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‘Shark Tank’: No New Episode Tonight, Tips For A Successful Pitch

By Phillip Dengler
Published on: 11:09 PST, Dec 18, 2015

Shark Tank will begin its midseason break this week, and loyal viewers of ABC’s hit entrepreneur show will have to wait until Friday, January 8, 2016, for Episode 12 of Season 7 to air. While the break is frustrating for those wishing to get their Mr. Wonderful (Kevin O’Leary) fix for the week, this is common during the Christmas season. The good news is that Shark Tank is having a fairly short break compared to other primetime shows, and the next new episode is only three weeks away. If you cannot wait until January 8 for a new episode, ABC is airing an encore presentation of a previous episode this season, tonight at 9/8c.

While the episode is not new, it is always interesting going back and watching previous episodes again. Already knowing the result of the pitch can allow you to pick certain things up that you may have missed during the initial viewing. This is especially important for entrepreneurs that have dreams of appearing on Shark Tank themselves, as saying the wrong things can kill an otherwise great pitch for a solid product. Shark Tank’s most popular shark, billionaire Mark Cuban, was recently interviewed by the A.V. Club, and gave some insight on how to impress him if you ever appear in the tank.

“Know your stuff. Have an angle. Know how to grow business, how to develop products, have patents and an undeveloped market that could be huge. There’s something different, something unique, whether it’s a T-shirt guy—the cause and effect. So you look where they’re at and say, ‘How big can they be?’ If I think they can be big, then okay, I’m excited. Then I look at the entrepreneur and ask, ‘Can they do it?’ Or if they’re a flier, like they’re super super smart, then I ask myself, ‘Okay, is it cheaper to buy ’em or to hire ’em?’ The other day there were two Ph.D.s and you can take a flier on them because they’re super smart. In the stock market you might buy options: ‘I’ll spend $250,000.’ Well, if you spend $100,000 on two Ph.D.s that have an idea, and they think enough of it to invest their time and their money, then okay. And if I’m convinced that it’s real potential, I’m all in.”

As you may have noticed, Cuban can many times be hard on entrepreneurs that do not know their numbers or start talking in circles. While he is the most popular shark because of his larger-than-life personality, huge bank account, and ownership of the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA, he has called numerous entrepreneurs out in a very harsh way. Regardless, if you know your numbers and have something unique to offer, you could very well end up being Cuban’s next business partner.

So what does a Shark Tank success story look like? Business Insider put together a list of the most successful Shark Tank businesses of all time earlier this week, and you can really get a good idea of what works, and what doesn’t, when seeing which companies are listed. One of the most interesting ones is Tipsy Elves, which was originally a website dedicated to selling ugly Christmas sweaters. Considering Christmas is only a week away, this business is especially relevant at the current moment, and it has only been increasing in popularity since being showcased on Shark Tank.

While their focus is still on producing the ugliest and most fashionable Christmas sweaters, they have also added a variety of year-round items that focus on sports, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and other holidays. Tipsy Elves, like many of the other top companies on the list, has greatly evolved since originally appearing on Shark Tank, and that appears to be a huge part of their success.

So what are the sharks up to on their break? Watching Star Wars of course! The official Shark Tank Twitter account has posted numerous pictures of a few of your favorite sharks at the premiere for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

While you still have to wait a few weeks for the next new episode of Shark Tank, you should have a better idea of how to get a deal on the show if you have a great idea for a product or business.

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

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