Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Dolphin jumps in shark tank
DAVIE – The man responsible for helping Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross build his sports empire will be taking his talents to Hollywood.
Matt Higgins, a Dolphins vice chairman and cofounder and CEO of RSE Ventures, Ross’ private investment firm that focuses on sports, entertainment and technology based companies, will be joining celebrities like Alex Rodriguez, Bethenny Frankel and Charles Barkley as a guest shark on ABC’s hit show Shark Tank during the show’s “Decade of Dreams” season.
Shark Tank, which is beginning its 10th season, is a reality show in which entrepreneurs get the chance to bring their dreams to fruition by pitching them to influential business mavens such as Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and QVC’s Lori Greiner, who make offers to invest in their company, and help take the businesses to the next level.
“It’s what we do all day long, only on TV,” said Higgins, whose role in Ross’ empire is to find businesses and ideas in which the real estate mogul can invest. “They gave me an invite, and how do you pass that up.”
The shows Higgins will be featured on this fall have already been taped, and according to Higgins they feature 10-hour days of hearing pitches. He’ll be a Shark in a few episodes, and acknowledges that he bought into a few businesses, investing his own money.
“It was an amazing experience. It was competitive and aggressive and I’m excited to see what comes of it,” Higgins said. “Everything we do is about taking a visionary entrepreneur that’s at an inflection point, and maybe they are missing something to get the rest of the way there and we supply it. Whether that’s real estate advice or capital, we just like to give that extra boost.”