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3 Shark Tank Failures That Made Millions

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Learn how some of the most successful companies rejected on the TV show “Shark Tank” left the show with no funding and still made millions.

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From the classic lemonade stand to more structured avenues like selling Girl Scout Cookies there are lots of ways for kids to get involved in being a little entrepreneurial. Start them young, allow them to fail (and see it's not the end of the world, but really an incredible lesson in how to do better next time!), and let their ideas pop out of the box (sure you can pick dandelions out of my yard for me at $0.05 per full plant + root!) and you'll be sure to have budding entrepreneurs in no time. Looking for a little inspiration? Here are a few books you may want to check out to peak their entrepreneurial spirit.

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2: Lily Wool #3: Once Upon a Company: A True Story #4: The Toothpaste Millionaire #5: Billy Sure Kid Entrepreneur #6: Camila's Lemonade Stand

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Students read a book about starting a business and then play a game to explore things that can happen when you run a business.

Big idea

Understanding some of the things that can happen when you run your own business can help you think about whether you'd like to be an entrepreneur.

Essential questions

What are some helpful and challenging things that can happen when you run your own business?

Is being an entrepreneur right for me?

Objectives

Explore some helpful and challenging things that can happen when you run your own business

Reflect on whether entrepreneurship is right for you

What students will do

Read the Money Monsters Start Their Own Business chapter book. (You will need a book reader app to open ePub files).

Play a game that explores some of the ups and downs of running a business.

Reflect on whether entrepreneurship is right for them.

Explore related resources

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Playing a business game | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

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Developed in partnership with Economics Arkansas by James Wilcox, director of the Center for Economic and Entrepreneurship Education at The University of Southern Mississippi, these lesson plans accompany the "This is Capitalism" video series presented by Stephens Inc.

All lesson plans are available for previewing and downloading at no charge. These lessons are best suited for grades 6-12.

Lesson Plans

Also, check out other Economics Arkansas lesson plans (grades 6-8, 9-12) and pages Economics for All Seasons and Educational Resources from Other Organizations for additional lesson plans, activities, tutorials and more.

© Economics Arkansas 2023

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iNSPIRE Lesson Plans and PP Presentations grades 6-12

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iNSPIRE lesson plans and presentations for grades 6-12 to accompany the "This is Capitalism" video series in partnership with Economics Arkansas, James Wilcox (Southern Miss.) and Stephens Inc. Available for previewing and downloading at no charge.

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Students take $10 of their own money and launch a new business venture. Competing students complete a form tracking their finances throughout the competition. Winning students, and their teachers, receive cash prizes, certificates, and medallions.

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Grades 8-12

Many are familiar with pitch competitions. This competition gives students a real-world application to classroom lessons. Students pitch a new business idea before a panel of judges for prize money.

Winners receive cash prizes (up to $150), certificates, and medallions. The school will receive a certificate.

Video submission window: November 1, 2023 - April 5, 2024. All submissions are due by Friday, April 5, 2024 .

Winners will be announced on Friday, April 19, 2024.

How to Enter

Register your students by completing this Google Form.

Have students record a 90-second video and upload it to this Dropbox file.

All video entries must be submitted with the following title template:

"Student First Name Student Last Initial_Teacher Last Name_Project Title"

Example: "Easter B_Spring_Bunny Pops"

Pitch It! Competition

Prize Amount

1st Place

$150

2nd Place

$100

3rd Place

$50

2023 Pitch It! Competition Winner

1st place: Emma Mitchell, Rison High School

Teacher Advisor: Caitlin Morrison

Sponsors

The Pitch It! Competition is generously sponsored by Stephens Inc. Thank you.

Additional sponsorship opportunities are available. Please contact kathleen@economicsarkansas.org for more information.

