The Shark Tank – Twitter Edition

Have you seen the Shark Tank? A TV show where folks with ideas and dreams pitch their products and companies to a supposed panel of investors in hopes of getting funding, and one day hitting it rich.

The Shark rarely invest, most of the time, they moch the fine folks and go, You want $40,000 and your only giving up 30% of your company, are you crazy, this is a loser, your a loser, this will never make money, you crazy.

Since the show is not about investment but an entertainment show, and as investment requires you actually to take risk for reward one day, I thought it would be fun to do a moch interview to prove the point with Twitter as the potential company. Remember again, that true investments especially at an early stage, expect a high return on investment especially since they are taking significant risk.

So her we go

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Keving Oleary: Ok, and what is your name

I am Biz Stone, and I am Evan Williams (call me EV)

KO: Biz and Ev, Ha ha ha, I already think I am out and “EV and Biz” what do you do

Ev: We have a website called Twitter

Robert Herjavec: Ok and what service does Twitter provide

Biz: Twitter lets people update their status online

Barbara” Status? what do you mean

EV: Well you know, if you are watching TV, you can say I am watching TV

Kevin O: HOOOOOOOLD On, Hold on, hold on. Who do I update my status to, to my friends?

Biz: some are your friends, some are strangers.

Daymond: Why would anyone want to know if I am watching TV?

Ev: Well people like to share all kinds of information and one day when millions of people are using it, this would be the main way people are sharing information

Kevin Harrington: Ok guys, enough messing around, I mean we have enough things to do, can you get serious

Biz: We are serious

Kevin O: Ok I had enough of these guys, can we all say no so they can go home. how much do you want anyway

Biz: we are asking for $50,000 for 1% of our company

Kevin O: ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND (everyone laughs)

Ev: No this company one day will be worth at least 500 Million dollars, maybe a billion

Barbara: Ok, lets be reasonable here, how many customers do you have now and how will this Twitter (is that the name) be worth 500 Million one day

Biz, well we are growing all the time and people like using it

Kevin H: What are you going to do with the money? are you going to advertise this twitter

Ev: We dont need to advertise, word of mouth is enough, we are going to upgrade our server so when people tweet, they dont get the fail whale

Robert: Am I the only one confused here? tweets? fail whale?

Ev: Yea sometime the system crashes and we show the fail whale, see its on our tshirts

Robert: Ev, Biz, you guys are crazy, you make no sense and for that reason I am out

Kevin O: Lets just get them out of here so we can move it, these people are losers

Barbara: Ev sweet heart, I like you, I love the whale picture but I dont see how you make money, do you make money

Biz: No we dont

Barbara: Do you know how you will make money?

Biz: we have ideas but nothing solid yet

Barbara: So you want $50,000 for 1% of your company and no idea how to make revenue?

Biz: Yes, but twitter will be a huge hit, everyone, every news company, every company, everyone will want to be part of it

Barbara: You are not advertising, I don’t get it, I dont see revenue I am out.

Kevin H: This is not in my area of expertise so I am out

Daymon: I know fashion, this I dont understand, I am out. Tweet, what the heck is a tweet.

Daymon: Kevin O its up to you

Kevin O: What bothers me that you losers come here with a loser idea, no way of making money, a few customer, a system that crashes all the time, some gimmicky whale and want $50000 of my hard earned money for 1% of your company. You just wasted my time and taken away a spot from someone else who could have had a good idea, how you sleep at night is beyond me. I am out of here – get them out of here