Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran Likes Investing With Mark Cuban, And The Feeling Is Mutual — Here’s Why

The rules of Shark Tank are clear to regular viewers: entrepreneurs have to get all the money they are asking for. It can take the form of an equity investment, loan, or other funding. And it doesn’t have to come from just one shark. Often, the Shark Tank deals involve more than one panelist who shells out cash to bolster a new company.

Mark Cuban told the Bloomberg View podcast that he prefers solitary investments, but if another shark comes on board, he prefers it to be Barbara Corcorcan because of her “unique spin on things.” Barbara Corcoran told Business Insider she feels the same way about Cuban.

“[H]e’s buttoned-up, he does the due diligence fast, he closes the deals, he’s smart — not to take anything away from the other sharks, who are smart in different ways — but he’s particularly smart in more ways, I think. I’m smart in certain ways, but I know all the stuff I’m not good at. He seems to be smart across the board. And so, my odds of winning with Mark are better. More importantly, I like efficiency. So if a deal’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen. Boom. Done. And he’s cut from the same cloth. Whereas the other sharks, I think they take a lot more time and are more thoughtful, more cautious in their deal making.”

Corcoran told BI her favorite Shark Tank deal was Pipsnacks, run by a sibling duo from Brooklyn, and the best pitch was Cousins Maine Lobster. Another of Corcoran’s Shark Tank investments, Villy Custom Bikes, also counts Mark Cuban as an investor. The proprietor of the custom-made bike shop in Dallas wrote about his impressions of Corcoran and Cuban after he left the Shark Tank.

“Fabulous personality and boundless energy. [Barbara] says things you wouldn’t expect and I don’t think that she’s ever met a person that she didn’t like or vice-versa… I’ve noticed that she always knows how to read people well and change the energy in the room when she walks in it. She’s given me lots of good advice and she is readily available whenever I got something important on my mind… She is big on prioritizing things and keeping focused, which probably helped her get to where she is today. She is very smart, savvy and resourceful.”

“[Mark] is an email junky. We communicate very regularly, but it is 100% via email. If I got a question, I get an answer! He is very prompt at making comments on my reports (good or bad) and definitely has his own motivational style. With Mark, sometimes it isn’t all pretty, but I cannot complain having a superstar like him on our team at Villy Custom.”

Shark Tank continues to be a staple of the Friday-night lineup on ABC. In October, a spin-off series, Beyond the Tank, was reportedly in development. Beyond the Tank will follow entrepreneurs after their Shark Tank appearances.

[Image via Entrepreneur]