The Factionist Shark Tank Update

The Factionist Shark Tank Pitch

This was shaping up to be the most annoying social justice, peer pressure crap of a pitch we've seen. But luckily, the sharks didn't play into the trap, and that's why we love Shark Tank.

Nate Berkopec went to the t-shirt store and screen printed some sayings on shirts he thought the social justice warrior community would applaud him for so he could feel important. He called it The Factionist.

Tee up the shark quotes.

Nate Berkopec has sold $3k of t-shirts but wait—name drop—he goes to New York University, so he thinks he's an authoritative figure destined to succeed.

Nate argues that it's a long-term investment and cash-flow positive, along with other desperate comments. The sharks laugh in his face.

Nate seems to have found himself in one of these cancerous acceptance cults over in those liberal arts schools. Once you catch the bug there's no going back.

The Factionist After Shark Tank

Buckle up. Nate Berkopec is the comeback kid story we were hoping for. In 2017 he wrote an excellent summary of what he had gone through and learned since Shark Tank that you can read here

After Nate Berkopec got roasted on national TV and all his friends and colleagues had seen it, he went through a terrible 10-year period of anxiety.

Nate summarises how emotion overwhelmed logic and somehow got him on Shark Tank. Barrack Obama was elected president, and all the liberal college students around Nate were fueled with a contagious emotion and confidence that extended beyond reality.

19-year-old Nate had a side hobby that catered to the liberal bubble he was in and made some sales, so he thought he had a business. He had always been told he was smart and assumed easy success would come.

Whenever something difficult came to Nate, he quit and did something he could easily do. His doctor calls this a "fixed mindset."

Nate escaped the embarrassment he felt by getting a motorcycle, going to Ghana, and eventually learning to code before settling down in a job for a bit.

Seeking to scratch his entrepreneurial mindset, Nate started freelancing. Eventually, he found a specially in the Ruby on Rails web development framework where he created courses, books, etc., and amassed over $500k in sales.

Even with some success, Nate still had health issues that he attributed to the shark tank baggage he had been carrying around. Part of recovering was for him to watch his episode again that he hadn't seen in ten years (30 at the time of writing).

Nate saw a person that was nothing like the Nate he knew today. He hasn't confidence anywhere near what he had on shark tank in the time since.

Nate sees people that have failing businesses and refuse to admit defeat and move on because they can't handle the associated failure. Shark Tank taught Nate how to deal with failure so he can approach himself with brutal honesty and fail again if it's reality instead of lying to himself about him doing well.

Nate is great evidence that honesty is a mentally difficult barrier to learn to take but can result in a much better long-term result. Nate did desire the long-term vision.

Barbara also hired Nate for a few projects.

You can find Nate on Twitter, @nateberkopec

In 2022 Nate is continuing his niche in the Ruby on Rails education front. He also has his "pronouns" on his Twitter, so I guess some things never changed—but hey—without Shark Tank, it may have said she/her right now.