Abstract

"Most Sharks Swim Alone, but Those on 'Shark Tank' Only Pretend to Do So"

Daniel Horowitz, Smith College (dhorowit@smith.edu)

The Reality Television show Shark Tank often pictures contestants and investors as individualistic entrepreneurs. This image confirms the widely-held impression that in the United States since the 1950s there has been a shift from William H. Whyte’s The Organization Man (1956) to the lone entrepreneur. In fact, of course, cooperative activities more accurately characterize what appears off screen, something we can see in two realms—the organizations that create the show and how the Sharks (aka investors) interact with contestants who are successful on screen.

Mark Burnett, whose production company developed the show, portrays himself as a self-made man who rose from rags as a working-class Brit to riches, now estimated at $500 million. As the memoir of his second wife reveals, when he struck it rich with Survivor he switched his description of his role in their marriage from part of “we” to a lone “I.” Moreover, what is required to present the show are hundreds of employees off screen as well as a panoply of international corporations.

Though the six principal Sharks portray themselves as entrepreneurs who act alone, they are organization men and women, albeit not in Whyte’s mold. Shark Tank-related enterprises represent only a small portion of their sprawling and complicated operations. After an agreement is struck in 8 minutes on screen, negotiations begin with what we do not see--between a contestant and a team composed of lawyers, accountants, and managers. Moreover, despite impressions offered by the production company, in those cases for which an agreement is finalized, successful investors have little contact with Sharks but more extensive interactions with representatives of their organizations.

An examination of Shark Tank enables us to understand key aspects of the shift from what Whyte pictured to the world we inhabit.