Hargitt Marine Services, as the name defines, specializes in exclusive marine services, which include boat towing, underwater diving, and treasure hunting.
Mark Hargitt is a self-acclaimed amateur naval historian with a crazy obsession for deep-rooted long-lost fortunes hidden under the sea bed. Mark had an experience worth of years in treasure seeking and, with that confidence, came to Shark Tank to give his pitch regarding his ambition.
Mark told the judges that he had tracked a colossal treasure, and he was confident about it and wanted Sharks to invest in his project to bring the valuable fortune back to the mainland.
The pitch presented was unique and a perfect opportunity for Mark to fulfill his mission.
Mark presented his demand for 2.5 million dollars in exchange for 25% of the stakes of his business project. The reason behind the making of such a vast investment demand was that the ore of treasure itself was worth 2.4 million dollars. So, according to Mark, the investment made would either be a success or a loss. It all depends on how the mission goes.
Upon the judges’ inquiry relating to the permission to carry out this project, Mark explained that he has the rights from the State of Alaska to salvage the boat wreck in which the treasure was present. He is confident that he can finish the treasure mission in less than two weeks with the help of the appropriate crew and accurate materials and equipment.
The judges asked whether he had other investment options for this project, to which Mark replied that he had the chance to spend his retirement fund, but for him, that option is plan C, and he is focusing on making other means of investment work for him.
Two of the judges were quite intrigued by this idea of investment but speculated that the risks were too high; hence they stepped back from investing. Another judge loved Mark’s passion and ignited his treasure hunting interests, but since he had no experience investing in such companies, he refused. The last two judges assumed that the mission might fail, leading to no profit return; hence they excused themselves from investing as well.
Therefore, Mark Hargitt left the Shark Tank platform without acquiring a successful investment deal from the sharks.
The social media reach of Hargitt Marine Services is closer to none, and there is no running website for his business. His planned treasure extraction project did not surface on social media, where some people assumed that he might have carried out the operation secretly to avoid facing any limelight.
As of the recent social media post, Mark Hargitt is still in business, but now he doesn’t do treasure hunting anymore. Instead, his company concentrates on choked vessel removal, beach cleaning, underwater exploration, and tourism.
Some people believed that Mark might have lost his will to succeed and lacked motivation after he failed in Shark Tank, which made him shut down his treasure-seeking projects.
Our Review of Hargitt Marine Services
While the idea to locate and extract sunken historical treasures was enthusiastic, at the same time, the idea seemed to be old-fashioned. It lacked innovation, which we believe was one of the key reasons the business failed to gain profitable investment.
Pros of Hargitt Marine Services
There were some noticeable advantages of Hargitt Marine Services, which are as follows:
- The entrepreneur and founder of the company himself was a naval historian giving him a plus point to establish his business to a higher level based on his experience and training.
- Although the business failed to receive an investment from Shark Tank, it had other financial options to carry out the operation successfully.
- Mark also gave marine training, which ignited the interest of many young individuals in maritime services and treasure hunting, enabling Mark to establish a professional crew for himself to help with his projects.
Cons of Hargitt Marine Services
Along with key benefits, the company had certain disadvantages as well, which are listed below:
- The business lacked innovation as the project idea was pervasive, and it could be easily achievable by any other company with more resources and financial stability.
- The mission did not promise any favorable outcome, and the risk was also high regarding whether the mission will succeed or fail.
- The founder, a marine enthusiast, was unable to analyze and comprehend all the factors of his project and failed to increase the credibility of his mission.
- The market competition against the company was high. According to the founder, they have far more and better opportunities to extract treasures and have more social media outreach to gain crowdfunds from global fans.
Who Is Hargitt Marine Services for?
Hargitt Marine Services are for people interested in marine and ocean-related activities. The services are best suitable for adventure-seeking individuals with curious nature as they will also aid towards a possible treasure finding. People, especially tourists fascinated by scuba diving, underwater exploration, and other water-related activities, can also benefit from Hargitt Marine Services.
Are There Any Alternatives?
Mariposa Shipwrecks is a company that is a tough competitor against Hargitt Marine Services. The company has more marine rights from the state government, adequate and better resources to carry out different projects, and a professional crew to carry out those projects efficiently and successfully.
Our Final Thoughts
Hargitt Marine Services had a great initiative and goal towards exploring lost historical treasures. But it lacked the focus and direction to stand out from other companies. If it had a more organized and professional way of carrying out operations and a more reliable management system, it would have gained tremendous success and social media approach, which would have helped the company to take its business to the global level exploring and discovering treasures in international waters and extracting them.
