A highly emotional moment on “Shark Tank” last week — where the show’s entrepreneurs began arguing about the economics of exporting jobs overseas — has unexpectedly struck a chord with the show’s fans.
It began when inventor Donny McCall appeared on last Friday’s show seeking $100,000 — and offering the show’s judges a 10 percent stake in his company — to manufacture a detachable cargo equipment holder for pickup trucks called “Invis-A-Rack.”
But McCall clashed with judges Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John and Kevin O’Leary when they insisted that the product had to be manufactured overseas if McCall’s company had any expectation of succeeding.
McCall stubbornly stuck to his guns, insisting the Invis-A-Rack be manufactured in his home state, North Carolina, in order to create much-needed jobs.
“We’re just in an economically depressed region of North Carolina,” he told the judges. “We’ve had textiles over the years that have gone away, so we’re kind of stuck there.
“I believe in what I’m doing right now,” he said. “If I can help [the local economy] in any way, I will, but [creating the product offshore] is not a way I believe I can help.”
Ultimately, the entrepreneurs all refused to invest in his company because of his insistence on making it in the US.
The confrontation was a scene out of the current economic debate over jobs, globalization and America’s future in a world where it does not seem able to compete.
It also made a hero out of McCall.
The show’s message boards lit up over the weekend with outraged fans.
“I believe the Sharks dropped the ball on this one,” Tom53092 wrote. “They fixated on getting him to offshore production to Asia to get the price down. Typical lemming thinking that you see with a lot of venture capitalists.”
“I was so proud of that young man for sticking to his guns, and he didn’t change his mind about his values just because the Sharks wanted him to send it overseas,” wrote StarrMaddie.
“Must-watch clip,” declared the reality TV blog Reality Blurred. “ ‘Shark Tank’s’ millionaires emotionally argue for manufacturing overseas.”
The judges argued that manufacturing the Invis-A-Rack domestically made no business sense.
“You’re being particularly insistent and close-minded, and that’s a very bad partner to be in business with,” Corcoran said, passing on the offer.
“For me, as an investor, if you don’t want to do what it takes, that’s the problem,” O’Leary said.
The investors argued that McCall could provide jobs here in other areas besides manufacturing — but only if the company survived.
And the only way to succeed was to have the product made overseas.
“I want to take care of my own,” a disappointed McCall said after being shut out.