Ever heard of Shark Tank? That American reality TV show where Kevin O’Leary demands large equity from entrepreneurs in return for helping them grow their ideas. Well, this show has been popular outside of the U.S. too as it reached countries like Ireland, Russia, Australia, Spain, and Croatia. Interestingly, we learned that Shark Tank started as a show in Japan. The first version of the show aired in Japan in 2001, and it was called “Money Tigers.” Today, we can assure you that Shark Tank has arrived in the land of the pharaohs, with its own Egyptian version that makes Egypt the 47th country to host its own edition. Set to air on network television in Jan. 2023, Shark Tank will be introducing some new changes to the startup scene in Egypt.
Shark Tank’s Goals
So, what is the show really about? The producers of the ABC reality series claimed that “Shark Tank” aims to give entrepreneurs and inventors a chance to pitch their business models to a panel of investors and persuade them to invest money in their ideas. The sharks (as they call them on the show) can be either harsh or encouraging and then decide whether they would like to invest money in their ideas along with negotiating an equity percentage. Whether it’s a start-up or a business that’s already operating successfully and looking to expand, this show poses an opportunity for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and expand locally and internationally.
The Event At The Grand Egyptian Museum
Yesterday, the Grand Egyptian Museum witnessed the launch of Shark Tank’s event that aims to reveal who the sharks will be. The Grand Egyptian Museum hosted a number of events prior to this one like the Dior launch of the 2023 Men’s Pre-Fall Collection. Moreover, It was revealed that the likes of Ahmed El Sewedy (President & CEO of El Sewedy Electric) and Mohamed Ismail (Co-Founder & Chairman of Infinity Group) will be leading the panel. It’s also worth mentioning that Shark Tank was brought to Egypt with the creative minds of Amr Mansi, co-founder of Innovative Media Productions (IMP), and Ahmed Luxor, co-founder of IMP.
Shahira Marei, the creator, and CEO of Dirty Cookie and one of the previous Egyptian candidates on Shark Tank U.S., also appeared at the event. Other business moguls like Ahmed Abou Hashima also made an appearance, confirming his intentions and willingness to back up brand-new businesses.
Drawbacks
The fact that sharks rarely or never take high-risk investments is one of the show’s flaws that is present in many countries’ editions (and that we hope changes over this season). This popular show among entrepreneurs has a major downside in that it forces business owners to forfeit equity in exchange for a capital infusion. This implies that someone else now oversees your business in addition to you. Consequently, they will have a say in what you do when you enlist their help to access their wealth, and you might not agree with the route they want you to take.
The next disadvantage, according to Aimee Barreto, is a direct result of adding more partners. Depending on the proportion you provided them, you might no longer own a controlling portion of your company. They will now be taking a piece of your profits, which could change your ability to pay back some of your loans.
What does this mean to Egypt?
The Shark Tank show will undoubtedly give several Egyptian entrepreneurs the chance to show off their creativity and the chance to persuade one of the sharks to fund their ideas. In the past, there has been a lack of interest from investors and mentors to help young entrepreneurs reach new heights of excellence. As a result, individuals who had ambitions of converting their ideas into profitable businesses had their hopes dashed. With the debut of this new show, we can only hope that it will help boost Egypt’s startup scene and inspire new businesses to grow throughout the Middle East rather than only in Egypt.
Young entrepreneurs will have a great opportunity to develop their own business models and will have the confidence and communication skills needed to take advantage of the investor’s financial backing and knowledge in many industries to go beyond merely a concept.