ADE Crosswalk

The Pitch It! Competition aligns with the following Arkansas Department of Education-approved courses, topics, and events:

Business & Marketing Course(s):

492330 - Marketing Business Enterprise

492700 - Small Business Operations

DECA, Inc.:

Start-Up Business Plan (ESB)

Virtual Business Challenge (VBCEN)

Innovation Plan (EIP)

Independent Business Plan (EIB)

Entrepreneurship Series (ENT)

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA):

Marketing Mix Challenge

Business Plan

Questions?

Contact Marsha Masters at marsha@economicsarkansas.org.

© Economics Arkansas 2024

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Economics Arkansas | Pitch It! Competition

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This competition gives students a real-world application to classroom lessons as they pitch a new business idea before a panel of judges.

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CONGRATULATIONS 2023-24 WINNERS!!
Click here for a PDF listing of the 2023-24 Winners

Grades 5-8

In 2023, Arkansas Capital Corporation and Economics Arkansas announced a partnership to present the Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase (Y.E.S.), a business pitch competition for Arkansas 5th-8th grade students. There is no cost to enter! The competition is open to all public, private, and virtual schools and after-school, church, or other youth programs.

Arkansas Capital Corporation created the Y.E.S. Competition in 2006 based on the success of its Arkansas Governor's Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition, launched in 2001. Both are designed to provide real-world, hands-on entrepreneur education for our state's future entrepreneurs.

Winning students and teachers/mentors receive cash prizes, certificates, and a 3-D printed trophy for their school or program.

2023 Top 25 Teams

Watch the video below for a presentation of the Top 25 teams moving on to the final round. These teams will present their business plans live for a panel of judges on January 26, 2024.
Click here for a PDF listing of the top teams.
Upcoming Dates

October 2, 2023 | Team Application Window Opens in YouNoodle

November 6, 2023 | Business Plans Due in YouNoodle

December 1, 2023 | Top 25 Finalists Announced (Virtual)

January 26, 2024 | Expo Day - 2024 Winners Announced (Virtual)

Prize Categories

Awards, trophies, and certificates will be presented to first- through fourth-place winners in these categories:

Best Business Plan

Most Innovative Idea

Best Retail Booth Display

Best Marketing Piece
First Place:
$500 cash prize to teacher/advisor; $100 cash prize to each team member
Second Place:
$300 cash prize to teacher/advisor; $75 cash prize to each team member
Third Place:
$200 cash prize to teacher/advisor; $50 cash prize to each team member
Fourth Place:
$100 cash prize to teacher/advisor; $25 cash prize to each team member

YouNoodle

The YouNoodle competition database is used to register teams, upload business plans, and for judging. Begin by going to the YouNoodle link posted below; this link is specific to the 2023-24 Arkansas competition.
*Note: Team registration will not open until October 2!
Sponsors

The Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase (Y.E.S.) Competition was started in 2006 by Arkansas Capital Corporation. Thanks to a partnership beginning in 2023, Arkansas Capital Corporation continues to serve as the program sponsor while Economics Arkansas has taken on the programmatic execution.

Thank you!

Presentations from Past Winners

© Economics Arkansas 2024

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The Youth Entrepreneur Showcase (Y.E.S.) is a business plan competition for Arkansas 5th-8th graders.

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Learn more about Pitch ’N Punch at The Venture Center.

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Young Entrepreneur Institute | Helping Teachers, Students and Youth in Northeast Ohio and Beyond

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The tangible and intangible lessons of entrepreneurship are at the core of our work and we believe are key to helping students navigate the challenges and opportunities that life presents. Wherever our children's paths may lead, the entrepreneurial experience prepares them to make the most of their lives.

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All children should understand and experience entrepreneurship. Young Entrepreneur Institute is focused on impacting as many students as possible by collaborating with the education community and sharing best-in-class knowledge, experience and expertise.

