Speaking of the Shark Tank, Nashville chef Shawn Davis was on the show last year asking for a $200,000 investment for 40% of his company that made shrimp hamburgers. Well the sharks weren’t biting that night, but Davis wasn’t concerned. After all, all publicity is good publicity:
His wife and daughter were crushed when he didn’t get funding from the Sharks, but Davis kept a positive attitude. Even though the Sharks were thumbs-down on his four-year-old business, appearing on the show was like “a three-minute commercial for me,” Davis says. “You can’t pay for that type of exposure.”
Sure enough, other investors thought the Sharks had missed an opportunity. They may have a lot of swagger and high profiles, but apparently viewers don’t necessarily think the Sharks are oracles of all knowledge.
Davis says he got more than a dozen phone calls after the show from other interested parties. The best part: He ended up hammering out a deal for more money and giving up less equity from the investor he chose off-screen. Company valuations are apparently better when you’re not on camera.