Leonardo Da Vinci
Pitches Everything at Once

[The elevator doors open. LEONARDO DA VINCI walks out backwards, pulling a large wooden cart piled with rolled-up parchments, scale models, and what appears to be a human skeleton. He's wearing a paint-splattered tunic. There is a partially dissected frog in his breast pocket. He is writing in a notebook — backwards — while walking.]

[He stops in the hallway, looks at the studio lighting rig, and frowns disapprovingly. He pulls out a charcoal pencil and begins sketching a better one on the wall.]

"The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding. The Sharks will understand — or they will not. Either way, I have 47 inventions to show them."

[A production assistant tries to hurry him along. Leonardo pauses to sketch her portrait. It is flawless. It takes eleven seconds.]

"Sharks. My name is Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci. I am a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer."

[Kevin O'Leary checks his watch.]

"I am asking for 500 florins — approximately $75,000 in your currency — for 2% of my enterprise. And now, let me show you what 2% buys."

[He unfurls the first blueprint. It is a flying machine with bat-like wings and a hand crank.]

"First: the ornithopter. Powered human flight. The wings are based on my anatomical studies of bats and birds. I have dissected 30 birds to understand the mechanics."

Mark Cuban: "That's incredible. Is that what you're pitching?"

"No. Also this."

[He unfurls a second blueprint. A submarine.]

"An underwater breathing vessel. And this —"

[A third blueprint. An armored tank.]

"A mobile armored fortress with 360-degree cannon coverage. And this —"

[A fourth. A parachute.]

"A device to fall from any height safely. And this —"

[He keeps going. Blueprint after blueprint. The cart is apparently bottomless. The Sharks watch in increasing alarm as designs for a helicopter, a self-propelled cart, a scuba suit, a revolving bridge, and a giant crossbow cover every surface of the studio.]

[Twenty minutes pass. Leonardo is still going.]

Daymond John: "Leonardo, I'm going to be real with you. You're the most talented person who has ever walked into this room. And I still can't invest. Because I have no idea what I'd be investing IN. You need a business partner who will force you to finish things. I'm out."

Lori: "The scissors, Leonardo. Just the scissors. Can you do just the scissors? I'll give you $75,000 for 10% of a scissors company."

"I will not reduce my life's work to scissors."

Lori: "Then I'm out."

Robert: "I'm out too. But can I keep this sketch of the studio? It's actually incredible."

Kevin: "You are a DISASTER. Forty-seven products! No revenue! A valuation based on things that don't exist yet! You are everything that is wrong with inventors. I'm out."

Barbara: "Leonardo, come back when you've finished ONE thing. I'm out."

Mark Cuban: "I'm the last one. And I want to invest. I really do. But I can't invest in 47 companies at once. If you come back with ONE product, a prototype, and a manufacturing plan, I will fund you to any amount you want. But today? I'm out."

Leonardo never came back with one product. He went home and started eight new projects, finished none of them, and began dissecting a bear to understand its shoulder mechanics.

Every single one of his 47 inventions was eventually built by someone else — usually centuries later. The flying machine became the airplane. The submarine became nuclear. The tank became a cornerstone of modern warfare. The parachute has saved millions of lives. His studio redesign was quietly adopted by the Shark Tank production team in Season 4.

He never finished the Mona Lisa to his satisfaction. It took him approximately 16 years. It is now worth $870 million and is the most famous painting on Earth.

The scissors did fine.

Leonardo's final words to the camera: "I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. But first, let me sketch one more thing."