Loads of affiliates love Dragons' Den, so I'm sure many will have watched with interest as two gaming affiliates appeared in the Den and walked away with £200,000 worth of investment from Theo.

Their business, Gaming Alerts, delivers updates and offers from Poker, Bingo and Betting sites to users' computers through an application that sits on the desktop. They likened their service to comparison sites like Confused.com, and if they genuinely are able to deliver comparisons on odds for certain bets to their users that would be a very useful service, although I rather got the feeling that it might be more to send out puff pieces and press release type information. But that may be unfair so could be worth downloading to check it out.

I think it would have to offer something genuinely compelling for any great number of people to download and install it, and then continue to use it. And making me consume information through a desktop application seems a slightly backward looking step. But with that kind of capital, maybe they can invest in it enough to deliver really useful content - although I'm not sure they actually said what they wanted the money for (well I'm sure they said it, but I don't think it made the final edit).

What was more interesting was the reaction of some of the Dragons to the ideas behind the pitch. Duncan was incredulous at the idea of people playing Bingo online. James Caan wasn't persuaded that kind of returns mention were possible. It's kind of amusing to see how ignorant even these successful entrepreneurs are about the possibilities of this industry.

Labels: dragons' den

Many UK entrepreneurs enjoy watching Dragons' Den, and will have seen in the most recent series the investment made in Levi Roots and his Reggae Reggae Sauce.

Well, it's out now in the shops and I decided to give it a try. I wasn't really sure what to do with it, so I threw some in a Chilli Con Carne and also had it as a dip.

I'm not really a food critic so can't offer a particularly detailed appraisal of it's effects on the palate but upon a first sniff, it seems oddly familar of other flavours. The taste is tomatoey with quite a kick of heat at the end.

Now, If for any reason you can't get to Sainsburys to buy your own, then you may consider my own recipe (Rob Rob Sauce? Monetise This Sauce?) which will give you a very similar effect:

Get some tomato ketchup. Get some brown sauce. Add some chilli powder. Mix.

Of course, Reggae Reggae Sauce is based on a family secret recipe and I wouldn't want to imply that's what it is, but err... I think it might be!

The interesting thing about Reggae Reggae Sauce is that it success in getting investment on Dragons' Den wasn't really anything to do with a sound business model, it was to do with an engaging character, a catchy tune and the fact it was showcased on TV and now we can all get involved by spending less than £2. It's a souvenir for the viewers. In a way, I find I object to the fact that Dragons' Den is no longer our window into the process of business, it IS the process - and being on there can make a business just though exposure.

Labels: dragons' den, reggae reggae sauce, tv

Dragons' Den reached its conclusion last night with the latest batch of entrepreneurs seeking an investment from the Dragons.

Isis Adventure Series (available to buy from Firebox) was some kind of Rubiks-cum-geo-caching thing. Crack the puzzle to get the key inside which would reveal from the website the location of a prize somewhere in the UK. Though if theres a cash prize, why bother cracking the puzzle – just saw it open and get the key. They got an offer, despite some complication about the drawings for the puzzle being in the hands of the manufacturer, but turned it down to the obvious annoyance of Peter Jones.

Ecotech UK had a great invention that would be a battery supported intermediary device between TVs and the power supply to ensure that when it was set to standby, the power was actually cut off. Richard went for his usual suggestion – don’t make it, just licence it to manufacturers, but for once it seemed perfect strategy. All of the Dragons saw the potential, and all five Dragons wanted to invest – assuming a patent was granted – in what resembled some kind of entrepreneurial gang-bang as they all dived in. It was a great way to end the series on what seems like a brilliant invention.

The series finished with a recap on the success stories from the last series.

My series highlight was Foldio from Christian Lane. A great little product from a very impressive young entrepreneur and I look forward to seeing it in the shops.

My series lowlight was the investment made by Richard and Deborah in a ridiculous innovation which covers rotating washing lines, and required rainfall to come in an exact vertical line for it to keep the clothes dry. That they missed such an obvious flaw really made me question their judgement.

Dragons’ Den will return later in the year!

[Edit]

A contributor to this post pointed out that another standby power saver device exists, and actually seems to be nearer to being available in the market place than the one seen on Dragons' Den. It's called Savasocket and been endorsed by the Energy Saving Trust. They've issues a press release in response to what was shown on Dragons' Den:

PRESS RELEASE - 22nd March 2007
SAVASOCKET TO BENEFIT FROM DRAGON’S DEN

Any avid viewer of the BBC’s Dragon’s Den will have seen how – in an unprecedented move – all five dragons invested £20,000 each for a 50% share in Standby Saver – a remote controlled plug socket that saves energy.

