How to get on ‘Shark Tank,’ Nancy Kalish on her experience

In one of the recent episodes of Startup 107 Podcast, I had Nancy Kalish on the Podcast, Nancy is the founder of a CPG brand RuleBrekaer Snacks, Nancy was able to get on Shark Tank Show earlier this year, Here is a short clip of the show

In the Podcast episode, Nancy shared her experience on the Shark Tank Show and How to get on it. Here you go >>

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Nancy: I was on Shark Tank. I did not get a deal, which I was kind of surprised about. Actually, the Sharks, had to me what was a very strange reason, which is that they felt I had put too much money into my company. Every other investor I’ve talked to since then has felt the opposite way. I still don’t understand it completely, but that turned out to be an amazing experience in terms of marketing because the Sharks tasted the products on air. They loved them. Even Mr. Wonderful, I believe he said something along the lines of, well, I expected these to taste like sand, but they’re pretty good, And then Laura and Barbara both jumped in, and they really liked it. That was like gold, because the truth is, the viewers don’t care if you make a deal or not. I mean, they’re rooting for you. They want you to make a deal. But I was sitting watching at home when it finally aired & you can see the sales on Amazon and on our own website in real-time. And it was like it was so much fun. We had a gigantic boost. And then about a month later, even though they had just started the season, something must have gone on, maybe something they couldn’t schedule an episode. They re-ran it and we got another gigantic boost. Even though it didn’t give me funding. It really boosted sales and brand awareness. It was fantastic. 

Me: It was one of the most entertaining pitches which I ever saw on shark tank

Nancy: As you can tell, I’m not shy, and I enjoy it tremendously. So this is kind of funny, right? It was a very intense period of time because of the pandemic. They actually filmed it in a bubble at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. And I had to quarantine for ten days in my hotel room by myself. And then they just let me out to film the episode. I thought it was going to be great being by myself for ten days and not having to cook or clean or run my business. It was horrible. But then I really, really enjoyed actually being in front of the Sharks. It was a fabulous experience. And actually, they were very kind to me, even though they did not give me a deal. Afterward, right after you walk off the stage, they shove a microphone in your face and they make you record that last little bit. “ Oh, the Sharks are going to be sorry or. Oh, they gave me good advice, and I’m going to take it.” That’s kind of what I said. And then they send you directly to the psychologist. They have a psychologist right there. Whether you get a deal or you don’t, they send you directly to the psychologist, to kind of calm down because it’s such an adrenaline rush, and it’s so intense that I guess they figured people really need, especially the people who don’t get a deal, really need to calm down. And I have to say, the producers and everybody were just fabulous, 

How to get on Shark Tank? 

Nancy – That was actually one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. It took about a year. First of all, you go onto their website, you submit a little thing about yourself. If they like that, they come back to you, they ask you to fill out this enormous application. It was harder than applying to College. They have essays and the history of your company, and you have to start divulging your financial information and there are legal documents. So what happens is these Sharks don’t know anything about you except for your name. When you come out and their accountants have vetted you completely. So you keep on moving through steps. And each step involves more essays and more information and additional videos. And it’s a very labor-intensive process. And at the end of every step of the way, they warn you that they can eliminate you at any time. And if you disagree with anything that they want in the legal documents, well, they’ll just move on to the next person.

So it took quite a long time. And then finally, after about nine months in, I got accepted to be provisionally on the show, and I started working with a team of producers to write a script for that little opening part. That’s the only part of the show that’s scripted. But in fact, I have two friends who have another wonderful brand and they went all the way out to LA, where their season was filmed, and then they were cut at the last minute. So they went through the whole process and they actually flew there and they were about to film, and they said no. So it’s really touch and go, but it was worth every second

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