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Old October 9, 2006, 06:04 AM
Duane Adolph
 
Posts: n/a
Default Just Saw Episode #1 of the Dragons Den at 4:00 am

Hi Again Sowpubbers,

O.K I just saw the 1st Episode for the Canadian Version. It was a repeat at 4.00am (I'm a night owl

O.K 1st you can check out what other people thought of Each of the pitches at this website.

http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/e01/5.html#epnav

Be sure to read the comments posted for the Lady in the grey suit her company "Cenebal Organics".

She received $200,000 with and 2 Dragon parnters the each own a 50% equity in her company.

Her Initial Objective was to generate the $200,000 with a 40% equity thus retaining control of her company.

2 of the Dragons offered her $100,000 each for 25% percent of the equity thus %50.

You could tell that at 1st she was hesitating...to MAKE THE DECISION to accept the offer.

THEN

One of the Dragons reminded her that he ALREADY HAD A DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL through which she could quickly leverage her new partners asset.

She Asked for Any remaining OPINIONS or COMMENTS from the other Dragons that had backed out and their comments were.

"You'd be INSANE to turn down this deal"
"It's TOUGH to GIVE UP CONTROL of your baby isn't it"

SHE ..."pulled the trigger" and MADE UP HER MIND.

She Accepted the offer.

She was the most Professional, Confident, Prepared presenter that I have seen.

Her Product Packaging was also superb.

She also gave a Taste Sample to one of the Dragons which helped the sale greatly.

I can tell that this is going to be a smash hit here.
I wish I had my pen and notepad ready.

Off the top of my head here are some of my Major Takeaways:

TAKEAWAYS

- The Dragons are obsessed with THE BUSINESS numbers. Know thy numbers!

- Don't Tell the Dragons that you are doing business with the GOVERNMENT.
They will RUN LIKE HECK. NO GOVERNMENT Involvement Except Taxation!
- They want to know WHEN they will see a Return on their investment (ROI).
AND what are the opportunity costs associated with the pitch.

Example:

In one of the pitches see "Green Tidal Energy" at the link above. the dragon stated..."I have $500,000 that I can invest and get a safe return of 7% per year. TELL ME

#1) HOW MUCH of A RETURN I will get on my investment with you ?

and

#2) WHEN will I get back my $500,000 back?

NICE!

- Answer me WHY should I invest my Childrens inheritance with YOU instead of the bank?

- Again Make sure you have the NUMBERS to back up ALL your claim

- They always want to know "WHAT ARE THE MARGINS?"

- They are also obsessed with the UNIQUENESS of the concept or product

ie. Why will a Coca Cola or some other industry giant Not just come in And SQUASH you like a bug (coming next episode)

- They will ONLY invest in businesses that they UNDERSTAND or that FITS
a pre-existing business that they ALREADY HAVE

(in the Successful Pitch example above, the two Dragons that made the offer were ALREADY in a similar industry health food type of business)

- They also want to know that THEY can bring VALUE OTHER THAN MONEY to the table.

(One Dragon Turned down the Organic Product Pitch because he felt he could not add value to the table even though he was furiously taking notes)

- After they have a GRASP of the PRODUCT...they GO RIGHT INTO BUSINESS mode and ask the question...

"SO WHAT IS THE BUSINESS????"
"SO WHAT IS THE BUSINESS????"
"SO WHAT IS THE BUSINESS????"

While each of the Presenters seem to be in LOVE with the PRODUCT.

KEY, KEY, KEY, difference in Values.

SO WHAT IS THE BUSINESS AND HOW ARE WE GOING TO MAKE MONEY??

My Thoughts:

- These Dragons remind my of something Jim Straw and others have said. If they had to do it over again they would NEVER Create their own product. Instead they would DO Affiliate Marketing and Sell Other PEOPLES products

- In a similar fashion these Dragons are also LOOKING for something QUICK AND EASY and PROFITABLE that they can PLUG INTO THEIR Distribution CHANNEL.

- So If YOU or I were to look for investors in our idea, the best Angel Investor to Target, would be one that ALREADY HAS an Understanding, or Distribution Channel for our product. SHOW THEM, HOW THEY CAN EASILY MAKE MONEY WITH YOUR BUSINESS.

- Using Half of the Marketing Knowledge that we've learned here on SOWPUB, and on the Internet in General. OUR PITCHES would be 1000 X's better than half of these people that are presenting.

O.K

That's enough now.

Good Night 6:00a.m

Thanks for reading

Duane "I LOVE THIS SHOW" Adolph

Quote:
Originally Posted by Duane Adolph View Post
Hi Sowpubbers,

Have any of you seen the T.V show called The Dragons Den?

This show has just aired its first episode in Toronto Canada last Wednesday.

However, it appears to have aired in the U.K previously.

I have watched a couple of back episodes from the U.K on Youtube.com and this show is a must watch for Entrepreneurs. I like it much better than the Apprentice.

Basic Premise of Show:

Inventors or business owners looking for outside investment get an opportunity to make a Pitch to a group of Angel Investors (the Dragons).

There is no real winner or loser, the Dragons individually listen to the pitch and decide if they are going to invest their money into the project or not. This is done on an individual basis not as a group.

KEY POINT OF INTEREST:

- These are real people, looking for real money
- Notice the TYPES of questions that the Dragons ask
- Notice the FLAWS in the PITCH of the people asking for money

One key thing I noticed is that a lot of the pitches LACK a fundamental understanding of MARKETING. They are very PRODUCT focused and NOT Market focussed.

Examples.

I Listened to this guy try to Pitch his project for almost 10 minutes,
and I still have NO CLUE what the product is and neither do the Dragons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gF0ihonnEQ

This is another guy that has a website http://www.storycode.com/

He was looking for funding from the investors, and they RIP him to shreds.
He argues vehemently for his project. Listen carefully to the lady Dragon and what she says to him

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDczb...elated&search=

If you want to see an upcoming show checkout this site

www.insidethedragonsden.com/ it airs this Wednesday in Toronto Canada.

To view the original show from the U.K go to

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/about.shtml ( there are a LOT OF TIPS and GREAT ADVICE HERE TO)

I think anybody that been around SOWPUB would know how to give a better pitch than these folks.

Has anybody else seen this show??

Any lessons learned?

Duane Adolph
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