America’s favourite commercial masquerading as a tv present, “Shark Tank,” made Mark Cuban a family title (that’s, when you weren’t already a Dallas Mavericks fan). However final week, the billionaire revealed on the Full Ship podcast that general, he hasn’t made a revenue from his suite of investments.
“Are you up all time on ‘Shark Tank’ investments?” the podcast host requested.
“Like, up financially?” the enterprise capitalist mentioned. “Oh no, I’ve gotten beat.”
“Shark Tank” introduced the (dramatized, edited) internal workings of enterprise capital into the mainstream, however because it seems, what makes for good tv doesn’t at all times make for funding. In line with the fan-run web site Sharkalytics, Cuban has invested almost $20 million into 85 corporations throughout 111 episodes of the ABC present, which has aired 13 seasons since 2009. On Cuban’s personal web site, he lists 54 “Shark Tank” investments, however he’s omitted corporations that not exist, comparable to Breathometer, which Cuban mentioned was his worst loss on the present.
Breathometer, a breathalyzer that plugged into your smartphone, made “Shark Tank” historical past. The product earned funding from all 5 traders on the episode, together with Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner and Daymond John, along with Cuban.
“It was an incredible concept and really an honest product [ … ] however I’d take a look at his Instagram and he’d be in Bora Bora,” Cuban mentioned. “Two weeks later, he’d be in Vegas partying [ … ] Subsequent factor you recognize, all the cash is gone.”
Cuban mentioned that he had texted the founder, Charles Michael Yim, reminding him that he wanted to be engaged on his product — however Cuban mentioned the founder claimed he was “networking.”
That wasn’t the one blown-kiss of dying for Breathometer, although. In 2017, the corporate agreed to an FTC settlement after the federal government company discovered that the blood alcohol degree readings had been usually incorrect. That’s an enormous downside, seeing because the product was marketed to assist folks resolve whether or not they’re sober sufficient to drive house after consuming. Because of the settlement, Breathometer supplied refunds on any product bought between 2013 and 2015. Now, the founder is engaged on Mint, an identical product that detects … oral well being and hydration.
So, a minimum of primarily based on Cuban’s stats, it looks like we’ve got some extra proof for what we’ve recognized to be true for thus lengthy: “Shark Tank” is extra about theater than enterprise. Who would’ve thought!