Shaan Patel failed his first SAT. Then he spent hundreds of hours studying, earned a perfect score, won over half a million dollars in scholarships, and built a business that has helped over 100,000 students do the same.
In this episode of The Visibility Podcast, Lauren Cobello sits down with Shaan Patel, Founder & CEO of Prep Expert, Shark Tank entrepreneur, doctor, and author, to discuss test prep, entrepreneurship, college scholarships, PR, Shark Tank, immigrant family values, and how failure can become the foundation of a business.
Shaan shares how his parents came to the United States from India with very little, worked odd jobs, and eventually bought a small motel in Las Vegas. Growing up in a public school system with a high dropout rate, Shaan learned early that education could change the trajectory of a family.
Chapters
0:00 Meet Shaan Patel
0:43 Growing Up In Vegas
3:00 Struggling With The SAT
5:14 Building Prep Expert
7:05 Going On Shark Tank
9:32 Pitching The Sharks
13:51 Shark Tank Audition Story
15:44 Why Books Build Credibility
22:00 Doctor And Entrepreneur
27:41 Test Optional Challenges
What You’ll Learn
🎓 How Shaan turned a low SAT score into a perfect score
🏫 Why strong students can still struggle with standardized tests
💰 How test prep can unlock major scholarship opportunities
🦈 What it is really like to pitch on Shark Tank
📚 Why Shaan believes every entrepreneur should write a book
📺 How local media helped Shaan get his first clients
🔥 Why PR creates credibility that ads cannot buy
🤖 How Wikipedia, Reddit, and media now affect AI search
📍 Why local scholarships can be easier to win
🚀 How failure can become your strongest brand story
👤 GUEST
Shaan Patel
https://www.instagram.com/shaanpatel/
Website: Prepexpert.com
📸 Follow the Host
Lauren on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauren_cobello/
Website: https://leveragewithmedia.com/
🎧 LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
🍏 Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/visibility-with-lauren-cobello/id1896846267
🎵 Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/033pkSbweTnun0mAfwDemS?si=c183d4f69dec402b
SEO Keywords
Shaan Patel, Lauren Cobello, The Visibility Podcast, Prep Expert, Shaan Patel Shark Tank, Mark Cuban, SAT prep, ACT prep, college scholarships