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Front Page, Industry News
‘Dragons Den’ season premier October 4 is a fast-paced reality television show
Friday September 29th 2006By Mike Zembowski
Finally, CBC may have a hit show, or at least one with potential to gain an interested Canadian audience. It’s based on the original BBC formulae. Each entrepreneur can pitch their big idea to a panel of major league investors for a specified amount of funding. If the entrepreneur can convince one or more of the Dragons to meet that specified amount (usually in exchange for shares of their company), the entrepreneur walks away with the cash. If the entrepreneurs find themselves short of the specified amount of funding, they lose it all.
Each entrepreneur is free to bargain with the Dragons in order to get the specified level of funding. Lastly, a new spin on reality television, these Canadian Dragons are playing with their own money. It is not sponsored, nor funded by the government, CBC has raised the bar, and it is about time.
What exactly the dragons are looking for when it comes to investing seems to vary amongst them. We asked Robert Herjavec if there is anything about the individual he looks for, or is it all about the product?
“Yeah, you want someone who is very passionate and very motivated, but not at the break of lunacy. We had a lady the other day who was really passionate and really into her product, which you want, until we said no to her and she broke down crying and went a little hysterical…so I would say she was over the line, but not too much, because it is so hard to start a business you want someone who is going to work twenty four hours a day.”
Jennier Wood explains,
“It is important to gain a sense of trust and feel a connection with that person, that you will have a good working relationship and then if they got a product that make sense.”
The set of Dragons Den has the feel of a dungeon shot at the Historical Distillery district cellar may put the contestants at even more of a disadvantage as they are led down a narrow flight of stairs and walk a long path leading into “the Den.”
The Dragons are themselves all entrepreneurs who have been previously successful in business:
• Robert Herjavec, During the initial stages of the dot com craze, he launched BRAK systems, which soon became Canada’s top provider of Internet security software worth a reported $100-hundred million dollars. Robert sold his company to AT&T in 2000.
• Laurence Lewin, co-founder and president of national women’s lingerie chain La Senza Corp.
• Jim Treliving, the former R.C.M.P. officer who founded Boston Pizza franchise.
• Jennifer Wood, a bush pilot, Alberta cattle rancher and businesswoman, led one of Western Canada’s oldest cattle buying, financing and feeding businesses. She then co-founded Cattle & Co. Investments Inc, a company that specializes in cattle feeding and financing.
• Kevin O’Leary, co-founder of The Learning Company, a world leader in the development of educational, reference and home productivity software that was sold to The Mattel Co. in 1999 for $3.2 billion.
The program has been extremely successful in the United Kingdom, and is currently in its third season. Now it’s time for Canadian ingenuity and entrepreneurship to take the stage. The Dragons have each committed to invest a minimum of $200,000 of their own — not their firm’s — money, during the show. Lewin is actually investing someone else’s money because, as head of a publicly traded firm, his board considers outside investments a conflict of interest, he explained.
Dragons Den has attracted major sponsorship support from companies like Cadillac and Sony. Be sure to catch the season premier Wednesday October 4, 8pm and for more information on the dragons or how to apply as a contestant for season 2, visit the CBC website www.cbc.ca/dragonsden.
Front Page, Industry News
‘Dragons Den’ season premier October 4 is a fast-paced reality television show
Friday September 29th 2006By Mike Zembowski
Finally, CBC may have a hit show, or at least one with potential to gain an interested Canadian audience. It’s based on the original BBC formulae. Each entrepreneur can pitch their big idea to a panel of major league investors for a specified amount of funding. If the entrepreneur can convince one or more of the Dragons to meet that specified amount (usually in exchange for shares of their company), the entrepreneur walks away with the cash. If the entrepreneurs find themselves short of the specified amount of funding, they lose it all.
Each entrepreneur is free to bargain with the Dragons in order to get the specified level of funding. Lastly, a new spin on reality television, these Canadian Dragons are playing with their own money. It is not sponsored, nor funded by the government, CBC has raised the bar, and it is about time.
What exactly the dragons are looking for when it comes to investing seems to vary amongst them. We asked Robert Herjavec if there is anything about the individual he looks for, or is it all about the product?
“Yeah, you want someone who is very passionate and very motivated, but not at the break of lunacy. We had a lady the other day who was really passionate and really into her product, which you want, until we said no to her and she broke down crying and went a little hysterical…so I would say she was over the line, but not too much, because it is so hard to start a business you want someone who is going to work twenty four hours a day.”
Jennier Wood explains,
“It is important to gain a sense of trust and feel a connection with that person, that you will have a good working relationship and then if they got a product that make sense.”
The set of Dragons Den has the feel of a dungeon shot at the Historical Distillery district cellar may put the contestants at even more of a disadvantage as they are led down a narrow flight of stairs and walk a long path leading into “the Den.”
