NCAA Tournament March Madness My Bracket Tips and Insight

     Hey guys I know this is a business blog lol, but if anyone truly knows me being a former college basketball player this is by far my favorite time of the year sports wise. The NCAA tournament is my favorite sporting event, yes even over the super bowl lol.  So in saying that lets take a moment and step away from business for a minute and lets talk some NCAA tournament basketball for all the college basketball fans. So here are my tips and rules to follow in filling out your bracket. And what teams to stay away from and who are some sleepers.

     First before you start filling out your bracket there are 3 crucial rules that I follow every single year. 

 Rule #1 Never pick a 16 seed over a 1 seed upset. It will happen one day there have been a few really close calls but it hasn't happened yet so don't put your eggs in that basket.

Rule #2 Always have at least one double digit seed between a 10 seed and a 13 seed to make the sweet 16. It happens basically every single year.

Rule #3 NEVER EVER UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES!!!!!! Put all 4 #1 seeds in the Final Four it does not happen. Only once in the entire history of the NCAA tournament has that happened. So don't do it. In reality you should look for at least 2 #1 seeds that will go down potentially one of them at the sweet 16 round.

     Picking upsets is a little difficult mainly because you have to have some luck in hoping it actually happens. When looking for potential upsets I look for two things. first thing is looking for teams I'm very certain are over-seeded aka Over-rated and got seeded too high. The second thing I look for is for the higher seeded team that could get upset is inconsistent guard play and lack of match-up problems. Power 5 teams that don't have major match-up advantages against the little guy are always vulnerable. Most of these smaller schools and mid majors already have great guard play that's why there in the tourney now, but a lot of them don't have a lot of depth or size down low so if they play a power 5 school that doesn't have legit big men that causes problems for them down low and or plays small ball a lot watch out.  (Yeah I'm talking to you Villanova) 

So here are a few sleeper teams that I think can potentially make some noise in the tourney. I'm not saying their going to the Final Four but sleeper teams that could either have a huge upset or make a sweet 16 run. 

1.) Saint Joseph's- I won't lie yesterday was my first and only time watching these guys play. I watched them in the A-10 title game. I came away extremely impressed by this team. They are long and play serious D. The other thing is they have big men that can stretch the floor and play from the perimeter that causes match-up issues for a lot of teams. From what I saw if I'm a power 5 team that is one mid major I do not want to play in the first round. Cincinnati will have its hands full with these guys in the first round.  

2.) Stephen F. Austin- This is a team that has dominated the Southland Conference the past 3 years. They have good guard play from senior guard Thomas Walk-up. I also like their matchup against West Virginia. SFA lead the country in forced turnovers West Virginia was the second best. West Virginia's style of play goes into exactly what SFA loves to do. Just like in boxing and MMA styles makes fights. Sometimes that's true in basketball. 

3.) California- I'm putting California on this list because simply put it they just have a ton of talent on this team. Granted 2 of their best 3 players are freshman but 3 of their starting 5 players will be called in the 1st round in the NBA draft come June. Ivan Rabb and Jaylen Brown are two very talented freshman that will both go top 10 in the draft. But what gives me some confidence is their lead guard is a senior in Tyrone Wallace who's the 3rd NBA talent on this team. 98% of teams don't have an NBA player on their roster this team has 3 and won 9 of their last 11 games coming into the tournament so they have some momentum. 

4.) Providence- They have maybe the best 2 player duo in the country in the best PG in the country in Kris Dunn who won Big East player of the year and Foward Ben Bentil who averaged 21 ppg and 8 rebs per game. They are a very dangerous 9 seed and are truly an under-seeded team.

Now here are some teams I think potentially everyone are high on but won't make the Final Four and potentially could be out early. 

