'Shark Tank': Raising Cane's CEO Todd Graves Reveals Biggest Challenge of Guest Appearance

Graves found it hard to overcome his manners on the fast-paced reality show.

By Michael Hein

Raising Cane's founder and CEO Todd Graves appears as a "guest shark" in the upcoming season of Shark Tank, and he just spoke about his experience for the first time. Graves held a press conference at his company's "CaneCún 2024" event, where he admitted that it was daunting joining the experienced sharks on the series. The biggest hurdle, he explained, was learning to interrupt when necessary.

"There's a culture among the sharks – you can interrupt each other. Look, I grew up, like, my mama taught me not to interrupt anybody, you know?" Graves said with a smile. "So I had to literally make myself interrupt and get my questions in." Graves is one of the four guest sharks announced for this season so far. Shark Tank Season 16 premieres on Friday, Oct. 18 on ABC.

Graves gave a clear glimpse of his mindset going into his appearance on Shark Tank, saying: "They asked me to be a guest shark, and I was thrilled because I'm a big fan of the show. It's fun to watch them – the sharks do deals, and they're smart – and I like the whole, inspiring businesspeople, you know, coming up with a dream, and having it. And I like that they're kind of tough love, they'll say 'Hey, that part's not good,' 'you're not doing good,' and 'Do these things,' you know? So I was like 'I'd love to go on Shark Tank because I'm a big fan,' and I wanted to go in there and see if I can compete."

Still, when the time came Graves admitted just how nervous he was. He said: "Literally, I was nervous walking out. I was coming in, I was thinking, 'Oh gosh, you got these sharks who've been doing this forever,' and I'm coming in – how am I even going to get a question in there? And I knew Mark Cuban from before, but I didn't know any of the other sharks. So, it was Mark and Kevin and Lori and Daymond. I walked out before filming, and they were all so welcoming... I thought Mr. Wonderful might not be the nicest guy in the world – he is an amazing guy! He was like 'You're gonna do great, you're gonna see, we're all gonna be supportive.'"

"During these pitches they'd be like, 'Hey man, say this. Hey Todd, do this,'" Graves said, giving a peak behind the curtain. "They'd walk over, 'Here's a good thing for you to do during the filming.' Man, it was a blast."

Related:

Still, Graves made it clear that the process itself is very authentic. He said: "You don't know who's coming out, and they come out, they have 45 minutes to maybe an hour, and you're trying to get your questions in." He also hinted that he might not have come away from the show empty-handed, saying: "[I] did some fun deals coming out, it was great... I made memorable connections literally with all of [the sharks], we all exchanged numbers. Maybe I did some deals with somebody... It was special to be a part of it."

Shark Tank Season 16 premieres on Friday, Oct. 18 on ABC.

Trending Now: