Over the past seven seasons, "Shark Tank" has grown into a phenomenon.
Not only is it an Emmy-winning reality show, but it has created recognizable brands like Scrub Daddy, which Shark Lori Greiner has helped take to $75 million in total sales over the past three years.
The show is an entertainment product and a launchpad for hundreds of American startups, requiring a careful combination of high-level production and management.
Through several interviews with the Sharks, we've learned some interesting behind-the-scenes details hidden from viewers. We've collected them below.
SEE ALSO: The 'Shark Tank' investors reveal their investing secrets and most profitable deals
A typical pitch lasts about an hour.
A televised segment lasts about 10 minutes, but it uses footage from a pitch that, on average, lasts an hour. In Season 4, Plate Topper founder Michael Tseng was in the Tank for 2 1/2 hours, the longest of any entrepreneur.
Unlike a typical pitch, the investors know nothing about the entrepreneurs or their products before they enter the room. It's a technique that allows viewers to learn about the people and their companies along with the Sharks.
The footage editors take out contains the "unsexy" material, where the Sharks and entrepreneurs get into financial minutiae that the typical viewer would either not understand or care much about.
An entire season is shot in 17 days, split across two marathon sessions.
The production process is efficient and demanding.
The past few seasons have had 29 episodes each, and shooting was split over a week and a half in early summer and another stretch in early fall. The investors see six to eight pitches per day, and days can last up to 12 hours.
Robert Herjavec said that when he and the Sharks are in their chairs, "We're cold, we're hungry, we're miserable." It's why, he explained, it's necessary that entrepreneurs grab their attention and excite them as quickly as possible.
Pitches start with 30 seconds of silence.
Villy Custom founder Fleetwood Hicks wrote in a 2012 blog post that one of the most nerve-wracking aspects of his Season 3 pitch was the "stare down."
When it's time for entrepreneurs to give their pitches, they walk down a corridor and stop on an "X" on the floor of the Tank for the ideal shot. They are then required to stand silently for 30 seconds so that the camera crew can gather footage of the entrepreneurs and the Sharks smiling back at them, edited together to set the scene of a new segment on the show.
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