1.) North Carolina- This is hurting me beyond belief because I'am a true die hard UNC Tarheel fan. I preach God made the sky Carolina Blue. But they have just been way too inconsistent for me to feel comfortable. UNC is without question the most talented team in the nation from top to bottom and when they are on there's not a team they can't beat. But man when it comes down the stretch they have had numerous games where they just folded late especially with their guard play. Marcus Paige is a senior who has not had his best season and Joel Berry is good one day and not so good the next. Their best player is Brice Johnson and they have long stretches where they don't even give him the ball its mind boggling. Simply put it idk if I can trust this team. 

2.) Duke- This is a team that isn't very athletic, they don't have a ton of depth, and they are top heavy. They are over-seeded in my opinion as a 4 seed. I just don't see them making much noise this year. This is just a down year for Duke. Outside of Grayson Allen and Brandon Ingram they don't have much.

3.) Iowa State- They have a very good PG in Monte Morris and offensively they can score but they are not a good defensive team. Let's not forget last year in the tourney they didn't have an upset loss they had a bracket busting loss last year to a UAB team that wasn't very good. I don't expect much out of Iowa State and they were heavily over-seeded as a 4 seed. 

I'm still not finished on my final four picks as of yet but 2 teams I'm putting in for sure are

1.Kansas

2.Michigan State

My Next Step in My Journey

    It's been a while since I did my last post. I've been really busy with the re-location of Heavensent Massage Clinic and working just been swamped with a lot of things. Things have now started to settle down a little bit now. But now is the point to where I've reached the next step in my entrepreneurial journey. Kev/Jon Capital Group LLC.

     Kev/Jon was originally was a business entity that my father formed many years ago when I was a child. I still remember him giving me my first business card for Kev/Jon I was the director of children affairs LOL! Well its time to take my dad's original company and build it. This is where the real hard work begins and hopefully starts to pay off. So what is Kev/Jon Capital Group? It's my business entity and investment company I'm starting. All of my business and investment assets will be under this entity. My goal is to build my company's AUM (Assets Under Management) up to a multi million dollar level. I want my companies AUM to be diverse into many different sectors such as ,Securities trading, Real Estate, Business ownership and franchises etc. This is the start of building up a company truly from the ground up. Of course I have a business plan and strategy in place.

     The first strategy put in place is to build up capital and cash flow for Kev/Jon. As you already know I'am co owner and business partner of a small business so the cash flow I receive from my business I will fund that into my company, The first step of using that cash flow is to build up enough capital to start growing my company. This is where securities trading comes into play. I'm currently in the process of hiring a Chief Investment Officer (CIO) for my company to help me with the securities trading. My CIO and I will follow our investment strategy that I already have in place. My securities strategy is to use value investing in finding companies and stocks that are deemed undervalued with potential to grow and buy call or leap options on those stocks. options on undervalued stocks are much cheaper and mitigate your exposure. So in doing this if were wrong on a stock were only wrong small but if were right were potentially right BIG. We will also search and study which affordable stocks have good paying dividends that are safe (Low payout ratio/High cash flow). I will also have another business partner investing in the Forex market. Overtime hopefully were successful enough to where we have enough capital and cash flow through our securities trading to where my CIO can go full time running that department of our company while I start to diverse my company in investing in business and franchises.
   
     People have asked me in the past what do I personally look for when investing in a potential business or franchise. In any business I look for 3 things, Low overhead and operating cost, wide margins, self generating payroll. Examples of businesses that meet these are Bars, Massage clinics and even car dealership lots. Franchises are good but you don't have 100% control but if the margins are wide enough and the franchise fee is low I will also consider them.  I will always tend to stay away from business that are heavy cash flow that require a ton of money up front and 100% of all profits are made on the back end. Those type of business are too risky such as Record Labels, Films, promotional companies etc.

Eventually as I stated my ultimate goal is to grow my capital group into company that has a big company AUM in different sectors and maybe one day I can become a VC (Venture Capitalist). Hopefully one day I can look back and realize my dad's original idea finally came to fruition.

Being Smart With Your Money

So many people that I've talked too about money or trying to start a business have told me, I want to open up my own business or I want to do other things but I just don't have the money. The truth is everyone can put themselves in a better financial position it's all about better educating yourself and learning to be smart with your money. So here are a few tips from me on things to do on being smart with your money. 

