For Lisa Binderow, the “most intense process I’ve ever gone through in my life” was appearing on Shark Tank.
There were months of preparing to be on the popular program, getting to know her business inside and out. She had to figure out its exact valuation and calculate how much funding she would request. And she had to perfect her pitch, anticipating any questions that might come from a wary group of investors.
After all that, Binderow still walked away without a deal. (She got an offer of $100,000 from Barbara Corcoran, but it came with strings attached.) But the WeWork Soho West member’s glad she didn’t miss out on the experience.
“The biggest thing I got out of it wasn’t getting a deal or not getting a deal,” says Binderow, founder of the sportswear company nicepipes. “It was feeling super proud of myself. It felt like climbing a mountain.”
Binderow and several other WeWork members who’ve competed on Shark Tank all had the same advice for future contestants: the appearance on the show is just the beginning of the process.
“It’s been such a positive experience for us,” says Michael Dweck, a WeWork 5th Ave member who pitched his company Basic Outfitters on a recent episode. “The reaction to our business and product post Shark Tank has been tremendous. The results have been so much greater than we ever anticipated.”
The takeaway is that anyone who appears on the show—deal or no deal—has to be prepared for the publicity that it will bring.
Brittany Hodak knows this first hand. She and business partner Kim Kaupe pitched their business ZinePak in 2015.
“You’ll get so much attention from being on the show,” says the WeWork Empire State member. “About 1 million clicked on our website between the initial broadcast and the rebroadcast. And every time in reairs somewhere, we see another bump in traffic.”
Predicting this, the entrepreneurs made sure to prepare for all the attention: their website didn’t crash, and they didn’t run out of stock of their major products. They avoided having to put out any last-minute fires.
“We spent the night celebrating with everyone who had helped us get to this point in our business,” says Hodak.
Your company has to be ready for the extra exposure, according to Dweck and Hodak. But so do you.
“Know that you need thick skin for this type of thing,” says Dweck. “There will always be haters, but as long as you know you put it all out there, you can feel great about your experience.”
Binderow, whose company makes stylish arm and leg warmers out of the same material as yoga pants, says the road to Shark Tank began about a year ago. It was a Thursday afternoon, she remembers, and she was purging her inbox. She needed to take a break, so she filled out the show’s online application.
“Never in a million years did I think they would actually call me,” she says. “And once they called me, I still couldn’t believe it. I kept thinking at every step along the way, ‘Is this really happening, or am I going to wake up?’”
The actual taping was nerve-racking for Binderow, who says she’s more of an introvert. The lights, cameras, and crew made it an extremely stressful situation.
“The biggest thing I got out of it was conquering this fear,” she says. “I didn’t even know if I could get through my pitch. I felt like a different person the next morning when I woke up.”
The show’s viewership of more than 5 million people heard the yoga teacher talk about making her own leg warmers after heading to class one frigid morning in just sweatpants. Her handmade items, which she called nicepipes, were a hit with students and instructors, so she decided to make it a business.
Being on a show like Shark Tank isn’t for everyone, Binderow admits.
“If you’re ready to be the most vulnerable in your entire life, you should go for it,” Binderow says. “This was the most exposed and scrutinized I’ve ever felt. My husband and friends and family have been amazingly supportive over the last couple of months.”
Her episode, which aired on January 13, has already transformed her business.
“The insanity that follows up is intense,” she says. “There are definitely moments when you wake up and wish you could have a normal day.”