Gracie reviews: Shark Tank

Mom made yet another quarantine mistake. Actually, Mom and Dad were both in on this one. It didn't involve shaving cream and the Roomba, but a TV show called "Shark Tank." Mom thought she was going to deter little me from the TV by watching a 'big kid' show, but boy was she wrong!

I'm hooked, everyone. "Shark Tank" is a show where entrepreneurs pitch an idea, an invention or a business to billionaires like Mark Cuban (Mark is one of my favorites). Sometimes, the presenters have a great plan and land a deal with a shark or several sharks. If the pitch isn't up to par, the sharks all pull out of the deal and Kevin O'Leary (he nicknamed himself Mr. Wonderful... that's all you need to know about him) gets rather rude. It happens often. I have a love/hate relationship with Mr. Wonderful.

The show highlights all aspects of investing. From watching the terrified teenager presenting an acupressure back massager to the guy pitching his hummus brand, it's clear that getting up in front of billionaires can be intimidating. Though they haven't met me yet.

The sharks argue over valuations, shares, credit, and other money-related happenings. All of the pleading and negotiating is fun to watch. Most preschoolers will recognize some of the techniques used on the show.

One of my favorite episodes featured my favorite pancake mix, Kodiak Cakes. The company makes pancake, muffin, and brownie mixes, as well as syrup. When they pitched the pancake mixes, the sharks thought they were crazy and shot them down. Kodiak Cakes are the only pancakes I let Mom buy so clearly it was the sharks who were crazy in my opinion.

"Shark Tank" has taught me a few things, which is good, because Mom says my attitude is bound to make me a great leader, hopefully of a business and not something more malicious. The first thing I've learned is that presentation is everything. With the exception of a man-made cadaver for medical school, every presentation that has started out slow has ended with no deal. In order to be successful, one has to catch the shark's attention from the start.

The second thing I learned is that sometimes, simple is the best way to go. One of my mom's favorite products was a breathalyzer phone app that was able to tell you if you could drive, and it would call a cab or a friend if you were unsafe. The presentation was clear, the idea was to the point, and it ended up getting all five sharks to invest more than $1,000,000 combined. Getting all sharks on the panel to invest in a single product is incredibly rare.

The final thing I've learned from "Shark Tank" is that it really takes a lot of gumption to be successful in the world of business. It's not a pretty path, but the right amount of creativity and luck could make you the next millionaire. And even though the sharks have made billions, they aren't always right.

I'd give "Shark Tank" a 9/10 rating, for whatever my two-year-old ratings are worth. I'd give it a higher ranking if Mr. Wonderful was nicer, but, in all honesty, it's right up there with "Moana" and "Frozen" for me. If you'd like to check it out, it's available on Hulu and ABC.