Why do the Shark Tank investors decline Mo’s deal? Support your answer with evidence from the text that is either directly state
d or implied.
The Text:
By the time I was twelve, I was selling over $1,000 in bow ties annually. That’s when I got an email from the producers of Shark Tank, a show that gives entrepreneurs the chance to present their companies in front of a panel of investors. At first, my mom turned down the offer—she didn’t know what the show was. But when we started doing research and kept in contact with the producers, she agreed to let me fly to California to film. I decided to ask the investors for $50,000 for a fifteen-percent stake in my company. For months, I recited lines, practicing in front of a camera, my parents and occasionally my teddy bears. Despite my preparation, when the day finally came, I was terrified. Walking down the blue-lit hallway, I gripped my mom’s hand so tightly that five years later, she still jokes that I cut off her circulation. When the producers cued me to begin, my brain went empty and the words I had practiced fell away. After a deep breath, I somehow gathered myself and recited my pitch. But none of the sharks wanted to take the deal I’d offered. They told us we didn’t need their help, that we were growing at the right speed and should keep the company’s ownership for ourselves. One investor, Kevin, offered to contribute to my business if I gave him three dollars for every tie I sold for the life of the company, but all of the other sharks told me not to take the deal. I declined, leaving the stage with no deal, but with the promise of a mentorship from another investor, Daymond John. As I walked backstage, my eyes filled with tears and I started sobbing. My goal for months had been to leave with a deal, and I had failed. The moment when I messed up my pitch replayed in my head. But as time passed, I realized that the sharks had actually given me a gift.