1.) Your Money Should Always Be Working- One of the biggest mistakes so many people make even if they are not living paycheck to paycheck is just putting their money in their savings account and having it sit there. To the average person that looks great but the truth is when you understand how finance and economy works you'll realize that in retrospect your money in your savings account is actually losing value. How is that possible? Easy INFLATION, you don't put into account of inflation that increases by small percentages every year. if your money is not always working than as inflation increases every year the value of your savings account decreases. Think long term I personally am not a big fan of Bank CD's because the ROI (return on investment) on them are so low, but it's better than nothing. Even putting your money in a fixed interest account and get back roughly 2%-3% ROI back per year your at least your beating the rate of inflation and having your money work for you. Never just have your money just sit have it always working. 

2.) Become Frugal- Now you say well I want to invest but I don't have the funds I'm truly living paycheck to paycheck with 2 kids. I understand those situations but there are always things you can do to put yourself in better position. Truly take a hard long look at your finances and see where you can make even the smallest of cutbacks. Whether if its cutting down on groceries by even say $20 a month or driving less to save on gas, or the big one keeping all of your spare change and cashing it in every month. Learn to become as frugal as possible if your in this situation. Even if you can only save $20 a month at best at the end of a year you would have saved $240 that's more than enough to get yourself started to have your money work for you. their are apps such as Acorns and other platforms you can use that will put that money in the stock market for you. You don't need thousands of dollars to start investing. 

3.) Become Better Educated- Do your research learn how finance and the economy works. Read books, search on google, watch YouTube videos, become consumed by it. The better educated you become the better you will become with your money. I personally started by reading investing for dummies when I was 22 years old. by the time I was 24 I had already started investing in many ways. I still to this very day constantly keep learning about the economy and investing. 

Business Advice and Tips They Don't Teach You in College

For all you future entrepreneurs out there there you went to school you got a great education your ready to go right? Not so fast, There's a saying that sometimes life and experience is the best teacher. That is very true especially to being an entrepreneur. So here is some advice a tips to being an entrepreneur from both my personal experience and advice I've also received that you won't learn in any classroom.

1.) HAVE A LEGIT NICHE-  Everybody has an idea that they think or fully confident will work and make money. But unless your creating a brand new market someone has already thought of that idea or that market has already been established. So you have to have a legit niche that will separate you from your competitors. Example would be like you want to open up a restaurant that serves burger and fries. That market has already been established so you have to ask yourself, What is my niche? Why should people come to my restaurant and eat my burgers over Mcdonalds, Whataburer, or Wendy's? What separates me from them but will also be highly enticing and marketable? That's what having a legit nice is.

2.) EXECUTION- When starting your business you have to be able to execute your strategy and infrastructure. Just like in sports when the game is on the line you have to execute your game plan. No different in business you have to develop a great game plan (Strategy and infrastructure) and you have to be able to execute it flawlessly, especially if you want your business to potentially be a franchise.

3.) KNOW YOUR BUSINESS- Know your business inside and out better than anyone else. This is your baby there shouldn't be one aspect of your business that you do not know 100%. If you are partners with someone else and one person is handling the operations and the other person is handling the business aspect you both should be working just as hard learning the other aspects of your business, not just what your bringing to the business. KNOW EVERY ASPECT OF EVERYTHING.

4.) KNOW YOUR COMPETITION- You should know your competitors just as well as you know your own business. Every aspect of their operations from their marketing strategy, infrastructure, how they execute, you should even have your own projections of what you think they will do. Competition is key. If your competitor is making a mistake and you know it use that to your advantage to make your business or product better. You have to not only keep up with your competitors but also try and be one step ahead of them. One thing you'll learn in business its always easier just to be first.