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Daymond John on hip-hop, his mom and making it big - CNNMoney

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Shark Tank’s Daymond John has become the face of American entrepreneurship, managing a multi-million dollar empire encompassing fashion, media, and philanthropy. Now President Obama has tapped him as ambassador of global entrepreneurship to help people from all walks of life start their own business…

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After finding self-made success at a young age with his clothing and lifestyle brand, then building influence as an entrepreneur and mentor, "Shark Tank" investor and FUBU founder Daymond John decided he wants to leave behind a learn-to-earn "legacy" for America's future leaders.

In order to do that, John said on " The Claman Countdown" Tuesday he's embarked on his "most exciting" investment yet, writing a children's guide to financial literacy and explaining monetary concepts at their most basic levels.

"I'm about to teach children magic," John told host Liz Claman. "I'm going to teach them how to get out of their parent's house at 18 years old. I'm going to teach them how to make $1 into $3. I'm going to teach them how to make their money work for them... there's no book like this in schools at all."

Growing up, not many picture books told stories of how to start your own business or become a successful entrepreneur and innovator - but John expressed he's trying to change that.
'SHARK TANK' STAR KEVIN O'LEARY DESTROYS 'REALLY BAD POLICY' IN DEMOCRAT-RUN STATES
"Think about it, no financial intelligence is taught to these kids, and at 18 years old, they can get $750,000 worth of debt for a career they're not even sure they want, and they won't pay that off until they're late into their fifties or even sixties, or maybe never," John explained.

While overseeing more than $6 billion in various product sales worldwide and previously writing five best-selling books, according to his agency The Shark Group, John claimed his kids' book strays from the industrial "old system" of work and promotes creating careers for ourselves.

The "Shark Tank" star also gave a big takeaway for parents, encouraging them to contribute to their children's future success by gifting stocks from their favorite companies or brands, as opposed to the physical or material products.

"Here's what I would do for my grandson: he loves Tonka trucks," John pointed out. "I buy him a little Caterpillar truck, I buy him a share in Caterpillar at the same time. I then take a picture next to him with the Caterpillar truck and the share, and later on, six or seven years later, I do that with Disney and everything else... all his toys, he realized, are worth crap. His stock's over $20,000."

Another investment option into your kids' future, John suggested, is by reading the new book with them while "their minds are sponges."

He then went a step further to discuss how America got itself into monumental debt "because we are not teaching our kids."

"I'm going to teach them how to get out of their parents house at 18 years old. I'm going to teach them how to make $1 into $3. I'm going to teach them how to make their money work for them... there's no book like this in schools at all."
- Daymond John, FUBU founder and Shark Group CEO

"This is going to be my legacy because I want all of celebrities, all of the financial institutions because it's not a scam, I want them all to say, I want my kids to say: my daddy started a conversation where it became popular or the trend to create books for little children who aren't like us or tainted with what to do in life," John said.

"I want everybody who's watching this to compete with me, top me, and make sure we have all these kids of ours, our future, they start to understand how to process money," he continued.
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Parents can't give their kids everything, John noted while quoting Claman's late father, but they can help them overcome some of life's most common challenges.

"Look at the Fords, the Carnegies and the Mellons, none of their kids own any of the Teslas and the Instagrams of the world, why? First generation makes it, second enjoys it, third destroys it," the investor said. "So if you don't have any kind of financial intelligence, I don't care who you are, if you're getting trust fund money, you're done."

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'Shark Tank's' Daymond John shares 'most exciting' investment: 'No book like this in schools'

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"Shark Tank" star and FUBU founder Daymond John is teaching financial literacy to children with a new book, hoping to leave behind a learn-to-earn legacy across America.

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Think Tank Grades Entrepreneurial Ecosystems in Arkansas, Heartland States

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Heartland Forward recently released a new report titled, “America’s Entrepreneurial States: Supporting Entrepreneurs to Help Drive the Economy,” which analyzes the entrepreneurial ecosystems of each state and places them within a new State Entrepreneurial Index.

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Upper elementary students can help Jay Eagle learn about entrepreneurship by starting a business in this interactive adventure complete with lesson plans and student materials.