100% agree with every word of ThinkItThrough's post. and it is totally relevant to any thread about a show on entrepreneurship

Yeah next week is a new episode.

Taylor's post is really good, but this paragraph was especially on.

I'm finishing up an MBA right now and it's opened a lot of doors. Why? because there are a lot (hundreds? thousands?) of sharp 20 somethings in Chicago right now who are eloquent, talk a big game, seem really smart, etc. Some small % of these guys are real executors. The much larger % of them sound good in person, but will crumble under the pressure/details/etc. An MBA is simply a good signalling equation. It's one fo the reasons the MBA itself is so much easier than the process of getting in. The vetting to get through to a top tier b-school is really quite high - between crushing the GMATs, impressing interviewers, writing top notch essays, etc. The vast majority of people who talk tough but can't back it up get weeded out in this process....and that's a huge problem and time suck for employers because they're not as good at filtering.

Depending on your field, poker + MBA can also be a knock out combo. Why? Because as Taylor noted, differentiation. 90%+ of MBAs can show some consulting/i-banking background. They tend to blend together. I've had totally unexpected amount of success at my school, especially given that I would consider myself in the bottom quartile of raw intelligence (the kids are insanely smart). But poker makes me memorable, and keeps me at the forefront of discussions employers have behind closed doors. Other guys at my school who are probably in my same quartile but are crushing it with job offers include a former NFL player, CIA spy, a couple of people from army intelligence, etc. These guys just stand out and it makes a huge difference.

Ezra

This is the problem people identify with an MBA. You are spending $150-200k raw cash and two valuable years of your young life... to signal your value? You just gave up tremendous value for little tangible in return. Spend the two years and the $150k starting a business or interning for free in industries you are interested in. You'll come out way ahead. Read the MBA textbooks in your spare time if you feel the information is useful.

Or you can work and get your MBA at the same time. That seems to be the new trend. Although it's freakin' rough. I take classes from 6-10pm after work. And unfortunately I don't read the textbooks, mostly just pay attention in class and review notes/slides/google.

It's a good point. A lot of people who are going/coming from consulting treat MBAs like summer break.

I disagree with the prior comment that it's a $150k-200k time suck. It's hard to quantify but I am confident that I have added several mill in value to my lifetime expectation both in terms of future earnings and relationships.

Investing $150-200k to start a business is also a good idea. But it depends on the person. I didn't have any great ideas, and I'd been around the startup world for a while, so another failed biz wouldn't have lent much credibility to my bottom line.

Ezra

Thanks for all the responses.

http://sharktankblog.com/blog/

Really good blog for all the information you want about the companies that come on. What they're doing now, interviews of their experiences, history, lawsuits etc etc.

bump.. heads up .new ep tonight

finally!

thanks for the reminder, I would have missed it.

commercial break, I'm already thinking "wtf did I just watch"... how does the product work with different spaces between facial features.

$30k avg. annual sales and they got a $1MM valuation? can't wait until they tell the next pitch how crazy their valuation is...

there is NO WAY the face painting market is that large. I was shocked that product did so well

One word Arkeg.

wow can't believe the face painting valuation and has anything ever been turned down faster than arkeg?

My two favorite parts of the episode were Kevin losing out on a deal against no one and all of Robert's long winded responses before he declares himself out. Subtle brag Robert, that your house is so big their are rooms you haven't been in for 8 years.

face painting thing was awesome. i want one as soon as they get NFL licensing!

funniest part about how fast they turned down arkeg is that it has a very direct competitor that didn't even get mentioned...http://www.thegamerator.com/index.htm

yea facepainting will sell at sporting events , i can see it doing it extremely well on college campuses especially

I liked how Cuban shot down Mr. Wonderland at the end when Mr. Wonderland wanted to jump back in.

I think Game Face would be smart to sell/license their product through Disney.

I found the kids hair care woman to be almost distractingly hot, not that I'm complaining.

Great posts Ezra & Taylor... always enjoy your insights.

was happy for the hot mum, great presentation, very determined and also humble

dont know if it has been posted before but mark cuban answer a few questions about the show here: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comment...his_is_my_ama/

he says for example that 25% of the deals are cancelled after due dilligence after the show and that he has only lost money on 1 of all the investments he made on shark tank

I thought the magnetic plant holder on the wall company (with the forgettable name) segment was interesting.

Mainly because apparently they had already pitched Cuban and he took himself immediately out.

Seems like a red flag to me there, and why does this automatically rule him out?

It could have been while still in development or months ago and things had changed.

My perception is that had it been very recent before the show taping, he might have declined knowing they were scheduled to appear on the show anyways (surely they book these things with several months notice?), but then again maybe not.

Something about the blonde headed guy with the company just rubbed me the wrong way tho....snake in the grass or something.

I was interested in knowing more about the Coffee Joulies, so to the interweb I went.

They raised over $300k from kickerstarter in 2011.

Some reviews...
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...right/comments
http://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Joulies...DateDescending (10 bad, 9 good)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_Joulies

And another important tidbit...
Sad... the $50 price seems pretty steep for a coffee accessory too. If they can significantly reduce the price I'd pick up a set.

I'd also be interested in knowing how they work when you get to the end of your coffee cup. I'd hope they don't slide around.

I think for the first time in a long time, all of the businesses seemed to be decent investments. Liquid heating rocks are such a solid invention.