What Shark Tank investor Daymond John looks for in a business pitch | Big Think

What Shark Tank investor Daymond John looks for in a business pitch

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As a successful entrepreneur, investor, and one of the stars of 'Shark Tank,' Daymond John is used to being pitched business ideas. In this interview, he shares what separates bad pitches from great pitches.

Beyond the idea, how well (or not) he and potential business partners will work together is a big factor.

Proof that the person did their research and some of the legwork beforehand also goes a long way.

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DAYMOND JOHN:

Daymond John is an original cast member on ABC's four-time Emmy Award winning show "Shark Tank" and a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship under the Obama Administration.

Check Daymond John's latest book Powershift: Transform Any Situation, Close Any Deal, and Achieve Any Outcome

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TRANSCRIPT:

DAYMOND JOHN: I get asked all the time what do I look for in a great pitch. Influence is the first thing. And somebody may say what do you mean influence? Well, how do you create influence for this pitch. Do you think it becomes stage one and then stage two? No. Influence is if you happen to be in an elevator with me and you didn't know you were ever going to meet Daymond John. You have 90 seconds and you pitch me. You're going to have to be able to tell me something fairly quickly how it's of interest to me and how you have done well with it and leave a card for me to look into you later on.

I'm going to go immediately to one of your social media accounts and that's where I'm going to either see if influence was planted over the years or not. What do you believe in? Who are you around? What are your causes? And I either look there and say I don't want this type of person in my life and I'll never call you back or I'll look there and say I've been looking for this person my entire life. This is a problem solving person that believes in the things that I believe in. And whether I work with this person or not they're going to be a success no matter what so I've got to find that person.

And then in regards to pitching people, it's not transactional at the moment. You almost never get anywhere in the initial pitch. People believe that they're supposed to walk away like Shark Tank with $500,000 or a million dollars. We do our due diligence when those people way after. 80 percent of those deals close and it takes anywhere from six to nine months to close. But did you create influence and then how was the negotiation? When you were talking to me did you listen to what I wanted or did you sit there and tell me your problems. Remember the old saying don't tell people your problems. 20 percent of people don't care, the other 80 percent are really happy that you have them. So make sure that throughout the negotiation you're communicating like your face is, one mouth, two ears. That means you talk once and you listen twice. Because the things that I'm saying at the table if you keep cutting me off or assuming you're never going to hear it because the most important things through communication when people are negotiating are in the last couple of words that they're saying. Remember, they're coming down this rabbit hole all the way to land right here and a lot of people aren't letting them land.

Are you making sure that you're helping me solve the problem by saying how can I make this easier for you? What are your obstacles? Where do you see this going? And that's the importance of negotiation. It's not a one transaction thing and it's all about it, what's in it for the other person on the other side of the table.

Various other things I look for in a pitch. I look for first of all confidence. I look for the fact that the person has went down the road, they have failed a couple of times but they act, they learn and then they repeat it. They still have passion about this project and they know all the other things they don't need to do. I look at the person themselves. Will they be a problem solver or a problem creator. So whether you're pitching me to come work in my office or you're pitching me to have a business with you, can I stand sitting next to you for...

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