Shark Tank Australia Series 2 Episode Three on TEN

From experiences, to innovations, to the ‘out there’ and wonderful tonight brings us a fresh plate of Australian Shark Tank companies vying for investment…here are my notes from Shark Tank on set Episode Three – remembering that we don’t know anything about the businesses before they arrive on set:

The Cave Commando Experience – Sirens, search lights – and abseiling military men kicked this pitch of with a few expletives from me…  Then Mick got quickly on to business “Imagine immersing yourself in a corporate challenge that involved learning skills that special ops teams use on a daily basis?” he implored. Throwing yourself in real life simulations and learning from the best in the business – retired special ops. The question for me was: how many “Mick’s” did the business require to scale and how could you ensure the experience was going to be the same nation wide? Mick demonstrated personal sacrifice to get where he was today, selling the family home to fund his passion and we could not be more impressed by the level of detail he had considered so far. This seemed like an obvious fit for RedBalloon – but some how he only seemed to want to talk to the bloke Sharks – am I imagining something here?

Catch up: Bottle Pops Andrew & Steve – The potential to tap into the lucrative US sports licensing market is the reason why Andrew Banks agreed to part with his own money to invest in Bottlepops – sports themed bottle openers created by former Australian volleyball players Greg Jury and Stephen Brooks. Andrew teamed up with Steve to invest $150,000 in Bottlepops, which are already sold in a V8 car design through Repco stores in Australia. Now in more than 3500 retailers and RedBalloon would be one of them… another great investment made in Shark Tank.

Extreme Shredder – Australians spend $8.5 billion on their fitness each year, with Aussies showing little sign of slowing down on their health obsession. Sally presented her subscription model business to us, but the question on all our minds was: what makes her different? We also had to consider that without Sally, there is no Extreme Shredder – when you put your name and brand to something, it becomes synonymous and you now have a responsibility to your consumer to sustain that level of authenticity. I wonder if the pricing model is enough for a Shark to bite?

Love your work.

Troppo Bicycle- With a product so game changing you would have to expect a grilling from the Sharks – especially when your projected revenue is incredible – for a $5mil investment a $5bil return by 2020. For me, it is so important that when you are presenting to an investor that you come fully prepared – The question is has he invented a better mouse trap – and would the Tour de France accept such a bike. This is an inventor with a very big vision. But is it right for Shark Tank.

Betswap – Michael’s business is attempting to commodotise peoples expertise in tipping – by providing them with a market place to sell their tips – so it is not in fact a betting site – but an education (at a price) site. Established in 2014, he already has 500 people on the platform. Pitched as the world’s first bet swapping marketplace, the business acts as a marketplace where find experts you trust, track your performance and compete for prizes. He has also built up an advertising revenue income stream and with the market so mobile and 24/7, we were very intrigued and wanted to learn more. Was there a catch?