5.) ADJUST TO YOUR MARKET- Whatever business sector your in, over time whether it's small or big your market will likely change to some degree. This is crucial when it comes to marketing your business the right way effectively. So whatever trend is currently happening in your business sector understand the changes in the market and adjust your marketing accordingly

6.) NEVER GET COMFORTABLE- This is one major mistake so many entrepreneurs and companies make. They get to a point where their successful and they get comfortable. When you get comfortable you end up like Blockbuster a billion dollar company that fell behind the competition and is now out of business. Everyday you walk into your business your mindset should be what can I do to make my business better. There are always many different ways to improve your business. The hard work and grind never stops. You have to work hard to make your business highly successful and than once you get there you have to work even twice as hard to stay there. "Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable."

7.) WHAT IS YOUR PLAN B- This is too me the most crucial tip and advice I give to everyone I talk too. When your developing your business treat your business like you would treat your financial portfolio. Don't over expose yourself by investing in one thing. What I mean by that is if and when your business starts to fail or struggle what is your plan B to hedge that situation. The truth is 75% of new and small business fail within 3-5 years. Your taking a big risk being an entrepreneur so you must mitigate that risk as much as possible. For instance your opening up a bar your regular business hours numbers are not going so well. It's not putting you in the black just yet. So this is when plan B comes into play which could be something like I have guaranteed contracts to use my bar as a venue which will bring me guaranteed cash flow that will offset my losses for my regular business hours. Not only will that give you much needed cash flow but it will keep you afloat while you try to bring in more customers for your regular hours. This is what the smart entrepreneurs do.

Just Keep Grinding......

Heavensent Massage Clinic 1012 W. Hebron Pkwy Carrollton TX, 75010 (972)-939-0000. All 1 hour massages are $50.    

      "JUST KEEP GRINDING" That's what I tell myself every single day. In all honesty I truly have learned what real hard work is. Being an entrepreneur has taught me that. It's a 24/7 365 day commitment. I remember everything my dad used to tell me and everything he did when he was a business owner. I remember the long hours he worked, how tired he would be everyday and always telling me with a slight laugh "If it's not one thing its something else." It's funny because I now catch myself doing the same exact things. I laugh at myself because I've turned into my dad and I fully understand everything he meant with those words. I won't beat around the bush being an entrepreneur is not easy. It's so far from easy. It's very stressful a lot of the times. Every month, every week, everyday issues come up and it gets very frustrating. It truly is if it's not one thing it's something else. It's not like oh I got to get these reports done by a deadline or I got to finish this marketing plan for my boss. Your responsible for every aspect and the most important factor is it's your money on the line. It's not like a job where your money is 100% guaranteed. You mess up as an entrepreneur its very likely your screwing up your personal money.
     Some of the things I've had to deal with was the Fire Marshall came in and did his inspection and I thought it would be a simple process boy was I wrong. We had to get a new exit sign, we have to do some construction modifications in 2 of our rooms now. That inspection just cost my partner and I a lot of money. Not too mention overhead costs, payroll, rent etc..... On top of that trying to increase our marketing budget so we can expand, We just got out of the clear from spending a ton of money on our sign for the building and now we have to spend more unexpected money. It's constantly 'If it's not one thing it's something else."
      Not a day goes by where I'm not stressing over something from the business, while still working at my other job, and personal life issues that everyone deals with. It's tough it's not easy but it's the life I chose because I have a goal I wan't to reach. If it was easy than everyone would be doing it. If you look at the backgrounds of so many successful entrepreneurs such as Damon John (Fubu), Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks Owner), Master P (No Limit Records) they all had humble and tough beginnings but look at them today. All that hard work was worth it. That's my goal and I want to reach it. Which is why no matter how stressful, how tough, or how frustrating it gets I wake up every morning thank GOD for another day and tell myself "JUST KEEP GRINDING"

Also a great article about what being an entrepreneur is really like check it out
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/187294

My First Six Months On My Entrepreneurial Journey.

