Shark Tank - a guy wanted to start a biz using US labor, guess what the sharks said?

[Duer 157099]

They all turned him down, saying he wasn't being a practical businessman to not consider outsourcing. They said that if he had just considered outsourcing some of the manufacturing, then he could start a business that would at least employ some people in his NC hometown.

So there it is. The investment money won't even consider helping someone start a business that wants to keep it all in America.

[Hugabear]

1. That is one disgusting show

I've seen a few episodes of this show. The premise of the show is that aspiring business owners grovel before a panel of multimillionaires and billionaires, trying to convince them to invest in their ideas. And I do mean grovel. The "sharks" seem to delight in playing with the person's feelings and future.

[Duer 157099]

2. It's disgusting but it's how the game is played

Some of them seem halfway decent some of the time. But it's disgusting that this is how our system works, that those with money get to decide everything and the rest of us have to grovel for crumbs.

Showing it on TV isn't disgusting, it actually might wake people up to how things work.

[Canuckistanian]

4. Sounds like a ripoff of a Canadian show called "Dragon's Den"

Same idea, though. Although the "Dragons" are like venture capitalists with little profit/loss calculators in their heads, they sometimes do take a chance on people.

I knew if it became an American show it would get real mean real fast.

[Romulox]

6. Actually, both shows are licensed spinoffs of the original British show.

The US version, "Shark's Tank", features two of the "Dragons" from the Canadian show--Kevin O'Leary and Robert H.

[Canuckistanian]

7. No way, Kevin O'Leary is on it?

What a first-rate asshole he is.
He is UNLIKED by most Canadians and caused our CBC obudsman to warn him about his treatment of Chris Hedges in an interview. O'Leary called Hedges a "left-wing nutbar"

[Romulox]

10. Yup. "Mr. Wonderful" himself.

I live in metro Detroit, and my wife and I enjoy watching the Canadian program (Dragon's Den) on CBC Windsor.

Kevin's act is the same on both programs. In addition to Robert from the Canadian program, he is also joined by the founder of FUBU and Mark Cuban on the Shark's Tank.

[zbdent]

5. Didn't that used to be called "Queen For A Day"?

Several women would explain how pathetic their lives were ... one more pathetic than the one before ... and then they'd "grant" the most pathetic one a brief moment in the sun ...

[HopeHoops]

3. Did Bain have anything to do with that?

[Xithras]

8. From an investors perspective, they're correct.

If you were an investor and were strictly looking at companies as investment opportunities, then investing in "American-only" companies is counterproductive. Not only will you see smaller returns than you would from an outsourced company, but you will likely lose most of your investment when foreign-made competitors move into your market, undercut your prices, and eventually put the company out of business.

Our current legal "free trade" framework undermines the profitability of any attempts to manufacture domestically. Don't blame the investors for that, blame the corrupt bastards in Washington (from both parties) who created a market climate that is openly hostile to American manufacturing.

As Steve Jobs put it when asked about moving some production to the U.S., "Those jobs aren't coming back." He wasn't being an ass when he said it, but was simply pointing out that moving those jobs to the U.S. would be suicidal for his company. We no longer have a manufacturing infrastructure, or a government willing to protect the interests of domestic manufacturers. The globalists run the show and write the laws. Attempts to counter that push, without first changing the laws that created our current situation, is foolish.

[Duer 157099]

9. You mean, from a greedy investor's perspective

They aren't happy with a modest return, they want obscene returns.

But generally, what you said is also absolutely correct.

[Romulox]

11. It's not nearly so cut and dry as this. What about transportation costs, e.g.?

The product in question was a steel fold-away pickup bed rack for holding 1500 lbs. plus of equipment. It's not clear from an off-the-cuff analysis:

a) how much of the cost of the product is labor vs. materials; and
b) how much of any saving on labor is offset by extra transportation costs?

Finally, if it is strictly unprofitable to make automotive equipment in the USA, why does every major brand manufacture here?