Shark Tank Experts...

Barbara Corcoran was known as the girl with straight D’s in high school and in college, but by the time she was twenty-three, she had already had twenty jobs. Her twenty-first job was the start of her entrepreneurship and made her one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country. She started the Corcoran Group with just a $1,000 loan. “She parlayed that loan into a five-billion-dollar real estate business which she sold in 2001 for $66 million.” 

Barbara now contributes to NBC’s TODAY Show where she shares her weekly knowledge in the real estate market. She is also well known on ABC’s reality hit Shark Tank as an investor and shark. Since her time on Shark Tank, she has bought into eleven new businesses and is leading them to success. “Barbara is the author of three books including her most recent, Shark Tales, detailing her inspiring true story and her best advice for anyone starting a business.” She is known as a motivational, inspirational, sometimes outrageous, and tell-it-like-it-is attitude, but is a refreshing approach to success. According to WatchMojo’s interview with Barbara, she looks for a pattern in businesses and here are some things she considers:

“WatchMojo: What’s the common trait between all the investments you’ve made?

Barbara Corcoran: Oh, they have many things in common:

#1, each and everyone of them very high energy,

#2, they weren’t all great presenters, but they all had the right answers to the questions,

#3, they totally believe in their idea,

#4, which is harder to get in a TV form like that organized, I kept trying to say my success guide has got one, two, three as he or she organized, because I think you have to be organized or have a second in command to be organized for you if you are going to succeed in business.”

According to Barbara Corcoran, there are a few things she looks for, “Come on Shark Tank and give us your pitch! Make sure you can sell your product, because if you as the head of the company can't sell it, who will? Also be sure you're ready to answer the two key questions too many of the entrepreneurs who come on the show can't: 1) What will you do with my money? and 2) How will I get my investment back?”

“We all know the dot com industry has had its ups and downs over the past decade. But here's a guy who continually manages to bracket the boom with dollar signs! Robert Herjavec has lived the classic "rags to riches" story.” Robert use to wait tables for a living at a posh Yorkville restaurant. During the initial stages of the dot com craze, he realized that technology was the ticket to serious money. He soon then launched his first technology company, BRAK systems, which is now worth a reported $100 million dollars. He originally sold the company to AT&T in 2000, but that was just a start. He then negotiated another company to Nokia for $225 million.

He now heads The Herjavec Group, a leading IT security and infrastructure integration firm, instead of retiring. “His palatial 50,000 square foot Bridle Path mansion hosts luminaries like Michael Bublé and Mick Jagger. For thrills, Robert jets to a private island near Miami or cruises Yorkville in one of his many luxury cars.”

According to Robert Herjavec, there are a few things he looks for, “First step make sure you need investment – or do you simply need a loan. Most people that want an investment simply need a loan – keep in mind if a bank will not give you a loan – you are going to have a hard time with investors also. They are out there – this is the greatest time in history of concentration of investment capital in cash. Build a great business – everything else flows from that.”