Dragons' Den goes out with a Bang

The CBC gave me a sneak peek at the season finale of Dragons’ Den.

It’s a special retrospective show recapping the big deals that were done, great moments in Dragon infighting, the pitchers’ worst mistakes, and new interviews with the Dragons complaining about each other. It’s on Sunday, Jan. 11, and it’s a lot of fun. It’s one of the few TV shows that a whole family can watch together, and everyone will get something out of it.

In attention to the mistakes and infighting, the show contains some useful business content. The Dragons sum up how to get their attention, and what makes a winning pitch. I liked what Kevin O’Leary had to say about the pitchers’ biggest flaw: “90% of them blew the chance to make a good first impression.”

I also liked Arlene Dickinson’s summary of the three things every pitcher must do if they want to earn investment from a Dragon.
1) Captivate us.
2) Show us the opportunity .
3) Talk about what you've done to date.

O’Leary made it even simpler: “What is the opportunity, and how can I make money? That's all I want to know.”

A few other highlights of the show:
* the chef apologizes for making the Dragons eat dog food;
* Brett Wilson on pitchers’ biggest weaknesses: forecasting sales and assessing the value of their company.
* Wilson on what he looks for in a pitcher: “humble confidence”
* Jim Treliving admitting that “no one knows what’s really going to work”
* Dickinson nailing Wilson for making “the worst deal of the year”
* and Robert Herjavec dishing on what Kevin O’Leary is really like.

Oh yeah, they also announce the winners of the $75,000 “Armchair Dragons” award, sponsored by Concrete Equities. (I don't think I’ll give that one away. But it’s an intriguing choice.)

Sunday, Jan. 11, at 8.pm. Could be 8:30 in Newfoundland.

Dragons Den will be back for another season. Auditions will likely be in April. You can stay in touch with the show by clicking here.