Shark Tank is coming to ABC on August 9th!!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Clearwater capitalist ready to deal on new ABC show
Photo by: Jay Nolan
Photo caption: Kevin Harrington, in his Clearwater office, is known as 'King of the Infomercial' and has written a book titled "Act Now!".
By GAYLE GUYARDO | News Channel 8
Published: July 10, 2009
Tampa Bay venture capitalist and entrepreneur Kevin Harrington is sinking his teeth into the new ABC series "Shark Tank" debuting in early August.
Harrington is the president and CEO of TVGoods.com and co-founder of OmniReliant Holdings based in Clearwater. This year marks the 25th anniversary since Harrington produced the industry's first infomercial. With hits like the Flowbee and the Ginsu Knife, Harrington is a pioneer in what's become a multi billion dollar industry.
As one of the "sharks," Harrington says he's ready to make deals with inventors, business people and entrepreneurs with cameras rolling. "We have a pile of money right there on the desk -- and I will ink a deal on the spot," he said.
Shark Tank leaves contestants with the nail biting, take-it-or-leave-it decision of whether to accept whatever offer a shark might put on the table.
"The set cost a half million dollars and is amazing," Harrington said. Harrington described how contestants come up an elevator and walk through a tube like tunnel with animated sharks swimming all around.
Harrington who has spent his career behind the camera says big lights and 16 HD cameras pointed his direction doesn't throw him off course. "I'm so busy listening to the deals, my mind is spinning and I'm trying to compete with the other sharks on the panel to get the best deal." Harrington said.
Harrington smells blood when it comes to hot products. "I've hit milestones of over 500 product launches, resulting in sales of over $4 billion worldwide, and $100 million in individual sales," Harrington explained. "And, that adds up to the creation of dozens of millionaires," he said.
Harrington's company has been chronicled with a case study at Harvard/MIT, where students have been taught for more than 12 years what it means to be grassroots entrepreneurs in a fiercely competitive industry.
Harrington is also the founder of global networking association "the entrepreneur's organization".
LINK TO THE ARTICLE:
Clearwater capitalist ready to deal on new ABC show
Thursday, May 21, 2009
ABC greenlights Burnett's 'Shark Tank'
http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/03/abc-mark-burnett-shark-tank.html
March 29, 2009
"Dragon's Den,' the UK version...
ABC is teaming with Mark Burnett for a new series that offers a bailout to struggling entrepreneurs.
The network has ordered seven episodes of Burnett’s “Shark Tank,” an adaptation of the U.K. reality hit “Dragon’s Den” in which eager entrepreneurs pitch their business ventures to five multimillionaire tycoons. The pitchmen have to convince the investors (the “sharks”) to part with the requested amount of their own money, or they leave empty handed.
The format originated in Japan and has since become a worldwide success, with BBC Two’s “Dragon’s Den” running for six seasons and airing domestically on BBC America. “Shark Tank” marks the first collaboration between ABC and Burnett, who has popular shows on the other three major broadcast networks but has never had a series on ABC. The network and prolific producer hope the project strikes a chord with viewers given the current economic climate.
“People are looking to be entrepreneurs to get ahead, yet there’s no way anybody can go into a bank right now and get a loan,” said Burnett, whose company Mark Burnett Productions is producing the "Shark Tank" along with Sony Pictures Television. “For these entrepreneurs, these sharks are their last stop.”
The team’s creative approach to the program has shifted since its pilot was ordered last fall. At first, everybody thought the show needed to feel bigger. The BBC version has the wealthy investors and pitchmen haggling in a sparse loft space. There’s no cheering audience, no graphics, no exterior footage. The drama comes from whether the entrepreneur’s proposal will survive an intense inquisition, and if it does, whether the sharks will then turn on each other to snatch up the idea.
“We’ve been excited about the 'Dragon’s Den' format for years, but we didn’t go forward at first because we thought it felt too small,” said Vicki Dummer, co-head of alternative at ABC.
drama of pitch meetings.
Working with Burnett, the network initially tried to make the show feel like a larger event, shooting a pilot in a huge auditorium and placing the investors behind an intimidating desk, among other tweaks. But most of the changes distracted from what worked so well about the original: the interpersonal tension between ambitious entrepreneurs struggling to convince five strangers to part with their money.
“The layers we added for a big huge show we’ve ended up peeling back to make the show more like the original,” Dummer said. “The core essence of the show works, and they’ve done a terrific job with it.”
No air date is set, though a premiere sometime next season seems likely.
