How to win on Shark Tank: Tips from an entrepreneur who scored a deal

What does it take to land a deal with a Shark?

With ABC’s Shark Tank holding an open casting call in Philly on April 11, it’s probably a question on the minds of a lot of entrepreneurs in the region. 

Over the years, Technical.ly has covered many mid-Atlantic startups who got the chance to pitch to a panel of celebrity investors looking to make very real — if atypical — investment deals on the hit TV show. Some scored deals, some did not. 

Dawn Myers, founder of Baltimore-based Richualist, the company behind The Mint technical hairstyling tool for highly textured hair, appeared on Season 15 of Shark Tank in 2024. She wound up making a deal with Mark Cuban and guest shark Emma Grede for $150,000 for 15% equity plus 5% in advisory share.

“I actually didn’t ever see myself going on Shark Tank,” Myer told Technical.ly. “But to be perfectly frank, we were in an environment where funding had fallen dramatically, particularly for minority women backed companies, so I applied on a whim.”

We asked Myer if she would share some advice about the Shark Tank experience.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Why were you hesitant to apply for Shark Tank, and why did you decide to go for it?

It just didn’t seem like the right fit, and the valuations on Shark Tank are ridiculous in comparison to regular VC. But we were finally at a place where we had IP, we had product, and it just kind of made sense, and it just so happens that when we actually got on the show, we were in a crunch and we needed that money. So the timing kind of worked out, and we got the right investors for our vertical.

What should founders know about the application and audition process?

When you go through the application process, you have to remember that these guys aren’t VCs, per se, these guys are TV producers. You have to have the fundamentals, you have to have the basics, you have to have the finances and you have to have a good product. You have to have all the things. But you really have to be able to tell a story. 

What you don’t want to do is hope that the producers will tell the story for you. People should think about applying to Shark Tank the way they would pitch to someone in the press. You don’t just send them some links and hope that they’ll come up with something; you give them all of your pitches and you find a way to give them as many angles as possible. 

Understand that these guys are looking for something that’s gonna grab eyeballs and keep their attention. Give that to them. Don’t be afraid to repeat the same thing in a few different places, and don’t be shy.

So, you made it to Los Angeles to be on the show. What was that like?

First, just because you make it to LA does not mean that you’re going to be getting air time. Even when you get to LA, you’re still competing, and you need any competitive edge you can get. And the best competitive edge that you can get is with the people who are going to be sitting around the table making the decision about who airs and who doesn’t. 

There are a lot of factors that factor into who airs. Part of it is whether or not you make a deal, but they need a mix of yeses and nos, so that’s not a guarantee. Making a deal does give you a higher probability of getting on air, but whether or not you get the deal, you’ve got to put on an incredible show. Give them the sob story; give them the heroic story arc. Give them something that makes them need to put this on air, independent of whether or not somebody actually gives you money. 

Then, there’s also getting the competitive edge with the decision makers. Everybody who you meet that day, you should be treating them like they are Mr. Wonderful himself. The legal team, the producers, the people who are taking you from one room to another. You don’t know who those people are, but they’ve been working with each other for a very long time. You never know who you’re making a good impression on by befriending the makeup artist. 

The last thing that I would say is to get as much information as you can. Don’t just let that day happen to you. Find out where you’re going to be, what time you’re going to be there and understand what the layout looks like. 

The pitches that we’re used to giving as founders and entrepreneurs are very different from doing it on the Shark Tank stage, so you want as much information as possible so you can pivot on a dime and insert an extra little tidbit here and give a little razzle dazzle there.

What has it been like since your Shark Tank deal?

It’s been challenging. I think that I made the right decision in taking the deal with the investors. But we’re a venture-backed company, and we took a really differentiated valuation for the Sharks.

Many of the folks in the technical beauty space have raised exponentially more capital than I have. Shark Tank put an end cap on what we were able to raise, and because of that, it forced me to go to the ground floor and think even more leanly than I had in the past. But I think, ultimately, given the information that I had at the time, and the information that I have still today, that Shark Tank absolutely benefited the company.

What other advice would you give to founders who get accepted to go to LA?

Enjoy yourself and have fun. I’ve had a lot of fun days as an entrepreneur, and that was the most fun I’ve had. 

You don’t get onto Shark Tank because you haven’t done the work. By the time you get there, you’ve done the work. This is your chance to enjoy the fruits of all that labor and just have fun connecting with people.