Gary Levin|USA TODAY
The Tank is turning 10.
“Shark Tank,” ABC’s durable reality series that invites budding entrepreneurs to pitch products to investor “sharks,” marked the start of its 10th season –and 200th episode – Oct. 7 (Sundays, 9 EDT/PDT). To celebrate, USA TODAY exclusively ranks the show’s top-selling products, ranging from the Scrub Daddy sponge to on-the-go lobster.
The series has featured a thousand entrepreneursand brokered deals totaling $125 million in investors’ cash. Along with Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, Kevin ("Mr. Wonderful") O'Leary, Daymond John, Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner, this season will feature newguest sharks Charles Barkley and Jamie Siminoff,who pitched the DoorBot home-security system (now known as Ring) in Season 5 butturned down O’Leary’s royalty offer.
Siminoff returns as the show’s first entrepreneur-turned-shark in Sunday’s opener, after selling his business to Amazon for more than $1 billion. “Jamie is Shark Tank’s first unicorn,” executive producer Clay Newbill says. “He represents what the show aspires to be at its best.”
And the Oct. 21 episode features a tear-jerker segment, a trio of siblings fulfilling their late firefighter father's dream of appearing in the Tank to pitch his kitchen product.
The sharks have already finished taping the upcoming 22-episode season, with more no doubt on the way. So what’s the secret to getting a coveted spot on the series, adapted from the Japanese format “Dragon’s Den”?
Newbill says the show seeks a wide variety of productsand favors those with a unique twist. Producers look for products at different points in their life cycles, from the germ of an idea to demonstrated sales. But “a huge element” is the entrepreneur: “Do they have passion? The person who has that fight and a great backstory,” often including setbacks and failure, is key.
Grace & Lace, which pitched lacy leg warmers in 2013, was founded by a couple after their baby daughter died at birth, and marked "the best example of coming out of a pit and making something for themselves," says Corcoran, who invested $175,000 for a 10 percentstake. "The loss of that baby was the beginning of their business,"which has racked up $36 million in sales.
Cuban, whose top-selling product is a stand-up paddle board, says newer investors recognize the value of technology and the changing retail climate.
“Many of our great companies also have a social component that allows consumers to be proud to do business with them,” he says of the sharks via email. They includeBombas, a sock seller that donates a pair to the homeless for every one it sells, and Sand Cloud, which makes blankets and donates a portion of proceeds to save marine life.
"It's a millennial mentality," says Greiner,who has six of the top 10 "Shark Tank" products and benefits from her platform on QVC and infomercials. "If you're lucky enough to be successful, you have a responsibility to give back."
But Corcoran says that while it makes forgood TV, giving should come after success, not beused as a marketing ploy to achieve it: "I personally don't like commingling funds for profits and charity," she says. "It's disingenuous."
What's changed in 10 years? Contestants now tend to be more educated and "less needy," she says. Often, new entrepreneurshave already won investments through venture-capital firms or crowdfunding efforts. But she admires "the extreme measures" people go through just to stay in business. "I love the desperation," she says, not to watch them suffer, but to demonstrate that their spot on the show is "well won."
Successful products can be deceptively simple: Scrub Daddy (sales: an astounding $170 million, including related products) is a smiley-facesponge that softens in warm water and stiffens in cold. It's available in 30,000 stores in eight countries.
At $3.99, says Greiner,the self-described shark with a heart,"who doesn't want a smiley-face sponge, as opposed to some rectangle?"
The top 20 products in the history of "Shark Tank," including the airdate of the episode on which they first appeared, the shark's initial investment and percentage ownership stake inthe company, and retail sales figures supplied by the sharks andproducer Sony Pictures Television.
1. Scrub Daddy
What it is: Kitchen sponge
Pitched on (episode airdate):10/26/12
Shark: Lori Greiner
Offer/stake (on broadcast): $200,000/20%
Total sales: $170 million
2. Simply Fit Board
What it is: Curved exercise board
Pitched on: 11/6/15
Shark: Lori Greiner
Offer/stake: $125,000/20%
Sales: $152 million
3. Squatty Potty
What it is: Foot rest for toilet
Pitched on: 11/14/14
Shark: Lori Greiner
Offer/stake: $350,000/10%
Sales: $140million
4. Tipsy Elves
What it is: "Ugly" Christmas sweaters
Pitched on: 12/13/13
Shark: Robert Herjavec
Offer/stake: $100,000/10%
Sales: $100million
5. Bombas
What it is: Socks
Pitched on: 9/26/14
Shark: Daymond John
Offer/stake: $200,000/17%
Sales: $78million
6. Sleep Styler
What it is: Hairstyling accessories
Pitched on: 3/3/17
Shark: Lori Greiner
Offer/stake: $75,000/25%
Sales: $56million
7. Cousins Maine Lobster
What it is: Seafood trucks
Pitched on: 10/19/12
Shark: Barbara Corcoran
Offer/stake: $55,000/15%
Sales: $50million
8. FiberFix
What it is: Repair tape
Pitched on: 10/25/13
Shark: Lori Greiner
Offer/stake: $120,000/12%
Sales: $50million
9. Bantam Bagels
What it is: Bagel puffs
Pitched on: 1/9/15
Shark: Lori Greiner
Offer/stake: $275,000/25%
Sales: $40million
10. Grace & Lace
What it is: Leg warmers
Pitched on: 11/22/13
Shark: Barbara Corcoran
Offer/stake: $175,000/10%
Sales: $36million
11. Tower Paddle Boards
What it is: Stand-up paddle boards
Pitched on: 3/16/12
Shark: Mark Cuban
Offer/stake: $150,000/30%
Sales: $33million
12. The Original Comfy
What it is: Blanket/sweatshirt
Pitched on: 12/3/17
Shark: Barbara Corcoran
Offer/stake: $50,000/30%
Sales: $25million
13. Sun-Staches
What it is: Novelty sunglasses
Pitched on: 10/17/14
Shark: Daymond John
Offer/stake: $300,000/20%
Sales: $24million
14. Sand Cloud
What it is: Blankets
Pitched on: 2/24/17
Shark: Robert Herjavec
Offer/stake: $200,000/15%
Sales: $20 million
15. Wicked Good Cupcakes
What it is: Baked goods
Pitched on: 4/26/13
Shark: Kevin O'Leary
Offer/stake: $75,000/(royalty)
Sales: $20 million
16. Bottle Breacher
What it is: Bullet-shaped bottle openers
Pitched on: 11/7/14
Shark: Kevin O'Leary
Offer/stake: $150,000/20%
Sales: $17million
17. PRX Performance
What it is: Compact fitness equipment
Pitched on: 2/21/16
Shark: Kevin O'Leary
Offer/stake: $80,000/20%
Sales: $15million
18. Illumibowl
What it is: Toilet-bowl light
Pitched on: 3/11/16
Shark: Kevin O'Leary
Offer/stake: $100,000/25%
Sales: $11million
19. Prep Expert
What it is: Test preparation service
Pitched on: 1/29/16
Shark: Mark Cuban
Offer/stake: $250,000/20%
Sales: $10million
20. Simple Sugars
What it is: Cleansing scrub
Pitched on: 3/29/13
Shark: Mark Cuban
Offer/stake: $100,000/33%
Sales: $10million
