Pitching ‘Shark Tank’? Here’s When To Catch The Investors In Their Best Moods, According To Robert Herjavec

Shark Tank premiered Season 8 on Friday night, and according to Entertainment Weekly, it’s bound to be a big one. The magazine reported that the sharks made a combined investment of more than $100 million, proving that the television phenomenon is not just for show — the investors put their money where their mouths are.

One of those investors, Robert Herjavec, recently revealed in his book, You Don’t Have to Be a Shark, that sometimes entrepreneurs catch the sharks on a bad day, due to the compressed Shark Tank shooting schedule. As Business Insider summarized, Season 7 was taped in a total of 17 days, split into two times of year and on a three-day on, one-off pattern. That resulted in a unique rhythm for those three days, which Herjavec relayed in detail.

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The first day sees the sharks getting to know one another again and getting back into the Shark Tank headspace. Their on-air personalities are more exaggerated during this first day, according to Herjavec. The second day is the most relaxed because the sharks are not thinking of their lives off-set, and they are not yet exhausted by the 12-hour-long taping days. The third day is when fights are most likely to break out, according to Herjavec, because the investors are tired.

Business Insider pointed out the infamous fight over the education app Scholly, which the show promoted as a walk-off involving three of the sharks — Herjavec, Mark Cuban and Kevin O’Leary — after the other two — Lori Greiner and Daymond John — quickly invested in the entrepreneur. According to Herjavec, segments taped on the third day are the producers’ favorites because of the drama they are likely to create.

As Shark Tank wrapped up filming Season 8 last week, however, there was drama of a kinder sort on-set. As Us Weekly reported, John proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Heather, who said “yes.” Heather and Daymond have a six-month-old daughter, Minka. John told the magazine he was suffering from some nerves before popping the question.

“I was a little nervous. I had to create a speech. I knew a lot of people were looking at me. You know, you never know how someone is going to react, of course. She could always say no, and that’s the first time that I’ve been on the carpet pitching somebody! So, a little nerve-racking, of course.

“My daughter was sitting in her lap, so I was looking at my beautiful daughter at the same time.”

Heather didn’t anticipate the proposal, according to John.

Love certainly seems to be in the air on the Shark Tank set as Herjavec married his Dancing With the Stars partner Kym Johnson this summer.

As for that three-day on, one-off shooting schedule, Herjavec said that has more to do with the energy it takes to be a shark and not necessarily the investors’ other commitments.

“Three days don’t represent just the maximum number of days we can stay away from our businesses; it’s the maximum number of days we can do our jobs as Sharks and still remain functional. Not to mention amiable and courteous with each other.”

Herjavec told Variety as the new season was getting set to air that he enjoyed engaging with new entrepreneurs just getting started.

“I find it incredibly inspiring. We’ve all had success and everything is pretty big [for us] now and when you get to this point, you’re not really doing a lot of start-up stuff. So you see these people and they’re struggling and it really takes me back to those days. It’s really motivating.”

Shark Tank airs Friday nights on ABC.

[Featured Image by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images]