     Well six months have gone by and past since my business partner and I have started our business Heavensent Massage Clinic 1012 W hebron Pkwy Carrollton, TX 75010 www.heavensentmassageonline.com. My first six months being an entrepreneur has been an up and down experience but one I wouldn't change one bit. The past six months there's been success, stress, grinding, just about as much of a roller coaster there is lol!!!

      You know to do something extraordinary in life you have to work hard and have a mindset that's outside of the norm. Now there's nothing wrong with doing the norm, which is for most people graduate high school, attend college, get a degree, start their career, and move their way up. Again there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But my mindset has always been a little different because it's what my dad instilled in me. My father was a former Senior VP for Pro-line Corporation which was founded by one of the most successful entrepreneurs I ever had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know, the late Comer J. Cottrell. My father eventually went on to become CFO for African Heritage Network based in NYC. After my dad left there he started his first of 2 business which was a movie theater in Carrollton, Texas. Eventually moving forward from the movie theater he opened up a restaurant in Garland, Texas. When my dad started his business I was only 14 years old. I took it all in. I was just a 14-15 year old kid but I was well beyond my years in grasping the process of business operations. How many 14-15 year old kids know about marketing, organizing payrolls, gross revenue, net profits. My dad molded the mindset I have. by time I was 16 I knew I wanted to own my own business. I always remember my dad telling me "There's nothing wrong with getting a good job making six figures that's a blessing and you can have a great life doing that. But remember no matter what job your doing if someone is paying you six figures for a job its because their making seven figures off your work. To get that next level of success you either have to be a star pro athlete lol or a successful business owner." Once my dad told me that I already knew what I wanted down the road.

     When my partner and I decided to get this business off the ground I was very excited. From what my dad went through I already knew it would take a lot of work, time, money, and sacrifice. Getting it off the ground at first was a good learning experience for me because even though I've seen it with my dad, actually going through the process yourself is still different. Starting everything from scratch from my partner negotiating the lease agreement, from me applying for the LLC license, getting the occupancy license, Massage business license, applying for the EIN its not a simple process especially in the state of Texas lol! Not to mention the sign for our building. (The sign process was a very stressful, and strenuous process that cost us a lot of money and stress. I'll get into detail about that situation in the future down the line in another blog post. ) It took us about 2 months from the moment we first discussed the business to the day we actually opened it.

     Now mid June came around and we officially opened our doors. the first few weeks were obviously slow mainly because were a new business and we haven't fully executed our marketing campaign. With the business infrastructure we had in place I knew we had something that would work. Our infrastructure had already been proven it worked as my partner had a massage clinic in Hawaii for 7 years. I knew with the prices and profit margins spa's and massage clinics had ours would be good. We offered one flat fee for all of our massges $50. With that price infrastructure we had a service that was better than our competition that was cheaper than our competition. I knew the only obstacle we had to cross was just aggressively market our business the right way.  To aggressively market the way we needed to we need a bigger marketing budget which was our immediate obstacle.

     We had to hustle in the very beginning handing out flyers and having friends and family use word of mouth. We also used our great location to our advantage as were right next door to a Just Fitness gym. We met the GM and owner of the gym and they allowed us to give out chair massages to their gym members during peak gym hours. Which was a great marketing tool for us. We really appreciated Just Fitness management for allowing us to do that. That is what got us started having a first flow of clients walk through our doors. We than started using Groupon. Groupon was a great marketing tool that really worked but the disadvantage of it was because their back end percentages were so high it cut into our margins really hard. We made little to no money using Groupons as a marketing tool. We eventually terminated that campaign. But what was really crazy was after we told the account executive weeks in advance we needed that campaign terminated it got re-activated which caused a little bit of a mess. It angered me because we had discussed a new campaign with Groupon. Once everything was cleared up I told our account executive lets roll with the new campaign than he tells me its no longer available. It took a lot of energy to not go off. Once that convo ended I knew he did that because he messed up and must've gotten in trouble with his bosses. So as of right now we are currently not working with Groupon at the moment.

