At 9 o’clock on most Friday nights, there’s only one place to look for John and me: in front of our TV, watching Shark Tank :) Perhaps not as hopping as your Friday night plans, but we adore this show, and love to talk about it with anyone who will listen! Today, y’all are my captive audience :) We started watching in the second season, in 2011. I was headed to a conference where one of the sharks, real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, was the keynote speaker, which sparked my interest in the show. By the time the conference rolled around, we were hooked! At this particular conference, attendees are randomly split into small groups for dinner with the speakers. I practically levitated out of my seat when I found out I was one of eight dining with Barbara! Our dinner lasted about four hours (!), and she was so genuinely interested in what everyone did and the market segments they operated in. (As a side note, I’m not surprised that intense curiosity is one of Barbara’s defining character traits – I think a desire to continuously learn is a mark of most successful people. It’s something I noticed about Martha Stewart when I attended a taping of her show a few years ago.) For those who aren’t familiar with it, the show features a panel of potential investors (sharks) who consider offers from entrepreneurs (of varying levels of success) seeking investments in their businesses or products. Many investors leave without a deal, some partner up with one investor, and a few, with more than one. As the show has become more popular, even just appearing on the show without getting a deal can cause a huge spike in orders. I actually really like all of the sharks for different