For billionaire investor Mark Cuban, the “best deals” on ABC’s “Shark Tank” happen when entrepreneurs pitch a unique product that he hadn’t thought of creating himself.
“There’s some 12-year-old kids somewhere coming up with an idea to do things in a way that we never would have envisioned,” Cuban said during a Q&A session at the George W. Bush Center on Oct. 21.
When “that 12-year-old comes up with an idea, on ‘Shark Tank’ or anywhere,” and presents, “I think to myself, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?'” he said. “Those are always the best deals.”
The Sharks have often invested in innovative pitches from young entrepreneurs on the show.
For example, Cuban invested $100,000 in Simple Sugars, a skincare company created by Lani Lazzari, on season four of the show. He was impressed with her product, and together, they built Simple Sugars into a multimillion-dollar company.
He called Lazzari his “favorite entrepreneur” in 2017.
“When I invested, she was 19. When she was 11, she had eczema and wanted to come up with a natural based scrub to help with her eczema,” Cuban said at an Oxford Union Q&A in 2017. “Lani is my favorite entrepreneur because she’s so driven and she wants to keep an edge.”
Though he did not invest, Cuban was also super impressed with kid-entrepreneurs Sofi Overton, the then-13-year-old who pitched her sock company on season 11, and Ehan Kamat, the then-17-year-old who pitched a roller to eliminate foot pain on season nine, as he thought both their products were innovative.
Cuban could relate to these young entrepreneurs, because he started selling products as a kid.
“I sold garbage bags door-to-door when I was 12 years old because my dad told me the only way I could get new basketball shoes was if I had a job,” he said on a 2019 episode of GQ’s “Actually Me.”
Throughout his teens, Cuban resold baseball cards, stamps and coins. He also worked as a box boy and laid carpet, among other “random jobs,” he said in 2019. In college, Cuban said he hosted disco parties and gave dance lessons to pay for his tuition.
So Cuban is sold “when I see an entrepreneur come on and present, [and] I think to myself, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?'”
Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to “Shark Tank.”
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