Shark Tank Season 1

Shark Tank began on ABC in August 2009 with a panel that looked different from the one many viewers know today. The original five Sharks were Barbara Corcoran, Daymond John, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O'Leary, and infomercial entrepreneur Kevin Harrington. Neither Mark Cuban nor Lori Greiner was part of that first lineup. Adapted from the international Dragons' Den format, the series brought business negotiations to American primetime: founders asked for money, investors challenged their valuations, and either side could walk away.

The early pitches captured that mixture of practical invention and experimentation. Tiffany Krumins reached an agreement with Corcoran for Ava the Elephant, a children's medicine dispenser, while Ionic Ear proposed a surgically implanted Bluetooth device. Voyage Air Guitar raised a more familiar business dilemma: whether the founders should give up control or license their folding-guitar technology. It was the beginning of the show's long-running tension between an entrepreneur's attachment to an idea and an investor's terms.