Photo: Disney/Daniel Delgado Jr.
Part 1 of 5 in the Shark Tank Chronicles
Tonight, Tyler Stelter, Neat's COO, and I walked out of a sauna and pitched Neat Apparel to the Sharks.
If you watched, thank you. If you missed it, watch it on ABC or Hulu.
Now for the part the cameras didn't show: how we got there.
How did Neat Apparel get on Shark Tank?
About a year before we filmed, I filled out a Google Form to apply and then forgot about it. When the producers emailed asking for a video, we sent a demonstration of our sweatproof shirt, passed a live pitch to the show's executive team, and about five weeks later flew from Seattle to Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta to film.
How we applied to Shark Tank: a Google Form
About a year before we filmed, I filled out a Google Form to apply for Shark Tank. That was it. No insider. No warm intro. No open call. A form on the internet.
Then I forgot about it.
Running Neat doesn't leave much room for waiting by the phone. We had a product to sell, ads to run and inventory to chase. Shark Tank became one of those "someday" ideas that disappears into the back of your brain.
Then we got an email: record a video
An email came in. The producers wanted us to record a video.
I read it twice. And I was 99% sure it was spam.
So I decided to go all in.
We know what works with ads: extreme demonstration, like the water balloon test or the sauna test.
So we sent a video of me popping out of a sauna. Little did we know that five weeks later we would be flown from Seattle to Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta to film.
From video to the Tank: five weeks to get ready
We sent the video and waited a week.
Then we got the look.
We passed the first round of approval and were headed to the executive team. That required a live pitch. Tyler and I rehearsed like we were trying out for the high school theater production. After one dry run on a Sunday, we got the approval.
We were going in the Tank.
Once we were in, the show assigned us a performance team to coach how we pitch, how our display looked and how our set was built.
Tyler and I have run companies before. Pitching on national TV is a different sport. We had about a month to learn it.
It was on!
Shark Tank application: quick answers
How did Neat Apparel apply to Shark Tank?
With a Google Form, about a year before filming. There was no insider or warm intro.
What did the audition video show?
An extreme demonstration of our sweatproof shirt, including a sauna test, because demonstrations are what work in our ads.
Where was Shark Tank filmed?
At Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. We flew in from Seattle.
How long did we have to prepare?
About five weeks, with a performance team from the show coaching our pitch, display and set.
Next in the Shark Tank Chronicles
In Part 2: the mock pitch we ran for founder friends in Seattle. It went terribly. The reason why is a little complicated.
Neat Apparel makes sweatproof shirts for men. Want to see what Neat is all about? Shop Neat's sweatproof shirts.