One person who was paying particular attention to the proceedings was Yorkshire business owner James Dunne (right) who’s company has its own remote controlled, energy saving socket – the SAVASOCKET – in production and is actually further down the line in terms of it being available to the public.

“I was thrilled and intrigued when I saw the Standby Saver on Dragon’s Den for a number of reasons,” says James, director of Electratech Ltd. “It is great encouragement to know that five well known business investors can see the potential both to consumers and the environment of this type of product.“

Labels: dragons' den, tv

Two deals were done in the Den this week.

Chris Haines had come up with an invention that seemed pretty clever to me. A nightlight called Safe-T-Light that plugs into a wall socket and comes on when the lights fail, and the light is detachable so it acts a torch. Keeping a conventional torch for when the lights fail is a problem because you need to find the torch and hope its batteries have power. The Dragon's were split - Pete Jones thought it was pointless, Richard Farleigh thought Chris's plans to sell overseas before achieving success here was flawed and Duncan just wasn't interested. But Deborah was interested in it and the prospect of more safety products to come, and Theo was also keen, pointing out powercuts were more common in Europe, and they both decided to invest, getting 30% of equity between them for £95,000.

David Pybus - described as the Indiana Jones of Perfumery - wanted to take a range of historically accurate fragrances to market and carve out a niche in a hurge market. He was offering 20% of his business, Scents of Time, for £80,000. His product range included fragrances from the Titanic and from Pompeii - So if you want to smell like a ship that sunk or a city that was destroyed,you could well be in luck. He didn't say whether he will be expanding his product range to include more recent tragedies - but I suppose "Tsnumai for Men" and the scent of Chernobyl are two ideas that shouldn't be sniffed at. I can't imagine these selling particularly well on the beauty counters of the nation's dept stores, but maybe in the back of Sunday supplements or on the shopping channels? As he pointed out, it's a huge market and getting a tiny fraction would still do incredibly well.

Both deals this week were split between more than one investor, despite not being for large sums of money. I think I remarked on it before, but it seems increasingly common for the Dragons not to do deals alone in the Den. I can only imagine what it's like when they goto the canteen at lunch: "'Theo, I'm prepared to pay half the money for 50% of this cod and chips. What do you think?"

I can't do a Dragons' Den post and not remark on the success achieved by Levi Roots from episode one of this series who has just done a deal which will see his Reggae Reggae Sauce in 600 Sainsburys stores. Product review coming soon!

Labels: dragons' den, review, tv

Christian Lane was an amazing young guy from Surrey who come into the den with his carrying case idea for graphic designers which lets them carry large paper sizes in a folded case without creasing the paper. It was called Foldio and looked like a reasonable idea, and the Dragons were obviously impressed with it, but more so with him for having achieved quite a lot by the age of 19 - he raised the money to get the project to its current state through dabbling in import/export from China. He asked for £80,000 for a 15% stake in his business, but quickly upped his offer to 35% under very little pressure from Theo. He explained later that he was very keen to work with Theo, who runs the stationary shops Rymans and Partners. Peter Jones looked a bit gutted not to have managed to get in on the deal that was eventually done between Christian and Theo, as he was clearly keen to work with him. The website for the product is www.foldio.co.uk and it's apparently coming soon.

Anna Dickson brought her Mummymits into the Den - a pair of gloves that attached to a pram and allowed for the person pushing the pram to quickly get their hands in and out of a pair of gloves to tend to their child. The concensus of the Dragons seemed to be that it was a nice idea and could be a good lifestyle business for Anna, but she lacked the business acumen to really push it forward. I had an idea what they mean when they say "lifestyle business" but it was useful to see this quote from Peter Jones on the BBC site: "I defined her business as a ‘lifestyle business’ which means she was not planning to channel profits back into her company to expand it but was using it to fund herself"

The only other successful entrepreneur was KC Jones whose company, Innovations4u, had an exclusive distribution deal for a box, a bit smaller than a microwave, that could sterilise anything using silver-nano technology. KC was a bit of a character, but just the right side of eccentric to still be investible. Richard Farleigh and Deborah Meaden took a punt and invested £100,000 between them, for which they negotiated an equity share of 50%. Personally I think if an entrepreneur comes into the den, by all means negotiate on the equity share but to force him to a stage where he only retains 50% of the shares of his company seems a bit greedy.

Labels: dragons' den, review, tv

First up in the Dragons' Den was Ling Valentine with her contract hire website and an eye-catching poster showing her URL printed onto be nuclear missile. Her website has a crazy design that is on first glance a complete mess but the more I looked at it, decided it actually seems to work. I read through her site and was especially amused by her advice page on building a good website which had this nugget of information:

Use program like Macromedia Dreamweaver and sit with clever druggy student who show you some basic skill.

