Last season, Lori Greiner was the new girl in the "Shark Tank," but from her very first episode, she proved she could hold her own against cutthroat businessmen like Mark Cuban and Kevin O'Leary.
Greiner has created 350 products during her career
Of course, no one who knew her history was the least bit surprised. After all, Greiner had a longstanding track record of success before she went on the reality show. The prolific inventor and entrepreneur has created 350 products and holds 110 U.S. and international patents. To top it all off, she's been a staple on QVC for more than 10 years.Greiner has been upped to a series regular on the new season of "Shark Tank." At a recent press event, she talked about her greatest success story from her last go around, and letting emotions guide her choices now and then.
Greiner talks about her best 'Shark Tank' investment
During her first season on the series, Greiner invested in a number of concepts. She even made "Shark Tank" history by writing a $500,000 check on the spot to invest in Shelly Ehle's ShowNo towels. Since then Greiner has taken the discreet, after-the-pool wrap all the way from a small businesswoman's basement to a product line an Disneyworld.But the ShowNo is not Grenier's biggest hit from her time in the "Tank." She described the one very simple concept that's helped enhance her already booming empire, the Readerest: "It was a steel plate on the back; it looked like a little oval, two magnets on the front. And all you had to do was put one behind your shirt and the other on front. And you would take your glasses and just hang it through. You could do a cartwheel, a somersault, anything, and they would never fall off. And with that little magnet and piece of steel, within one year we're about to hit three million in retail sales."
Greiner will invest if she finds a person more compelling than a product
Still Greiner isn't just in it for the money. Unlike some of her fellow investors, Grenier can sometimes be swayed by a sympathetic story. Now being dubbed "The Warm-Blooded Shark," Greiner admitted that she might take on an extra heavy workload if she finds a less experienced entrepreneur who has a compelling tale.Greiner noted, "If the person has a great story, but they don't really know what they're doing, and I have to come in and do it all, then I know that that's going to be an enormous investment. So then it really becomes how much money, how much time, and it's my heart speaking. I'm going to help this person now because I want to, and I know I'm going to be putting in 90 percent more effort into something that's going to make me probably 50% less money."
See what Greiner invests in this season on "Shark Tank" every Friday night at 8PM EST on ABC.
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