How would you address their concern that you should have been able to raise 250k from SV VCs? Also, Shark Tank valuations seem so low compared to Valley (or YC) valuations that I'm curious how you came up with the offered terms.
A former client was on Shark Tank. The pitch in-studio was 2.5 hours and of course only 7 minutes was aired. The interest it generated (in terms of downloads) was enormous. It nearly filled the Heroku database during the show - which we quickly upgraded after it aired.
A good metaphor for the negotiations before and after airing and the actual on-air pitch is an iceberg. 5% is visible on-air and 95% of the interactions with the sharks and their team is never public. What actually happens in terms of an investment may never be made public - from promise to make a deal that falls apart to an on-air rejection that is later turned around into an investment.
I find that Shark Tank is a great learning experience just from a viewers prospective. I think, even with the added dramatic flare, that you can learn a lot from the 5 sharks that are sitting in that room at any given time. It is an enjoyable free class on entrepreneurship, as well as a view inside the mind of a millionaire to billionaire that one does not get access to very easily.
Unfortunately I think a large amount of that education is lost on the general TV watching public.
You can usually watch at least the last 3 - 5 episodes on either Hulu or ABC streaming. Also if you live in most major cities, you can also get it for free via old school antenna.
The pajama idea seemed to play pretty well for you, I noticed it when watching the episode. All of the sharks seemed surprised by both of your backgrounds after the first impression.
How much of a bump in sales/interest have you gotten from being on Shark Tank?