     As time went on we started growing. Each month during our first six months being in business our gross number have increased. Which shows me the exact thing I already knew. Our infrastructure will work. We did get our first big break that will truly open doors for our business. We got a contract to do chair massages that will give us a guarantee cash flow. Not only will this contract put our business in the black but will allow my partner and I to have more money to re-invest into our business and expand on marketing. Once we organize our marketing and execute our strategy with a bigger budget we can really focus on increasing our clientele. Our goal is to get to the point where were damn near fully booked every day. I know we can get there.

     During the first few months it was really a struggle. Mainly because my partner and I was putting in so much time, energy, and money into the business while still working at my other job. It really got tough to balance both because with any new business your not making money right away it takes some time to get to that point. I still had bills to pay so I couldn't just up and leave my job. There were a lot of days were I got up at 7am got to the massage clinic at 8:30 am would work there until 2-2:30pm and go to work at my job for 3:30 and work until possibly 1am than do it all again the next day. My partner was doing even more than that. It was very stressful and tough at times for the both of us. But all of the work will pay off in the end.

     The first six months of being an entrepreneur has been a roller coaster I've learned a lot about myself. my biggest weakness is that I'm a very laid back easy going person. I had to learn to be much more assertive and aggressive being a person in charge. That was out of my character but I had no choice. I had to develop that skill which I'm still working on now. I always knew that businesses fail for a number of reasons but I learned that they all go back to one thing REVENUE. Simply put it business succeed or fail simply because your business did or did not create enough revenue. When it comes to marketing I had to learn not to look at marketing as a business expense but as an investment. I really had to look at marketing as I'm going to spend money to get more money in return not as I'm just spending money to get clientele. There is a big difference.

     The last thing I didn't have to learn but I already had in my mind was VISION. Without vision you can't succeed. From the very first day I got involved my partner was telling me how much she made in Hawaii which was very good and highly successful. But my vision was bigger than that. My vision was to not just run a successful small business but to grow this business into a million dollar franchise. Also not just stop there but to form a capital group Kev/Jon Capital group that will be the entity over the Heavensent franchise and expand into owning and investing into other franchises and business. That's my vision. I know the obstacles in my way and the risks that I'm taking but life in general is a risk that we take everyday so why not take the same risks in business. God has opened a door for me at a young age and I don't intend to waste it. I have major goals and plans for this business. I just have to put in the time and sacrifice to get there. The one piece of advice I would give to any new entrepreneur especially a young one that's just starting out. Be prepared its going to be a big struggle at first it will get to a point likely where you will second guess if you even made the right decision. But don't give in because if you beat the odds it will all be worth it.

Shark Tank

     For people who are interested in being an entrepreneur one day you should definitely watch the show Shark Tank. I absolutely love that show so much. It shows the different ideas, business, and concepts people come up with on a daily basis. Watching Shark Tank you can see the good and flaws in people as entrepreneurs throughout the show. The main reason I love the show is because I want to see who are truly the good entrepreneurs on the rise and how the successful guys perceive them. That's really my favorite aspect of the Show how Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, and Barbra Corcoran look at the entrepreneurs and their pitches.


     First let me talk about how I either like, dislike, and perceive each shark when it comes to reacting to pitches and their methods of negotiating. The first guy I have to talk about is Kevin O'Leary aka "Mr. Wonderful". I won't lie he's the one shark I'm not a big fan of. To me he comes off as a complete asshole, which sometimes you have to be in business but he seems to be an asshole 90% of the time. His negotiation methods are selfish, horrible and downright bad a lot of the times. Why do I think his methods are so bad? He always wants a royalty when negotiating with an entrepreneur that is pitching a manufacturing product or business.  The sad part about it is so many of these entrepreneurs that come on this show actually entertain his offers that include royalties. That shows me how some of those people aren't ready enough when coming to the table. Always remember Rule #1 "All money isn't good money" No deal is better than a bad deal.  The reason why royalties are just terrible for small businesses is that it's counter productive. They cypher out necessary cash flow that is needed to grow a small business. When growing a small business cash flow is CRUCIAL. The last thing any growing business needs is a royalty on their books that's cyphering out  2%-10% of the cash flow that could and should be re-invested into the business. Kevin O'Leary makes horrible offers because he's a blood sucking leach that only cares about getting his money back and yielding a return with as little risk as possible at the cost of potentially bleeding the business dry. For Kevin royalties mitigate his risk by guaranteeing him money while increasing the risk of the entrepreneur. I hate Kevin's methods of negotiating its like he completely forgot how small businesses operate.


