Go 'Beyond the Tank' with 'Shark' alumni
Correction:Shark Tank contestant Evan Mendelsohn's name was spelled incorrectly in a previous version of this story, due to a typo in press kit materials.
Those follow-up segments on Shark Tank have grown like sea monkeys.
Friday, the ABC franchise launches a spinoff, Beyond the Tank (9 ET/PT), which revisits the entrepreneurs who've appeared on past seasons of the show, many of whom received seed money from the Sharks. Three episodes will run in May with more to follow next fall.
Clay Newbill, an executive producer for both shows, says Beyond the Tank is all about "what happens after the deal is made. We'll let the public pull back the curtain and see what it takes to run a company." Leslie Garvin, who will oversee the new series, adds, "We're showing all the triumphs and hiccups along the way."
In Friday's opener, which follows an episode of Shark Tank (8 ET/PT), we catch up with two companies from Season 5: California's Tipsy Elves and their ugly Christmas-sweater business, and Al "Bubba" Baker, the former pro football player behind Deboned Baby Back Ribs, a less-messy take on the meat treat.
Both are at a crossroads. The Tipsy Elves (Evan Mendelsohn and Nick Morton) are trying to expand beyond their seasonal business, and Morton is weighing whether to leave his dentist job to commit fulltime. Tipsy Elves pulled in $7.5 million last year, making it the most profitable investment by shark Robert Herjavec.
Meanwhile, Baker is having trouble meeting customer demand for his ribs after choosing a vendor who was not up to the task. Shark Daymond John, who invested $300,000 in Deboned, visits him in Ohio and to try to right the ship.
"We're also telling some stories of people who didn't get a deal," Newbill says. "What happened to them? Were they able to apply the takeaway advice the Sharks gave them?"
One of them is Carter Kostler, the "kidpreneur" whose soda-swilling younger brother inspired him to start Define Bottle, a fruit-infused water business with $300,000 from his parents, who took out a second mortgage. "He was devastated when he didn't get a deal," Garvin says, "but it gave him the drive to keep going." As for whether his parents are still in their house, "you'll have to watch and see," the producers tease.
"(The entrepreneurs) have great stories," Newbill says. "Running a business is fluid. One day you're on top of the world and a week later, you're wondering if you'll have to close your doors. It's an ebb and flow, and that's the story we want to tell. "
