Emmy-winning TV Show “Shark Tank” is coming to Portugal. The concept of the show is quite simple: there are 5 investors (Sharks) seated on a stage watching aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their ideas. After some negotiation and lots of questions, the entrepreneurs can accept or refuse one/several investment proposals.

Officially there is still no information about the 5 Portuguese Sharks, but the applications are already open. Only the first 750 applications uploaded on the website will be analyzed, so if you really want to be part of it, you better start preparing yourself.

While we wait for the Portuguese version to air, there are some lessons we can learn from the American one (also transmitted in a Portuguese TV channel):

• Although it is highly entertaining and full of good advice, we cannot forget that on the tv shows the reality and the fiction always get mixed;
• The deals that on the show seem to take only a few minutes to close require definitely more time: both parts are saying yes but just like in the real world, there a lot of other demands and implications that come along with the money;
• To always be aware of what we are signing for;
• To pitch to the right person (we should not only be interested in the money, but also in some other perks such as a strong network);
• To take advantage of the “free” advertising, even if we don’t close a deal.

Let the countdown begin! If the Portuguese version is at least as entertaining as the American one, I’m sure that we will have a good time every week. And hopefully with amazing ideas, pitches and negotiations along the way.