Duncan and Richard were interested enough to make an offer that the equity stake they demanded was too big and Ling abruptly refused it, telling them ' Chinese eat dragons for breakfast'. Her advert on a missile was a good publicity stunt, and you couldn't help but think her appearance on Dragons' Den was just another one, but good on her for that.

More popular with all the dragons was the husband and wife team who wanted to sell a kiss moulding kit called Send a Kiss by Benje. The idea had come about when the guy had a heart attack and thought of something he would wanted to leave behind to his wife. All of the dragons loved the idea but also agreed this was a' lifestyle business' that could make a great living in a couple but that probably wouldn't make a big return investors. Peter Jones said he found the back story to the business ' heart rendering' when he surely meant heart rending which was quite a funny Jade Goody moment for someone who had just been blasting another pair of entrepreneurs as ' idiots'. The couple didn't receive any funding although Peter did buy one of the kits from them for £50 which was like some kind of patronising act of charity since they already said the RRP was £14 99. Theo said he may be able to put them in touch with someone who could help them and maybe he was true to his word because the Send a Kiss website has a non-affiliate link to Theo's underwear store, La Senza which implies some kind of relationship was born.

Finally in the den was in Imram Hakim who had iTeddy - a teddy bear with a media player embedded in its stomach and day content subscription service on the associated website. It seems like a pretty reasonable idea and surprisingly affordable considering it was apparently a video player as well and Imran had a very polished product to show considering he had only come up with the idea five months earlier. Most agreed it was a good idea if he was able to get the patents, and Theo and Peter ended up investing in the business. I don't mean to fisk Peter Jones's every contribution but he made a point of saying in his negotiations that Imran could ' have the money today'. Followers of Dragons' Den know that despite the impression of cash being handed over, these deals are long drawnout affairs are often never take place one due dilligence has been carried out. The deal was dependent on a patent being granted, which Richard thought was unlikely, and he may have been right because I can see no mention of iTeddy in the patent office database.

Labels: dragons' den, entrepreneurs, review, tv

Dragon's Den made its return to our screens tonight on BBC2 - perhaps a little sooner than one might have expected since I was remember reviewing the last series back in September. For those unaware of the show, this is where budding entrepreneurs can pitch their ideas to a panel of "Dragons" who are looking to invest their own money in viable businesses. I like to think I have a modicum of entrepreneurial spirit, which is why I enjoy this programme and I think probably many online entrepreneurs in the UK watch it, and likewise for the versions shown in other countries.

Possibly the show has lost credibility though because I think it's become quite a lot about the personalities and egos of the Dragons and there's been too many reports of the deals shown simply not happening, but its still entertaining viewing.

First up in the Den tonight was a guy looking to take his contemporary puppet business into schools, community groups and young offenders institutions. Certainly the idea of tackling juvenile delinquency through the art of puppetry wasn't something that had occurred to me, but the panel liked the idea. Their main concern though was the business he wanted investment for was a side venture to his established activities and actually had nothing to it yet: it hadn't started doing anything so there was nothing to invest in other than an idea. He didn't get the investment.

Next up we had two entrepreneurs wanted £160,000 to invest in their "thermo-logistic" business. Unsuprisingly for refrigeration experts, they stayed cool under pressure and managed to negotiate a deal where they took the money in exchange for a 22.5% equity share. Seemed like a solid enough business, but the subject matter was hard to get too enthusiastic about, although the panel were certainly excited because at one point they had offers on the table from all five Dragons.

Dr Gili Kucci from Kucci Kukui wanted money to help expand her City-based relaxation treatment business. The Dragons' had difficulty believing the figures they were being given and she didn't get the investment, although Duncan Bannantyne rode to her rescue and tried to interpret her answers into something more coherent.

Levi Roots was a charismatic entrant into the Dragons' Den, beguiling the Dragons with a catchy ditty about his Reggae Reggae Sauce - "so good I named it twice". Despite making a huge error in his understanding of an apparent order (mistaking 2500 litres for 2,500,000 litres), he managed to score an investment of £50,000 from Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh. I think they clearly took a shine to him and that got him the deal, because I can imagine many other people making that kind of mistake would have had some harsh words coming their way. There was nothing on the Reggae Reggae Sauce to indicate any breakthroughs in the sauce's fortune, and I've not seen it in Sainsburys, so I'd love to know if this deal actually happened.

Labels: dragons' den, review, tv