Amazon has revealed its new streaming venture, and this one borrows the concept of "Shark Tank" with some in-house e-commerce perks of its own. The show — titled "Buy It Now" and hosted by comedian JB Smoove — will have contestants pitching their products to a rotating team of celebrity entrepreneur panelists such as Academy Award-winner Gwyneth Paltrow, actor Anthony Anderson, and skating legend Tony Hawk. The show will also feature Amazon executives as well as Ring founder Jamie Siminoff.
Notably, Siminoff pitched the idea of DoorBot, touted as the world's first WiFi video doorbell, on "Shark Tank" in 2013 but left the show empty-handed without agreeing a deal with any sharks. Following this appearance as a contestant, Siminoff transformed his invention into Ring , and sold the company to Amazon for over $1 billion, before returning to "Shark Tank" as a guest judge. However, Amazon's show has a lot more going for it than an obvious "Shark Tank" resemblance and a permanent entrepreneur-judge in Siminoff.
Despite the shared concept, "Buy It Now" will put pitchers in front of an audience of 100 potential customers, and only after getting a positive interest will they reach the panelists, with one entrepreneur per episode winning a sum of $20,000 to support their business idea. And that's not all. Successful products pitched on "Buy It Now" will find a home on Amazon's giant marketplace.
In fact, these products will have their own dedicated microsite on Amazon's exclusive ".
