 This is start of star front approximately 20,000 businesses apply to be on Shark Tank each year. That means over all 14 seasons, they have received over a quarter million applications to be on the show. What's crazy is that only about 1200 or point 43% of the applicants make it on air. Some brands apply once, while some apply every year in the hopes of finally making it on the show. In today's episode, we chat with Mindy Zemrak, the casting producer for Shark Tank. Mindy and her team sort through all the applicants to decide what brands make the cut to be on the show. So if you've ever been curious about what it takes to make it on the Shark Tank floor, this is the episode for you. We discuss the most memorable Shark Tank pitch that left everyone in tears. Why after years of being surrounded by entrepreneurs, she's never once tempted to take the plunge herself and the four tips she tells every entrepreneur before they enter the tank. All right. Welcome to the podcast. We're talking to Mindy from casting from Shark Tank. Thanks for coming on the show. Thanks for having me. People who don't know. What do you do? I am the supervising casting producer for Shark Tank. And you've been on it for how long? I've been on it since season one. Since season one. Since the very beginning. Since the beginning. So you've seen a change. I've seen a change. I've seen entrepreneurship become accepted and mainstream and not looked down upon. I have seen a world. Talk about that. Was it looked down upon at the beginning? I believe it was. I think way back when the show began, no one was really going out and doing their own thing. There were some, but I don't think it was as widely accepted as it has been. You were kind of crazy, I guess, if you did that. Yeah. It was looked down upon. And so I think now it's, I mean, schools show Shark Tank to their students to teach them about business. There are college courses about entrepreneurship. There's majors in college and for entrepreneurship, and it's just wild to see when I started the show, I was much younger and now I'm, I'm a little older and it's, we're doing, we're in 15 right now. 15. Yeah. So it's been crazy. And it's been the original four sharks. And now you guys do some guest sharks to give them a little vacation, right? Correct. Yeah. To give them a vacation. Is that why they do it? No, they pretty good. They're like, I'm going to Italy this week. I can't. No, definitely not. No, I think that the nice thing about Shark Tank is, you know, you want to keep the show moving and progressing and staying ahead of the game or staying on trend. And with that comes making sure you bring in sharks who spice things up, have different, you know, industries that they can speak to. I think the addition of Daniel Lubecki and I'm agreed have, have changed the course of our show. You know, they're, they're amazing additions and we have some new ones coming this year. I can't tell you who. But they're, they're good. That's awesome. They're good ones. At some point. So you guys review how many applications per year today? Each season, each year, we get approximately 20,000 applications to go through. At what point do they meet you? At what point do they meet Mindy? Well, pre-COVID, they would meet me at an open call. And then the last three years, we have been grounded, as I like to say. We haven't been on the road at all. And this is the first year that we finally were allowed back out. So we've are now scouting trade shows. I'm actually heading to Chicago next week for a trade show scout. And then we did our first open call in three years back in March here in LA. And we'll be heading to Maryland in July. And so people only really meet me if I'm at an open call or at a trade show. Otherwise, if they apply online, they don't meet me. They talk to someone on our casting team. And they go through all of those rounds. And then if they make it all the way to filming, they could see me. Yeah. Because I'm running around set. Do you get harassed? People know who you are. They want to get like the secret ingredient? My DMs blow up. Actually, when I was driving here, I was like looking at my DMs, and I'm like, oh my God, there's so many messages. So they, they definitely hit up the DMs. Okay. So they tell people not to DM you, but usually they're probably asking you for advice. What's the thing that you would want them to know? All these companies that are applying besides like, have your shit in order. What would you tell them? We kind of have like three or four kind of like tips that we tell everyone. The first and foremost is be excited about what it is that you're pitching. You have to tell people that. