Mark Cuban because of the brand he built on Shark Tank and because of what he did in basketball with the Dallas Mavericks.
Lastly, what’s the number one piece of advice you would give to an entrepreneur pitching on Shark Tank?
KOL: Get your pitch down. Be able to explain the opportunity in 90 seconds or less. Tell us why you’re the right person to execute on the deal, and how you can de-risk it for us. And lastly, and so importantly, know your numbers.
RW: Seed round evaluations don’t exist. You don’t have the financials to value the business. If you come on Shark Tank, the way that I’m going to value your team or your business is by looking at your qualifications, how obsessed and knowledgeable you are about this business, the team you’ve been able to assemble, and what traction you’ve been able to accomplish.
RH: In this world, there’s a lot of distraction, a lot of noise. I don’t care about your passion. I don’t give a damn what you’re passionate about because passion fades. I care what you are obsessed with because that’s what’s gonna keep you going when it gets hard.