I see by my site stats that lots of people are looking for more information on Dragons’ Den.
Click on the following links for lots more fire-breathing:
The PROFIT Magazine supplement on Season 2
(including my story following up with some of last year’s pitchers)
The Globe and Mail’s review of the show
Don’t forget to read the comments, including this one: “The fact of the matter is these 'Dragons' are basically taking advantage of young entrepreneurs who don't know any better…”
A Kitchener-Waterloo Record story about local entrepreneurs in the Den:
(Best quote comes from a local venture capitalist who says there are no Dragonesque put-downs in the real world of venture capital. "We are not scary or brutal at all," she says. "This (show) is good entertainment, but it almost does us a disservice."
"Kempton" reviews Episode 1 - pitcher by pitcher:
Dragons' Den's biggest fan writes, "I feel really sorry for John and Peggy and wish them all the best."
One of Monday night’s presenters has already blogged to complain about the editing of Dragons’ Den.
“It was really sad how they edited the program, and really didn’t get or try to get the concept of BikiniZero. It is actually quite simple …girls in bikini’s talking about the latest technology.”
From the Calgary Herald: “Dragon's Den devours dreams”
This CanWest story escalates the "feud" between badmouthing Kevin O’Leary and nice-guy Robert Herjavec (noted in my review yesterday): “Herjavec figures if he had encountered a potential investor like O'Leary early in his career, he would have quit long before he ever succeeded. "The thing that scares me about Kevin is for me he crosses the line," he says. "That would have crushed a guy like me."
DD insider Sean Wise blogs on the ratings for Episode 1.
“We were third in our time slot.”
UPDATE (Oct. 5): Toronto Star story profiling a winner from last year who not only got a deal on-air, but actually closed the deal and got some money. "I've tripled my sales in the last year," says Jennifer MacDonald.
Meet the Dragons
http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/thedragons.html
Enter the Dragon contest
http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/armchairdragon.php
2 comments:
Hi Rick. I did a column in the Toronto Star this week, http://www.thestar.com/article/263075, featuring the one entrepreneur that actually got money from the dragons last year. How could you leave me out? We went to the launch together and compared notes the whole time.
I got some interesting reactions from readers. Here's one:
I found it interesting that you discovered that there was actually only ONE investment ever made. In most if not every episode last year, the Dragons committed to investing in one or more of the pitches per episode. In fact they advertise the show using $$$ as a teaser to watch it. Is this responsible of the producers of the show or in fact the CBC??
This seems to me to be extremely misleading to the viewers and worse, the fledgling entrepreneurs who THINK they have a commitment.
Thanks Ellen. I have added your story to the links.
You bring up an interesting question about the deals that fell through. The CBC has admitted that some of them went nowhere, but I don't think the failure rate (something like 5 out of 6?) has been revealed.
Should it be? The CBC might argue that they only facilitated the making of a deal - closing the transaction is up to the participants (and their lawyers and advisers). I think that's a fair argument - especially since it was often the "pitchers" who pulled out (or dragged their feet until the deal faded away).
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