With stock rising for investment-themed programming, Adventure Capitalists goes a step further, showing entrepreneurs taking their recreation innovations to a panel of investors who actually test products in the field. Season 2 is set to premiere on CNBC October 10 at 10p, and EVP, programming and development at 3 Ball Entertainment/ series exec producer DJ Nurre weighs in on the allure of entrepreneurs.
Cynopsis: Why the surge on interest in investment-themed programming?
DJ Nurre: From unclaimed storage lockers to abandoned Alaskan gold mines, shows about making money in unorthodox ways have done well – largely because of the wish fulfillment that comes when viewers imagine leaving their nine-to-five jobs for more exciting careers.
But lately, because of the prevalence of self-starters like Elon Musk, Jessica Alba and Mark Zuckerberg in popular culture, it’s the allure of entrepreneurship that is really fueling this trend. Adventure Capitalists is built around a great panel of investors, but in addition to them, it’s the entrepreneurs and their stories of bootstrapping a product into existence that viewers are drawn to.
Cynopsis: What do viewers hope to get from it – entertainment? Information?
DJ Nurre: It’s engaging for a variety of audiences. For the viewer already well-versed in the venture capital world, they can play along at home – almost like a game of The Price Is Right on steroids. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars would THEY invest in this product, and in exchange for what percentage?
For the rest of us, entrepreneurship is the thinking man’s lotto ticket, and this show gives insight into how the game is played. Will we, as viewers, do anything with this insight? Maybe…maybe not. But either way, it’s fun to dream, and we keep tuning in for the infotainment.
Cynopsis: What do you look for in panelists, and who would you love to get for a panel?
Our panel is incredibly unique in that each of them have an extensive background in investing in small businesses and a passion for adventure, but also the athleticism needed to subject these products to incredibly high levels of stress. We really looked for that balance when putting the panel together, and we landed on a dream team, with Olympic gymnast and gold medalist Shawn Johnson East, former NFL linebacker Dhani Jones and Olympic and world-champion skier Jeremy Bloom.
This season, that primary panel is also joined by different guest investors – including Vernon Davis (Washington Redskins tight end) and Olympic skier Bode Miller – and I would love for each of the Shark Tank sharks to come onto Adventure Capitalists to join that guest investor roster. They’ve been in those comfy studio chairs long enough – I think they’re itching to bomb down a hill on the mountain bike of tomorrow with Dhani or test the limits of a new space-age ski boot with Jeremy.
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