     Robert Herjavec and Mark Cuban are my two favorite sharks on the show. Robert you can tell is a very compassionate guy who actually cares about helping these entrepreneurs grow their company and being successful while also making smart decisions when he does try to close a deal on a pitch. Even when Robert is not trying to close a deal he still gives a lot of the entrepreneurs advice from his experiences. He's also very straight forward and honest but in a very respectable way. He understands and considers the obstacles these small businesses go through and always consider that.


Mark Cuban is the guy who stays in his lane. He's has a technology background starting from his days of starting MicroSolutions and Broadcast.com. So the technology sector is what he mainly stays in when trying to close deals on the show. He will branch off occasionally but he stays in his lane. The one thing he always says which I take to heart is "The money isn't the most important issue when I'm investing, its my time because no matter what I do I can never get back the time lost." Mark Cuban understands his strength and weakness as a business man and he smartly sticks to his strengths and what he's good at. This is why I like Cuban on the show.


     Now when it comes to the next guy Daymond John I don't want this taken out of context and I'll explain why. But of all the sharks I think he's the least when it comes to book smarts and business savvy. Now not by any stretch of the imagination is he dumb because you just don't develop a $200 million dollar brand in FUBU and be dumb absolutely not. Damon is a hustler, the type of entrepreneur that just knows how to work the system and hands he's dealt to make the most of it. I personally knew an entrepreneur like this the late "Comer Cottrell" Now Lets be honest the main reason his clothing line grew so much originally was because he knew and had connections to LL Cool J and hustled his way to convincing him to wear his shirts in his music videos. When LL Cool J and other rappers were wearing his clothing line he was still making shirts and hats in his basement. He's quoted on record that at one point everyone thought he was this major clothing line when in reality he only had 10 shirts hanging in his basement and was still selling hats out of his car while working at Red Lobster. Daymond John hustled his way to the top. So when it comes to negotiating it seems a lot of the times the other sharks don't quite give him the same level of respect as in they know were smarter than you. Damon Johns background is mainly in manufacturing but he does branch out and diversify which is a risk because you could be getting into a business sector your not too familiar with. which is also why I think he does a lot of joint deals with other sharks. His mentality is so much different than the other sharks which can be a gift and a curse.  

     Now what separates the good entrepreneurs from the bad ones on the show?  Well the good ones understand the most important rule when it comes to getting investors. What is it? It's very simple one word NUMBERS. What do I mean by NUMBERS? (I'm going to capitalize NUMBERS every time to show its importance.) What I mean is "Women lie, Men lie, NUMBERS don't" NUMBERS is the only thing that matters. Does your product or service provide good margins, are the overhead or manufacturing costs low, is their a legit market for your business, are your sales NUMBERS good. Those are the most important things that separate good entrepreneurs on shark tank from bad ones. So many times people have came on this show with a product and the sharks are like no way. As soon as he spills the NUMBERS and their really good all of a sudden the sharks eyes pop open. Your NUMBERS speak for themselves. At the end of the day your in business for one reason only to make money. a VC or investor can't make money with bad NUMBERS.

     Shark Tank is a good show for people who want a solid understanding of investing, business, and what makes good entrepreneurs. I absolutely love the show I'm savvy enough to know which entrepreneurs are legit and have a legit business and the ones that don't know what the hell they are doing. (An arcade game with a built in beer keg SMH c'mon that was maybe the worst thing I've ever seen and their NUMBERS were awful.)  But if your interested in business in any shape or form watch this show.