Saturday, February 6, 2016

Sharks Tank and Dragons Den



For those not familiar with the shows (according to wikipedia);

Dragons' Den is a Canadian reality television format featuring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas in order to secure investment finance from a panel of venture capitalists. Dragons Den is currently in season 13.

Shark Tank is an American reality television series that premiered August 9, 2009, on ABC. The show is a franchise of the international format Dragons' Den, which originated in Japan in 2001. Shark Tank shows aspiring entrepreneur-contestants make business presentations to a panel of "shark" investors, who then choose whether or not to invest. Shark Tank is currently in season 7.

For the past 5 years, I have incorporated both shows into the curriculum for all my business classes. Some example activities my students have participated in are:

  • "Compare and Contrast" - students watch an episode and compare a contrast between a successful and unsuccessful pitch.
  • "What would you do?" - students watch the entrepreneurs pitch and before the Dragons or Sharks begin, we have a class discussion on what we would do if we were the investors.
  • Youthrive - my entrepreneur class participates in a venture project with the University of Windsor
  • Class or School  Dragons Den - students compete in a Dragons Den style competition against classmates


The following is a list of learning skills that students can obtain by watching these two shows!!
Minus the barrage of insults from Kevin O'Leary!!

Communication Skills:
  • Presentation Skills - how the entrepreneurs present their idea or product/service
  • Negotiation Skills - between Sharks/Dragons and the entrepreneurs
  • Idea Generator - stimulates new ideas and applications from the pitches

Business Concepts:
Each pitch highlights important business concepts like:

  • Sales, Sales Forecasts, Cash flow & Margins
  • Distribution & Supply Chain
  • Differentiation, Copyrights & Patents
  • Market Niche, Social and Traditional Marketing
  • Royalties, Debt & Equity

Personal Growth:
  • Inspirational - pitches that involve helping a community or those in need
  • Motivation - the student edition episode highlights young budding entrepreneurs
  • Excitement - encourages students to share their ideas