The sharks include Robert Herjavec (who made his fortune in Internet security systems), Kevin Harrington (infomercials), Barbara Corcoran (real estate), Kevin O’Leary (well-known Canadian investor) and Daymond John (FUBU sportsware).
One aspect of “Shark Tank” that will be noticeably bigger than the previous versions: the deals spawned during the pitches.
“We have made bigger deals and more deals in our pilot than (other versions) make all season,” Burnett said. “What country on earth is more entrepreneurial and risk taking than the United States of America? Here we have businesses and jobs being created, and it’s a great feeling.”
Sunday, January 4, 2009
About Kevin Harrington - DRTV & Infomercial Pioneer
Kevin Harrington
Chief Executive Officer, TVGoods.com LLC
Kevin Harrington, CEO of TVGoods.com, LLC, is widely acknowledged as the pioneer and principal architect of the “infomercial” industry. Since producing the industry’s first infomercial in the 1980s, Harrington has financed more than 500 product launches resulting in sales of more than $4 billion worldwide with 20 products reaching individual sales of over $100 million each, and creating dozens of millionaires.
Harrington got his start in direct TV marketing with his company Quantum International, which after merging with National Media in 1991 grew to over $500 Million in annual sales with distribution in over 100 countries in 20 languages. Harrington was the pioneer responsible for setting up international infrastructure worldwide which lays the groundwork for today’s infomercial industry. He had offices in: London, Tokyo, Sao Paolo, Brazil, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
After leaving Quantum, Harrington had several other successful infomercial ventures including HSN Direct with Home Shopping Network before founding TVGoods in 2005.
He subsequently raised more than $20 million in capital from a New York hedge fund in a venture, which then acquired Tampa’s premiere film studio where TVGoods is headquartered. The studio is located in Clearwater, Florida, featuring a 33,000 square state of the art production studio on 5.4 acres.
Regarded as a tireless entrepreneur with a talent for identifying blockbuster products, Harrington’s business was a case study that was chronicled and taught for over 12 years at Harvard/MIT, called “The Rise, The Fall and The rise of Quantum International.” The case study is used as a teaching guide about what it means to be a grass-roots entrepreneur in a fiercely competitive industry.
In his latest venture, Harrington is an investor on a new ABC show called “Shark Tank”, in which budding entrepreneurs compete in pitching their potentially moneymaking ideas to business experts in hopes of securing investment financing. The show is owned by SONY Pictures and produced by Mark Burnett.
Harrington is uniquely qualified as an investor/shark because of his involvement over his career in a wide range of industries. As a young entrepreneur at the age of 19, Harrington launched and operated a successful company that reached $1 million in annual sales and employed 25 people, all while still in college. In 1979, he started Franchise America, a franchise consulting and brokerage business, through which he sold thousands of businesses, giving him insight to the inner workings of dozens of industries; from restaurants to retail to small manufacturing, etc.
Harrington’s book, ACT NOW!, explains how he innovatively turns ideas into million-dollar products. It is available through Amazon and at bookstores nationwide. Examples of popular products available through TVGoods.com currently are: Tony Little fitness, George Foreman cleaning, Jay “the Juice Daddy” Kordich Health, Flying Lure fishing, Wolfman Jack music, and the Dual Saw, marketed by the late legendary pitchman Billy Mays. One TVGoods.com product, the Air-Cutter, a precision vacuum haircutting system, will be featured in the upcoming film Father of Invention starring Kevin Spacey.
Harrington is proud to have founded two of the most important global networking associations in the marketplace, the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA).
Entrepreneurs’ Organization
In 1987, Kevin and a group of young entrepreneurs including Michael Dell, of Dell Computers, and Ted Leonsis, of AOL, teamed up to create the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, or EO (formerly known as the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization), and today it has grown to over 7,000 members worldwide, with 113 chapters in 38 countries with more than 924,000 members. The EO is recognized as a catalyst that enables entrepreneurs to learn and grow from each other, leading to greater business success and an enriched personal life.
Electronic Retailing Association
In the 1990s the electronic and digital retail industries began converging into one, combing electronic retailing and direct marketing. Paralleling this convergence, Kevin co-founded the Electronic Retailing Association, or ERA, alongside key industry entrepreneurs, including Greg Renker of Guthy-Renker, LLC. This trade association represents the $125 billion electronic retailing industry and is comprised of over 450 member companies and subsidiaries worldwide that use the power of electronic retailing to sell directly to consumers via television, radio, Internet and wireless media in over 100 countries worldwide.
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