‘Shark Tank’: 2 Entrepreneurs From Season 8 List Reasons Why They ‘Love Working With Mark Cuban’
Shark Tank is about to launch season 13 with a wide variety of entrepreneurs pitching their ideas. Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, and Kevin “Mr. Wonderful” O’Leary are all returning to the Tank to help business owners become successful in their ventures.
Cuban joined forces with Cameron Cruse and Lisa Bradley in 2016 for their handbag company R. Riveter. He was wowed by their mission to employ military spouses nationwide and knew he could take their business to the next level. Years after their initial merging of the minds, Cruse and Bradley are still singing the billionaire’s praises.
‘Shark Tank’ entrepreneurs name ‘Top 6’ on Mark Cuban
Cruse and Bradley also got offers from Herjavec and O’Leary in the Tank, but went with Cuban’s deal of $100K for 20 percent equity in their company. The partnership has clearly been seamless, with the entrepreneurs even providing a detailed roster on their website highlighting the “Top 6 Reasons We Love Working With Mark Cuban”:
1. We are so inspired by Mark’s school of thought. He is always looking 10 steps ahead, and constantly encourages us to think ahead of the game.
2. Mark doesn’t overcomplicate things – he makes complex business issues very simple. Mark’s entire team is incredible – they share lessons learned from other Shark Tank companies they have invested in, so we can all learn from each other.
3. Mark grounds us. We are constantly in awe – despite his hectic schedule and demands coming from all angles, he maintains an incredibly positive demeanor. Whenever we’re doing a speaking or public event, we always joke that we need to “channel Mark”. His energy is infectious!
4. Mark is the digital Shark we needed. He had great ideas about how to improve the website, and how to share the R. Riveter story across digital platforms right away.
5. We love that Mark invests in veteran-owned companies. His investments have helped create a network of military spouse- or veteran-owned companies, and we are constantly in contact, learning from and supporting each other.
6. Mark is a great motivator to be a metric-based business. He encourages us to work smarter, and use data to inform all our business decisions. Data doesn’t like, after all!
– from R. Riveter’s website
Mark Cuban ‘resonated’ and ‘connected with’ R. Riveter’s mission
In a recent interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Cruse spoke of how Cuban has complete faith in her and Bradley’s judgment in guiding the path for R. Riveter, yet is always nearby if they need his expertise.
“He’s great because he’s there when we need him, but he still trusts us to run and grow the business as founders, so we kind of get the best of both worlds,” Cruse told Showbiz Cheat Sheet of Cuban. “We get his experience and his resources. But at the same time, he’s pretty hands off when it comes to just letting Lisa and I make those decisions.”
Cruse immediately sensed how Cuban felt a connection with their company and its mission, and has no regrets turning down Herjavec and O’Leary.
“We got a great partner with Mark Cuban,” Cruse raved. “The way he resonated and seemed to just connect with the idea of how we were supporting military families was just something you can’t describe — you can just sort of feel that they understand. He’s been awesome and he’s really helped to support and be there when we needed to grow the business. We’re really happy with our our choice.“
R. Riveter was created in 2011
The R. Riveter co-founder described how she and Bradley, both military spouses, joined forces to help create jobs for those dealing with the same dilemma they faced.
“It came right out of personal experience,” Cruse explained to Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “When my husband and I moved to Dahlonega, Georgia, I had just graduated with a master’s in architecture and we moved up to the middle of nowhere and was like, ok, what am I going to do with my life now? Just about the same time, I met Lisa and she was going through a very similar experience. And so we thought, why not start something not just for ourselves, but for any military spouse who wants to be a part of something that has mobile, flexible income.”
Approaching the company’s ten-year anniversary in November, Cruse reflected on their growth since R. Riveter began.
“We started in November of 2011, and then shortly after that we were able to bring on maybe two military spouses to start making the bags,” she recalled. “And then from there we’ve grown to about 40 employees year to date.”
Season 13 of Shark Tank premieres on Friday, Oct. 8 on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.