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Like, hi guys. I'm here with new underwear line. You guys like my new underwear? So at our open calls, I give them a whole spiel. It's not American Idol. The people that don't do well won't be shown on TV. No. And we encourage everyone to come out. It is a big step. Like you are kind of bearing your soul to some of these people. You joked before we started recording, this is your therapy session. Welcome. In some ways it is a therapy session because they are taking what they've been working on probably, you know, in the depths of their homes or wherever and bringing out to a whole public display to judge, critique and hopefully get investment. And so when they're coming to an open call, they're applying online. We tell everyone, we don't have money to invest in you. I have none. And that's probably for the best. And so if you make it further down, you'll get more serious. But right now I just want to talk and get to know you because Shark Tank is 50% about your business or your product, but 50% about you and your backstory because everyone has a different backstory and a journey and our show is about promoting that and celebrating it because the Sharks could resonate with someone's story and then also four, five, six million viewers could resonate and then want to support that, you know, entrepreneur or product. So the four tips we give is one is be excited about and passionate about it because if you're not excited about it, how is anyone else supposed to get behind it and get excited about investing? The second thing is numbers. Now we know Mr. Wonderful will grill you till you are blue in the face about numbers. That's his thing. But from our perspective, if you don't have numbers for your prototype and your startup and you are pre rev, that is okay. Just tell us how you're different and unique, which goes right into the third point of tell us how you're different and unique these days. No one's really creating bread for the first time, but a lot of people or, you know, figuring out a wheel. Brasi bites is just done. They made cheesy bread. They're delicious too. Let me tell you crushing. Okay. Um, but if you are different and unique or doing a new spin, tell us how that is different and unique from anyone else on the market or already out there. Um, and then the fourth thing is to just really hammer home why you need an investment and we tell everyone, don't ask for all the money in the world. It's not money tank. Be strategic and you can always adjust your ask. Your ask is not set in stone until you're standing in front of those sharks and you're like, hi, my name is Mindy and I'm seeking blah, blah, blah. At that point, but you want to make sure that you're not overvaluing your company because then they might look at you and say, I can't get behind it. And the rule of Shark Tank is you have to walk away with what you ask for or more. You can't all of a sudden halfway through be like, yeah, this isn't going so well. How about I reduce my ask? You have to walk away with that. So those are kind of the big four things that we tell everyone in the casting process really get out initially because we'll get it in a split second. What's the red flag? Like what's the thing that most people can't cross over? Like what's the hump? Let's say there's a hump and everyone gets to a point and then there's like junior year thermodynamics and half the school, half the class is gone. What's what's the wipeout thing? There's not really any rounds or big hurdle or red flag to get through per se. It's just kind of you're in the process. Like we have 20,000 applications each year and our casting process starts in January and goes through the end of July. So it takes us months to get through everyone and the network execs and everyone are constantly reviewing every application that comes in and it's just really look and the sharks don't not and cannot know anything about anyone before they go in the tank. And that's on purpose because we want to catch it on camera and get their genuine reactions. If we bring in a naked man that they have to paint, which has happened. We did that once that happened. Yeah, we brought in like a paint and sip company and we brought in a man who disrobed. We strategically had a pineapple in front of things and Barbara was like Barbara and Lori were shocked. And Cuban was like, what the heck? So we always want to get on camera. I think they did. Yeah. I think they did once the guy removed the pineapple. Possibly what's like the surprise? We always say you're like, you're in the process until you're either on the show or maybe you didn't make it past a certain point. So it's just kind of like hanging on and don't change anything for the sake of Shark Tank, because it's such a small amount that get through. But we've had people that have applied 12 seasons in a row, nine seasons in a row, and then they finally get on. Oh, wow. Okay, so keep it going. That's interesting. What's a good backstory? Like in my head, I just went, I don't know why I did this, but in my head, I just went like emotional. Like, oh, I lost a fish when I was a kid. And then I wanted to create a fish tank where the fish wouldn't die. And here's my product. Like that. I don't know why that went in my head, but what's a good back? Is that a good backstory? It's emotional if it's if it's emotional and specific to you. That's a good backstory. Totally made it up by the way. No, I assume the thing about backstories is everyone automatically thinks and I think there's a stigma that has to be sad. It has to pull on your strengths. It doesn't because your journey is different from his, from hers, from mine, and that's what makes you special and unique. It's not, let me tell you all the things. Now we tell everyone when you're, you know, when you go in the tank or even way before like at a casting call, if I want to get to know you and your company, I want to know also the hurdles that you've gone through. They don't have to be sad. It could be something like I sold my house might be sad, maybe not, maybe you did it for the sake and passion of your company. So everyone's different, but your backstory is really just about the journey you've been on to get here and maybe what you've had to give up or what you've encountered. And that's what we like to shed light on. Do you guys help them on the rehearsal side of it in terms of like, so usually on TV anyway, we'll see that there's like a beautiful setup, a beautiful presentation. How much work goes into that from your side working with these brands? So I don't, we don't do much on the casting side of things. Once they're, once they get through kind of the first couple rounds and they get to producer teams, we let the producer teams deal with them. They do rehearse and work on their pitch because timing wise, it has to be dialed in and then they work with the art department in terms of this is what we'd like for our display, but there's also a matter of, you know, weight and dimensions and we can't bring in like camel. Well, maybe we could bring in a camel. You never know. We've had other animals in there before, but, you know, certain size cars fit and whatnot. So there's a lot of back stuff and new diligence that we do on our and that no one sees because we have to do a lot of it, but there's, I can't really go into too much detail. If there's a process in terms of like, if they have a product, do you try the product? Oh, yes, you do. Well, we have to try everything. And if it's bad, you'll, you'll tell them. I don't tell them. Everyone has their own, you know, but if it's bad, let's just say you have a good, no, no, no, pre-sharks, pre-sharks, like during the application, maybe when they get accepted on the show, do you try the products? We try everything. We have to, we have to vet everyone because we have to make sure that if your product's not good, you're probably not going to make it on. Well, safe to say it's, it's all subjective. You may not like the drink of something you're trying, but I might. And, you know, everyone has a different palette, as you said, but if the product does not work after we vetted it, it might not be a good fit because then it's not really good to put a company on a national television when your product isn't working. So maybe we would wait until improvements have happened, you know? Can you give me a story of a product that didn't work? No, I cannot. I'm under NDA. It's funny, but sometimes when you see Mark and he'll go into his like, this is a scam. Yes, Mark gets very heated and passionate about supplement companies mostly, but in there are a lot of supplement companies, unfortunately, who have taken our likeness and scamming people. So please be aware of that. Of all this time working, who is, what is your most memorable like moment during the casting? During the casting or during the show's run? Let's say during the casting and then we'll do the show's run. So during actually it's the same for casting and for the run of the show. It was when I reached out to the young family of Cupboard Pro, which Matt and all other four other sharks all invested in. And it was season 10. They all invested in all five sharks invested on that panel that day. And when I emailed Kaylee, I knew about what her father had created. I saw an article and her, their father had passed away about a month to the day that I emailed her and they lost their mother to, I believe it was breast cancer a couple of years prior. And they had just lost their father, who was a first responder at 9-11. And he passed away from 9-11 related illnesses. And so when I talked to Kaylee a month later and then when they actually ended up coming out to film, it was Father's Day weekend, totally not planned. And then they got a deal. It was very like, OK, Keith, we know you're looking down on them right now. And it was you could hear a pin drop and every single person on that set was in tears because that's something that affected the entire country, but really affected this family. And those three kids were in our orphans, but they've really rallied together. And that was out of everyone who have installed all the other entrepreneurs we've had on that one was like that one meant the most for sure. Did it make you think differently about the show? And maybe it's impact in terms of like maybe following that trend. And so less venture capital, more purpose, more mission driven. Yes, absolutely. And that's the thing that I think I love the most about Shark Tank is you see companies that sure come in and their Silicon startups or whatnot and they get that funding and everything. But for me, it's about the entrepreneurs and what they've gone through and what they're currently going through to just hustle and really just put your nose to the ground and go, go, go. And they weren't giving up on their father's dream and it became a bigger thing. And just, you know, that's to me, it's it's one of the pinnacle highlights of my casting career was meeting that family and then seeing how it all ended up down the road. And they've given back to that fire department, that firehouse, you know, a lot of funding. And it's it's it's amazing. You can't make that up. Who's your favorite guest shark? You like a transition there? I do that. Well, now I feel like you want me to say, Matt, we I miss Matt. Matt, Matt, who Matt Higgins, what a legend. I do love Matt Higgins. Thank you, Matt, for introducing the both of us, by the way. No, Matt is great. Definitely miss him. But, you know, all the