After an impressive start to the series last week I held high hopes for this weeks episode. Will it continue where episode 1 left off or will it start to fizzle out with a string of uninspiring entrepreneurs?
Richard Enion and Michael Davis – BassToneSlap
BassToneSlap are a High energy drumming performance company for corporate team building events. They were looking for £50,000 for 10% of their company. All of the dragons except Duncan had a go and proved quite proficient at playing in time to the other drummers.
Duncan was unconvinced about the whole concept, he was there for a serious investment not a bit of fun and felt they were not “teambuilders” saying “do you felt you’ve been corporate team built?” to the other dragons.
The dragons were surprised by how successful their competitors are, showing how big the market is.
Peter Jones offered half the money for 20% but only if Theo Paphitis wanted to go in too. Theo matched Peter’s offer but wanted their commitment that they would stay with the company as he felt it was more about the people not the concept. This offer was for 40% total, not the 10% they asked for!
BassToneSlap accepted the offer from Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis. Success in the den!
Adejare Doherty – The Wholeleaf Co
Adejare was in the den asking for £120,000 for a 20% stake in his Eco-friendly and naturally disposable dinnerware company.
Adejare gave a good presentation showing how the products are made and gave good reasons for needing the money. Peter Jones wanted to know straight away about the picnic pack that Sainsburys were trialling.
Deborah Meaden was concerned with the price, she felt it was too high for a disposable product but Adejare was confident that with scale he could bring the price down. Deborah however felt people wouldn’t pay in this climate to enable him to get to that level of volume. Duncan Bannatyne shared Deborah’s concerns. Adejare started to get very defensive and started disagree with the dragons.
In the end the Dragons felt it was a mess, Adejare can’t sell for the right price because he can’t buy for the right price and he can’t get to that price until he gets scale. None of the dragons could see a good route to solve this issue and they were all out.
JJ Hazan – Professional Poker Player
- Website unknown – Please leave a comment if you find one!
JJ Hazan is a professional poker player who was pitching his idea of high stakes poker tournaments. For this gamble he was asking for £65,000 for 40% of the company (Winnings). JJ Hazan wanted this money to play poker! He guaranteed to play 33 tournaments in the year and needed funding. He had spent his previous winnings on paying off his mortgage and on his family.
After playing Duncan Bannatyne (a keen poker player) and Theo Paphitis the other dragons started the questioning. Both Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden were both out straight away, not believing in gambling or that it was really a “business opportunity”.
Theo Paphitis was out because it was a “gamble” where he takes a calculated risk not a gamble.
James Caan enjoyed the pitch and felt it was well presented but he was out because it was not a business investment.
Duncan Bannatyne questioned JJ’s need for all the money and discovered JJ only thinks he would win cash in 8 of 33 games, but it could be the first 8 or the last 8! Duncan wanted to play against JJ sometime to see how good he was but until such a time he was out.
JJ left without a deal.
Sharon Wright – Magnamole
The Magnamole is an invention which should make threading cables through cavity walls simple with the use of magnets. Sharon was asking for £50,000 for 15% of the company.
She gave a clear pitch showing the product and already had distributors and a contract with BT. Duncan asked, “why do you need any money?” and discovered it wasn’t just the money it was the help to take the company to the next level. The money would go on making the company global, a website, market research, staffing and multi lingual card inserts.
Peter Jones wondered if people would repeat purchase. Sharon revealed her next product which would help longevity.
All the Dragons had praised her, but none were quick to offer money. They specifically wanted to know what was expected of them. Nobody wanted to make the first offer so Theo Paphitis went first offering the exact money for the exact percentage.
In a Dragons Den first James Caan and Duncan Bannatyne went to the back of the room to discuss their joint deal as Sharon revealed they were her prefered dragons. They offered £80,000 as they felt more was needed for worldwide expansion but for 25% of the company.
Deborah Meadan offered what Sharon asked, the same as Theo Paphitis. Peter Jones, felt she didn’t need the money she needed people and that Duncan and James would be best so he was out.
Sharon negotiated with Duncan and James down to 22.5% for £80,000 of the company. A flawless performance in the den!
My Thoughts
I thought this was another good show from Dragons Den. The pitchers seemed to have slightly more realistic share values, though obviously the dragons always want more!
Once again the show was a nice balance of very serious traditional business ideas and slightly more modern or off the wall concepts.
I was surprised the BassToneSlap got a deal as it seemed an unusual business. Equally I would have liked to have seen Wholefoods Co make a deal but their financials just didn’t stack up.
The gambling oppotunity was an odd one but I’m sure their have been many odd offers in the den!
The final deal for magnamole was brilliant. It’s one of those simple inventions which make you think, why couldn’t I have designed that! I’m sure they’ll be in every hardware store soon!
Charles Barsley works in eCommerce and in his occasional blog writes about his interests of eCommerce, Search Engine Optimisation, Photography, Cycling and anything which catches his interest!
Theo actually said that it was more about the people than the concept with the drummers, you got that the wrong way round.
Thanks for spotting that Denver, I’ve changed it round! I must have been writing too fast while watching it!
I saw this episode too, and thought it was excellent. I am not surprised that the PokerMan (see what I did there?) didn’t get any buy in, but not because the idea was off-the-wall. Certainly it was an unusual offer, but one that seemed somehow credible nonetheless. What put me off, and I think we panned in to Debra’s expression when this came up, was that the man spent some quarter of a million on holidaying and fun, and saved none of it for future “investment”, which somehow undermined him.
@Elliot
Thanks for the comment Elliot, certainly a good point that the Poker man didn’t really have a business head with his previous winnings!
It’s worth another visit to the Magamole website as Sharon has added a Dragons Den section with some exclusive behind the scenes footage, interestingly it shows unedited footage, so you hear tapes being changed, the director asking for a part to be reshot etc. Its interesting seeing Duncan and James give much more detailed information of the plans behind their offer. Enjoy http://www.magnamole.co.uk/gallery/