Do you watch Dragons Den?

[Ozzy]

I'm curious, who watches Dragon's Den and if you do how are you finding the new dynamic with the younger dragon Steve Bartlett ?

I know a few here have worked with companies who have been on the show, and have thoughts on the process compared to typical fund pitches (as @Mark T Jones wrote about in his guide here) but it does feel like a new revitalised show this season. It did feel like it was getting a bit stale before.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Interesting point

As an older viewer i still feel the format is stale - however by attracting a younger audience I guess that becomes irrelevant.

Overall though it is a great show if you take the right messages

 

[WaveJumper]

Yes I watch it and Steven has brought a new dynamic to the show clearly from the new age of business minded individuals which showed itself a couple of nights ago when he knocked heads with Touker, Steven clearly looks at opportunities which can gain from online exposure rather than go old fashion brick and mortar. Certainly brought a breath of fresh air to the den

 

[Ozzy]

As an older viewer i still feel the format is stale - however by attracting a younger audience I guess that becomes irrelevant.

That's my take too, aimed for a younger new generation now. Last week made me feel old when they should clips from the original season and Peter Jones looked so young!

Steven clearly looks at opportunities which can gain from online exposure rather than go old fashion brick and mortar.

He does indeed, something that is often missed by the others now. I do find his style of questioning very different to the others, and he looks at what can be made to go viral as appose what can be shifted through supermarkets et all.

 

[MBE2017]

Personally I have yet to warm to him.

 

[SEODEV#338055]

Used to watch DD and Apprentice back in the day when I had more time

Now I get served DD clips on YT every now and again and I sometimes take the bait

I love the ruthless nature of both programs as it helps prepare you for battles with your competitors and communication with your customers, and of course both being UK based made extremely relevant

Both programme versions in the US and other countries have zero appeal

DD UK didn't do enough background features on any of the pitchers, or enough follow-up features on the successful pitchers, or enough kind of take out business advice clips, so I got bored and lost interest

 

[Karimbo]

I still enjoy it, I still find it eye opening to see people's ideas and their revenues.

I noticed how so many of the DD businesses have such high revenue and such high costs as well. Like they might have £1M turnover and operating loss.

Anyone can thrown £1M in social media ads, generate £1.2M sales and break even, is that a business?

 

[Ozzy]

Anyone can thrown £1M in social media ads, generate £1.2M sales and break even, is that a business?

Nope, although the VC's like that sort of business as it has good numbers that meets revenue and subscription targets....for a while.

 

[japancool]

He does indeed, something that is often missed by the others now. I do find his style of questioning very different to the others, and he looks at what can be made to go viral as appose what can be shifted through supermarkets et all.

I remember Duncan Bannatyne telling the pitchers how Hungry House's model was all wrong and why that wasn't how people who wanted a takeaway would buy things.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I noticed how so many of the DD businesses have such high revenue and such high costs as well. Like they might have £1M turnover and operating loss.

Anyone can thrown £1M in social media ads, generate £1.2M sales and break even, is that a business?

Remember that 'offers' on DD aren't offers, they are camera action prior to due diligence - Headline numbers are meaningless without further research.

The most often-quoted loss-maker is Amazon, who were busy kidding us that they were an online bookseller, whilst chucking millions into creating the biggest plug-and-go retail disruptor of all time.

Sadly, in most cases, the only thing other loss-makers have in common with Amazon is making losses!

 

[MBE2017]

Reckon 90% or more of the DD offers never go through, most fall by the wayside. I think most see it as a great way to get free exposure, not much else.

Watched last night and Bartlett saw a problem with the dog booking restaurant service none of the other Dragons had flagged, the woman not making it free but charging everyone, just to list. He then went on too explain how he thought she should have done things.

The look on the other Dragons faces said it all to myself, like, how did I not think of that?

 

[Karimbo]

Reckon 90% or more of the DD offers never go through, most fall by the wayside. I think most see it as a great way to get free exposure, not much else.

Watched last night and Bartlett saw a problem with the dog booking restaurant service none of the other Dragons had flagged, the woman not making it free but charging everyone, just to list. He then went on too explain how he thought she should have done things.

The look on the other Dragons faces said it all to myself, like, how did I not think of that?

To be fair, the other dragons have pointed out stuff that Steven didn't. That any of the restaurant sites could just have a "dog friendly" checkbox and completely take away her USP.

EDIT: Yelp has dogs allowed checkbox

The other issue I thought about is there are probably a handful of restaurants in your locality that are dog friendly. You use this specialist app to discover your local dog friendly restuarant and then what? Once you find out about all 4 of your local resturants that are dog friendly - you stop using the app. Where is the customer retention and repeat use for the app after that?

I think it's pretty obvious who comes in for PR, business that really dont need the investment who are profitable and offer such tiny equity.

Piers Linney was famous for always asking are you just here for the PR? I think he was quite cynical about all the businesses and decided to quit the show after a couple of seasons.

 

[WaveJumper]

I like the Australian version much more friendly

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Remember that 'offers' on DD aren't offers, they are camera action prior to due diligence - Headline numbers are meaningless without further research.

The most often-quoted loss-maker is Amazon, who were busy kidding us that they were an online bookseller, whilst chucking millions into creating the biggest plug-and-go retail disruptor of all time.

Sadly, in most cases, the only thing other loss-makers have in common with Amazon is making losses!

Not sure Amazon ever made a real loss, they invested back into the business so they made no paper profit and therefore no tax but also probably sucked up a few grants along the way. They had investors who took the long vie rather than looking for dividends this year or next