Swimming With Sharks

As the ever-popular Shark Tank enters its fourth season, Dr Glen Richards offers some advice to would-be entrepreneurs.

- Daniel Herborn

Born into a family of small business operators, Dr Glen Richards had an entrepreneurial spirit long before his role as a ‘shark’ on popular TV show Shark Tank. Jokingly describing himself as an overnight success 21 years into his career, he started out as a vet before eventually gravitating towards more entrepreneurial pursuits, a transition he says was driven by timing and opportunity. Today, he helps others make that leap as one of the titular sharks on the program, which is currently on the air.

For the uninitiated, the popular show sees Richards and colleagues, all highly successful self-made business people, evaluate business pitches from budding entrepreneurs. The ‘tank’ comprises Boost Juice founder Janine Allis, tech investor Steve Baxter, investor and film producer Andrew Banks, and RedBalloon founder Naomi Simson. The show follows competitors as they make their pitch for investment to the quintet, face a grilling and, hopefully, emerge with financing and mentorship. Many competitors have gone on to run flourishing businesses.