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Chris Sacca Reveals The Suggestion He Made To ‘Shark Tank’ Producers After His Recurring Guest Shark Role

By Sarah Field
Published on: 15:51 PST, May 29, 2016

Entrepreneurs who have appeared on Shark Tank go through different stages of trepidation. There’s not knowing when — or if — their pitch will air. Then, once they know they will get the coveted Shark Tank appearance, they are still in the dark as to how it’s been edited. Even if the pitch went well, the final product might not be what they expect. While it’s unlikely there will ever be a Shark Tank format that features only one pitch — right now, each entrepreneur faces the panel for about an hour — guest shark Chris Sacca wants the show to make at least one full pitch available online for public viewing.

Sacca appeared on four episodes of Shark Tank during Season 7 and wrote on the blog of his company, Lowercase Capital, that he’s coming back for Season 8. He’s already invested in some winners, including Hatch Baby and Brightwheel, and enjoyed the experience of getting recognized on the street. That lack of anonymity had previously eluded Sacca outside his own Silicon Valley community.

The former Google executive and lawyer wrote that Shark Tank is pretty real for reality television: the sharks aren’t required to make a certain number of deals and no one tells the panelists what to say. But in terms of air time granted to pitching companies and the volume of questions posed by the shark, real life is quite different from the final product. Broadcast segments are generally only about 10 minutes long and feature the most dramatic and entertaining exchanges.

“The only thing that is different on the screen than from what you see when we tape the show is that the pitches tend to be an hour long. That gives us ample time to ask in depth questions about finances and supply chains, etc. That stuff can be a little boring, but it’s all vital information to put us in a great spot to make an informed decision about investing. (I have suggested to the team behind the show that they maybe post online one full, unedited pitch just so fans can see the process end-to-end.)”

In the past, some pitchers have said that important information about their product has not made it to the final edit of their Shark Tank segment. Aaron Marino, who struck a deal with Barbara Corcoran in Season 7, had appeared on the show years earlier. But that first appearance didn’t result in a spike in sales because his website and YouTube channel were never mentioned, according to an interview Marino gave to Mr. Minds. In Season 4, Marino had pitched a DVD style system, into which the sharks didn’t bite. In Season 7, the sharks also passed on his line of hair products, Pete & Pedro. But Corcoran struck a deal with Marino on his Alpha M. media persona, essentially, the YouTube channel and website that were never mentioned the first time Marino was in front of the panel.

Chris Sacca revealed that his commitment in Season 7 to tape one or two episodes eventually became four. He did not reveal in how many episodes he and his cowboy boots will feature in Season 8.

An ABC article that announced the renewal of Shark Tank for Season 8 listed the six current sharks as part of the cast: Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary, Daymond John, Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran, and Mark Cuban. It was not announced whether any other guest sharks might make return appearances. During previous seasons, many guest sharks have sat in the leather chairs, including actor and investor Ashton Kutcher.

Shark Tank airs on ABC and CNBC in reruns.

[Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]

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