shark, all the guest sharks are very different. What is the vetting process for them? I'm not involved with that at all. Sometimes when I watch, I'm like, I wonder if they actually make investments or if they're just here to sort of entertain, which is fine, to know they certainly make investments. Like the whole point of from what I know, and I'm not involved with the shark side of things, except for I film social media for the show when we're filming. But from a guest shark perspective, I am not involved. I'm only on the entrepreneur side, but I know that if they come in, they are absolutely ready to go and invest because they have that experience and they want to kind of, you know, open up their portfolio a bit more. Yeah. So, and it's all their money. It's no one else's. That's true. That's one thing Matt said, actually, he said, like, it's very primal. Yes. He says, like, you watch them on TV and you're thinking they're just throwing jabs at each other. But the reality is it's like, they're really betting their money. Oh, yes. And in some cases, they're fighting for the entrepreneur to, like, pick them. Yeah. And that's hard. And the judgment is also like what they've done. And maybe it's an entrepreneur is doing their own analysis of like, do I even want this shark? Exactly. Maybe there's how they have the reputation or they're just not the right fit, but landing a deal maybe maybe gets me on TV. And so there's all this analysis happening in real time. And it's like super primal in nature, which I think is like the coolest. I think that's for me, that's the coolest part of the show. There's like an anthropological part of me that just goes, oh, this is human nature. It's wild because a lot of entrepreneurs come out of the tank and then they're like, what happened? They black out. Oh, totally. They're like, what happened? I was in there for, I was in there for two hours and we were like, you're in there for 45 minutes. And so, and it's funny because you mentioned Jim and say, but they blacked out after they came out and take Mindy, what happened? And I was like, let me fill you in. You got a deal. Top five companies you remember? You like the most? So I can tell you the top five or six actually most successful companies thus far. So scrub daddy, obviously the one that everyone knows probably the most I'd say at this point, but there's also the books, which is the flower company there. So scrub daddy, the books, bombas. I only wear bomba socks. I will tell you that. They're so good. They're the best. I miss that one. I was I was late to the bombas party. You can join now. No, I am in it. I just mean like on the investment side, I was, it was like, I wish I had. And then Everly Well is also a very successful company of ours. And they did a deal with Lori and then Love Pop greeting cards, which did a deal with Kevin. And so those are kind of like the big top six right now. The comfy's not in there. Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot the comfy. Yes, the comfy, of course. And I have one of their original prototypes. What's how big is it, by the way? Is it like a blanket? Oh, were they too big or too small, the original prototypes? They were perfect. Oh, perfect. They came down to like my shin and or just below my knee. And it's just like a warm, comfy hug that I just I have one of actually, I have Mr. Wonderful's prototype that they gave him. And then I got it. No, it's gray. Oh, so it's perfect. It's perfect. I love gray. Yeah. But yeah, it's such a fascinating. Yeah, we talked to obviously we were talking about this before, but when we had them on the podcast, I just thought it was crazy that they'd go on there with a prototype. No business, no sales. Well, they only had four prototypes. They didn't even have five and there's five sharks on every panel. So they didn't have enough to hand out. They were like, you can share this one. Which kind of fits the, I mean, that's what it is. That's the grind. Yeah, use what you have. Yep. But that story, I think that's just so brazen to go in a room asking for money with no sales. We met them in Denver at a casting call and they had a whole jingle and everything. And I remember we, because we asked, as mentioned, we talk about, you know, we have to vet all the samples and we were, but we tell everyone, don't send us your prototype because that's your prototype and we don't send samples back. So, you know, because we have to vet it. So we were like, in this instance, can you just send us the prototype? We will send it back and thank thank goodness they did because that ultimately helped, I think, help move them forward in the process was, I was putting it on and be like, oh, okay, we like this. It's comfy. What does Mindy the human like in terms of like, so you meet entrepreneurs all the time who are bringing you products. So is your house just full of all these things all the time? No. Like we have a podcast. We get things shipped here all the time. And at the beginning it's cool. And then you're kind of like overwhelmed. Like you only have so many friends you can give free stuff to. But what, what is it like for you? We have a whole office of samples of mail and I don't like opening mail just because I hate packing peanuts with a passion. My casting team knows us. They'll play pranks on me and like post them up, stick them on the walls. And I, I hate packing peanuts. Anyways, but there's a