Hollis Johnson
"Shark Tank" investor Barbara Corcoran has created a family of her best entrepreneurs. Above, some of the entrepreneurs attend a New York Yankees game during an annual retreat with Corcoran.
Getting a deal with a "Shark Tank" investor can be an opportunity of a lifetime, but the flood of attention that comes after an episode premieres serves as a test for whether entrepreneurs can perform under pressure.
Through eight seasons of the series, Barbara Corcoran has assembled a portfolio of small businesses, and she's made the founders of her highest-performing into a kind of family.
For the past four years, Corcoran has assembled a group of her most profitable entrepreneurs, along with the most promising founders from the most recent season of the show, for a three-day retreat at one of her homes. The group changes each year.
During this time, they all share best practices, give updates on successes and failures of the past year, and get to know each other better.
She brought the founders of five companies to New York City this June, ending the retreat at a New York Yankees game. The founders, with custom "Barbara's All-Stars" Yankees shirts, got to enjoy the game from a box suite overlooking home plate.
We met up with them and asked them to share their best advice to fellow entrepreneurs.