The Dragons are themselves all entrepreneurs who have been previously successful in business:
• Robert Herjavec, During the initial stages of the dot com craze, he launched BRAK systems, which soon became Canada’s top provider of Internet security software worth a reported $100-hundred million dollars. Robert sold his company to AT&T in 2000.
• Laurence Lewin, co-founder and president of national women’s lingerie chain La Senza Corp.
• Jim Treliving, the former R.C.M.P. officer who founded Boston Pizza franchise.
• Jennifer Wood, a bush pilot, Alberta cattle rancher and businesswoman, led one of Western Canada’s oldest cattle buying, financing and feeding businesses. She then co-founded Cattle & Co. Investments Inc, a company that specializes in cattle feeding and financing.
• Kevin O’Leary, co-founder of The Learning Company, a world leader in the development of educational, reference and home productivity software that was sold to The Mattel Co. in 1999 for $3.2 billion.
The program has been extremely successful in the United Kingdom, and is currently in its third season. Now it’s time for Canadian ingenuity and entrepreneurship to take the stage. The Dragons have each committed to invest a minimum of $200,000 of their own — not their firm’s — money, during the show. Lewin is actually investing someone else’s money because, as head of a publicly traded firm, his board considers outside investments a conflict of interest, he explained.
Dragons Den has attracted major sponsorship support from companies like Cadillac and Sony. Be sure to catch the season premier Wednesday October 4, 8pm and for more information on the dragons or how to apply as a contestant for season 2, visit the CBC website www.cbc.ca/dragonsden.
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Front Page, Industry News
‘Dragons Den’ season premier October 4 is a fast-paced reality television show
Friday September 29th 2006By Mike Zembowski
Finally, CBC may have a hit show, or at least one with potential to gain an interested Canadian audience. It’s based on the original BBC formulae. Each entrepreneur can pitch their big idea to a panel of major league investors for a specified amount of funding. If the entrepreneur can convince one or more of the Dragons to meet that specified amount (usually in exchange for shares of their company), the entrepreneur walks away with the cash. If the entrepreneurs find themselves short of the specified amount of funding, they lose it all.
Each entrepreneur is free to bargain with the Dragons in order to get the specified level of funding. Lastly, a new spin on reality television, these Canadian Dragons are playing with their own money. It is not sponsored, nor funded by the government, CBC has raised the bar, and it is about time.
What exactly the dragons are looking for when it comes to investing seems to vary amongst them. We asked Robert Herjavec if there is anything about the individual he looks for, or is it all about the product?
“Yeah, you want someone who is very passionate and very motivated, but not at the break of lunacy. We had a lady the other day who was really passionate and really into her product, which you want, until we said no to her and she broke down crying and went a little hysterical…so I would say she was over the line, but not too much, because it is so hard to start a business you want someone who is going to work twenty four hours a day.”
Jennier Wood explains,
“It is important to gain a sense of trust and feel a connection with that person, that you will have a good working relationship and then if they got a product that make sense.”
The set of Dragons Den has the feel of a dungeon shot at the Historical Distillery district cellar may put the contestants at even more of a disadvantage as they are led down a narrow flight of stairs and walk a long path leading into “the Den.”
The Dragons are themselves all entrepreneurs who have been previously successful in business:
• Robert Herjavec, During the initial stages of the dot com craze, he launched BRAK systems, which soon became Canada’s top provider of Internet security software worth a reported $100-hundred million dollars. Robert sold his company to AT&T in 2000.
• Laurence Lewin, co-founder and president of national women’s lingerie chain La Senza Corp.
• Jim Treliving, the former R.C.M.P. officer who founded Boston Pizza franchise.
• Jennifer Wood, a bush pilot, Alberta cattle rancher and businesswoman, led one of Western Canada’s oldest cattle buying, financing and feeding businesses. She then co-founded Cattle & Co. Investments Inc, a company that specializes in cattle feeding and financing.
• Kevin O’Leary, co-founder of The Learning Company, a world leader in the development of educational, reference and home productivity software that was sold to The Mattel Co. in 1999 for $3.2 billion.
The program has been extremely successful in the United Kingdom, and is currently in its third season. Now it’s time for Canadian ingenuity and entrepreneurship to take the stage. The Dragons have each committed to invest a minimum of $200,000 of their own — not their firm’s — money, during the show. Lewin is actually investing someone else’s money because, as head of a publicly traded firm, his board considers outside investments a conflict of interest, he explained.
Dragons Den has attracted major sponsorship support from companies like Cadillac and Sony. Be sure to catch the season premier Wednesday October 4, 8pm and for more information on the dragons or how to apply as a contestant for season 2, visit the CBC website www.cbc.ca/dragonsden.
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