ton of mail every single day from months and months and months, you know, we all work from home now still because of COVID. Not that it is a thing anymore, but we're just working from home. But we do have an office where everyone sends samples. So we just open up samples and mail every single day. And then when I'm pitching companies to the executives, that is when they start interacting with all the samples and products and everything. And then if they move through the process, then, you know, more people have to vet that product. So it goes through a couple rounds and no, I don't have a lot in my house. I, I like, I'm a simple church and state and keep it separate. When it comes to you seeing all these products, you've probably seen everything ever invented or like a version of something. Are you ever like, I wish I would see this. I wish someone would just invent maybe, maybe, maybe a packing peanut that doesn't do the thing that I don't know. I just get rid of packing peanuts. No, every year, I mean, we get a lot of stuff that you don't see that we'll never see the light of day on the show. And every year we see interesting items is what I'll say. Maybe not, you know, not safe for work type products and stuff like that. So it's never a dull moment. But every year I'm like, man, I've seen it all. And then the following year I'm like, well, I haven't seen that. So, you know, on genuity and everything is still well working out there. But it's, it never, never ceases to amaze me that after 15 years, people are still coming up with amazing things and things that I'm like, OK, well, yeah, why, why didn't I think of that? But I'm like, I don't want to start a business like the company. Personally. So that's another question. So you've been so close to it for so long where you're seeing these entrepreneurs, you're interviewing them, you're getting to them really well. There hasn't been a single part of you that said, let me go. Let me go do this. Never. You never got the bug. Nope. I like what I do. I meet a lot of amazing people. I obviously have fun doing my job. But it does seem like a fun job. I love it. It is one of the best because I also change people's lives in some way. Some. Yes. Some. Yeah. And hopefully everyone has a good experience going through the process, whether they make it on the show or not. And a lot of people say I didn't make it on this year and they apply the next year and they're like, man, I learned so much or they made connections standing in line with someone at an open call. And so there's all of that. But I don't want there's a lot of hard work. And I tip my hat to all entrepreneurs that do it. Some people have said I'm an entrepreneur in my own way. And I kind of see it, but I also disagree. I just don't have any inkling at all to embark on a journey where I start a business. And I have a lot of friends that do and it's just it's just not for me. But I applaud everyone that tries and goes through because I know it is not easy. After all the data, though, being so close to it, do you think you could write like a like a how to land on Shark Tank book? Probably, right? You could be like, and it's probably mostly like, don't do these things. Yeah, I would hope so. At this point, I'd have to get a lot of approval. So yeah, not assuming you will. But no, I wouldn't. But no, I mean, you know, people are always like, you repeat the same tips and I'm like, but that's the honest truth. Like that's I'm not if there was a secret sauce, I would tell everyone. But it's just be yourself. Tell us what sets you apart. Be excited and, you know, see what happens to be excited. One's funny. I find that so fascinating. So I'm like, how would you not be excited? The potential of of being on the show alone? Well, I think I think a lot of people are shy and not everyone that comes on Shark Tank is going on to be on a television show, per se. So I always try to and say, don't look at it as a television show. Look at it as you are going into a board meeting. It's just a little more fun, not as laced up and, you know, rigid. And so you can have fun. You can make fun of Mr. Wonderful's bald head or Mark's shark socks or whatever. Well, I don't tell them that, but I'm like, but you see people make jabs at them for that all the time. I find that so interesting, too. I'm like, well, how would you do that? It's a wonderful TV. He does. He likes to get poked. Listen, he has a good time. He has a good time in there. He's intense, but he has a good time. What are some of the things that you know that the average viewer doesn't know? Well, I don't even know where to start. You'd have to ask like specifics like maybe there's 20,000 companies that apply. 