No hopeful entrepreneur should enter the tank without studying this chart

Entrepreneurs pitching on Shark Tank tend to strike deals valuing their companies well below the ask. Sharkalytics compiles the information behind every deal, 270 in total, plotting them on the continually updated graph above.

Each deal is plotted according to its "asking valuation" along the x-axis and its "deal valuation" along the y-axis. Entrepreneurs can expect to get about 70% of the asking values for their companies, as illustrated by the companies on the best fit line in solid gray. One such example is Rugged Maniac, which received a $7 million deal valuation against a $10 million valuation.

A rare few companies ultimately reach deals at exactly their asking valuation, along the dotted gray line, or higher. This group includes Roominate, which received an investment at its asking $10 million valuation, and Breathometer, which received an investment valuing it at $3.3 million, higher than its $2.5 million asking valuation.

Also evident in the above graph is that most Shark Tank deals are clustered towards the lower end of the valuation spectrum, with a few highly valued outliers such as Zipz ($25 million). The next graph zooms in on deals valued at or under $4 million.

Each asking valuation is calculated based on the entrepreneur's pitch, usually structured as "$xxx dollars in exchange for xx% of the business". Deals with this same, simple structure are represented by blue dots ("standard deals"). Deals including other considerations are represented by orange dots ("special terms") because additional terms, such as lines of credit or licensing rights, distort the true deal valuation. There are 95 such deals represented in this chart. The terms vary widely and may be for the benefit of the entrepreneur or the investor. This chart excludes 5 deals where no equity was exchanged. Such deals frequently include royalty streams which cannot be accurately valued without additional information, such as long-term revenue projections.