20,000 apply. How many would you say you see or sit down? Well, we look at every single application that comes through. Right. And then. And then from there, they vet down. We don't have set quotas. That's the nice thing. So we just look at every single one. I think that's what surprises people. They're like, that is surprising. A lot of people at OpenCalls, how many people are you taking from this? As many as I. It's not like an admission class. No, in terms of making it to the next round, those that end up on the show depends on our episode order, which we just got renewed for 15 yesterday officially. Episodes. No, season 15 officially. And then the episode order is TBD still. But usually we air anywhere from 22 to 24, 25 episodes. You're looking at 88 to 100 that make it to air. So from 20,000 to 100. There's a drop off. How many words? Yeah, that's what I was asking before. So from 20,000, you see 20,000. We see thousands that go through. OK. To the following rounds. Yeah. And then as they make it through, because we do background checks and patent checks and entity searches, we do a ton of vetting on our end because we have to. So if you have like a criminal history that you don't get on the show, it depends. Everything's case by case. Depends what you've done. Yeah. Tila Pita told us that. Hector said, he's like, I think my they know more about I think Mindy knows about me more than my wife. I saw that quote the other day and it made me laugh because I'm like, well, we do a lot of reading on those applications. How many seasons do you think this the entire show will go? Like is there shark fatigue? I don't know. Viewers love the show. It seems like it's done super well. Streaming hasn't affected it really. No, I think streaming has helped, honestly, because a lot of people it's funny because we're in syndication on other networks and even when I fly, all of a sudden I'll look at the TV in front of me on my airplane and I'm like, oh, there's Mr. Wonderful, like I can't get away from it. Even when I'm flying to go do something for Shark Tank, I'm seeing the show. But I think the syndication and the streaming things going viral on TikTok now, like there's opened up a whole different can of worms, which is a good thing. I hope that the show keeps going for a while. But you just don't know. But entrepreneurship is certainly only gaining speed. It's not slowing down, especially with everything that's happened in the last year with banks and Silicon Valley and everything and just the economy. It's similar to when we started the show. I was going to say 2008. Yeah, it's like the same exact thing happening all over again. Exactly. So it'll be very interesting next month when we start filming to see what happens, to see if there's a shift from the last couple of years that we've seen in the tank. I mean, during COVID, more LLCs got started than I think at any other time, probably since 2008. Yep. Yeah. They all put their jobs or lost their jobs and they just ventured out. And the thing that always gets me with TV shows is for some reason people want to like spice it up in some way. But it seems like the Shark Tank has a formula. You don't need to spice anything up. It's like you have the spice are the startups, the different products. And Mr. Wonderful. And Mr. Wonderful wearing red more often. Well, he has his signature suit and the watch. The watch thing, the red watch and the pen. Now he does a pen that matches his watch. I had to do a whole series last year for social about his pens and his watch. So every day I'd be like, Kevin, let's do it. The last question I want to ask you is when I I'm going to apply on Shark Tank, by the way. Oh, we're going to launch a company. OK. It's called Fatty Balls. It's not a joke. You're getting an exclusive like this is a year. A year. Fatty Balls. Season 17. OK, so we're recording this. This is like me telling you the future. OK. It's going to be me and a chef. His name is Chef Kuo. OK. He has little fatty and marbista. I've been. So good. Yeah. And so he's got this meatball that he makes that's like gone viral on all these social media platforms. I've not had that. And so we're going to make this a consumer package. Good. A CPG company. And after like by that point, we'll have like 300 episodes of this podcast out. Yeah. And so I'm just like learning from all of these individuals. And it's like, we're just going to package that. And we're going to take all the learnings. I'm going to start a company and we think we have the right team, the right socials team, the chef, the whole thing. And then we're going to do it. I'm going to go on Shark Tank. I'm going to see you again. Listen, I look forward to that day. That would be cool. That would be cool. It would be a cool story. Yeah. I mean, you know how to. First backstory. Now you know how to. You like to pass the backstory test. Thank you, Matt. Thank you, Matt. I do. Yes. But I look forward to that. And you know how to find me if you want to find you now. Yeah. No, we'll see online. We'll see. That's the idea. We'll see what happens. All right. Mindy, thank you. Thank you for helping all these new entrepreneurs get through their process and not enter your DMs. The DMs will probably still blow up, but it's it's a very special show to be part of. Like I said, I cast a lot of different shows also, but this one certainly to be a small part in seeing someone's business and dream really get pushed to another level. It's really special to just kind of see them reach heights that they've never dreamed of. Hello. That's cool. Well, thank you for coming on. Thanks for having me. If you made it this far, I bet you loved the episode. So you should join our YouTube channel membership for only $2.99 a month. This gets you access to one, the whole unabridged conversation. Two, you get the episodes on Monday, one day earlier. Three, you get two additional entries to our giveaways. Check out our Instagram to see what we've given away. And four, you get access to seasons one through three. That's over a hundred episodes of wisdom and life-changing advice. What are you waiting for? Join.