He was one of the very few who seemed quite 'canny' and admit i was extremely surprised when he sold out 40%. Glad he came to his senses very quickly!

Its just a Kids toy...........& the guy pulled out anyway & is making Zillions??

Don't most of them do that?

And the cuddly toy guy, I didn't follow the pitch too closely, but did he say he only really wanted their cash to pay for stock (as was explained in the article someone posted)?

Presumably, based on the positive results in the Den, he found it much easier to get his own finance!

Fully agree - Piers definitely improved and I'd stick with him - but like you say kelly is just so negative and dry, got no charisma at all.

I guess the handshake is not binding in the slightest then
I thought the dragons would be annoyed with him pulling out

The deal is subject to contract - the pitcher has to substantiate things like the ownership of the business, patents, the balance sheet etc. This process, sometimes called 'Due Diligence' can take weeks even for small businesses (I speak from experience).

piers was on R5 the other night. very interesting

I think the dragons are very greedy sometimes

there is a balancing act here. you are selling an idea, not a percentage of a going concern. They shouldn't expect to value the business in those P/E terms. All they need is one Reggae Sauce, to cover every investment they would ever make.

From the point of view of a dragon, expecting 40% of a company for a modest investment is a very big ask.

I watched the latest ep of dragons den and it was boring. Im sure it used to be better than this!

Has anyone seen american inventor? I think they should scrap dragons den and make a uk version of american inventor.

Its similar to dragons den, as theres a panel of millionaires and people come in one by one to pitch their ideas. The difference is they are just average joes who have invented something amazing (or awful for the funny ones!).

Ive only caught it once so im not sure if the panel invest or if its a competition with one ultimate winner. The high point of the show is its just the inventors and inventions. They can turn up with a prototype make of cardboard if they like and they are judged on their idea. Theres no digging into how much money they have, how many orders they have, how much they value the business etc, its just an invention. The idea of the show is anyone can go on there, you dont have to have rich parents funding your business and already be making money from it.

I find dragons den can be quite dull. Im interested in new things but zone out when they start talking numbers, overhead costs, suppliers, valuations etc. i dont understand business so i dont care about that side of it. I would much rather see people with fresh new ideas rather than someone turning up with a good product and getting turned down purely because theyve overestimated their value.

Eta it seems a similar show was done in the uk but id never heard about it. Personally i think if they gave it a similar slot to dragons den it would be popular.

Yes a Reggae Reggae sauce will make them plenty, but on the flip side many more of these fledgling companies will fail, taking the cash with them.
I think you also have to remember that the main thing the Dragons contribute is not a paltry (to them) 50-100k, but their time. They have plenty of cash, but like everyone else they only have 24 hours in the day - they need to spend that time very carefully.

What I never understand is the "2 faced approach" the dragons have. This week they turn to the ladies with the baby teether thing (crap idea) and say but you can't look that far into the future (3 years) and value your company. Then in the next pitch they accuse the person of not looking into the future.

The last couple of series all they've basically wanted is a great idea/product for as cheap as they can get it, and aren't actually interested in risking any money, they want everything done for them, marketing, Patents etc.

American inventor is now cancelled. It was a joint venture between Simon Cowell and Peter jones (who I think was also a judge on it?.). The idea was good but it never really took off as they made it too much like X Factor.

I've not seen Shark Tank but it sounds good. DD really needs a revamp. I no longer watch it as much as I used to. All the best dragons have gone and the show is too predictable with most of the last pitches being one they all take an interest in,

Poor piers he is trying but people prefer the other dragons even when piers undercuts them. I agree with his comment on the last pitch, the more interest you take in Deborah and Peter the less interesting it becomes for him,.

I don't think he will be back next series. I don't think DD should be back actually unless they give it a major revamp.

Only just seen the last episode on iplayer.

I think there is a new breed of entrepreneur who deliberately go on Dragons Den to get publicity for their product- and don't even want the investment.

Basically it was a 10 minute free ad for his product on the BBC. Why would he want to give up any equity?

Glad it was Peter and Deborah he stitched up though. Far too often this series people have avoided Piers because he's the new dragon no one has heard of. The same thing used to happen to Richard Farleigh. Even though he made the better offer people seem to get seduced by wanting Peter Jones all the time.

I think the savvy entrepreneur sussed that going on DD was a potential free 10min advert on the 'ad-free' BBC long before this series

I've just caught up with this and was watching this episode this morning. As you said, Duncan doesn't have to worry about the price! Plus there has been a few people who has taken to going abroad to have surgery there instead of the UK due to the price and offer of luxury surroundings to relax in before the surgery.


Some people don't have the same high regard for their eyesight: Op to change eye colour and Op to put metal heart on eye.I reckon they did it for the cheap price as well as the promised after-look.



Kinda agree with you both. As much as I also don't know why there was that much fuss about the toy backpack thing, I had hoped the inventor had taken Piers and Kelly's offer than Peter and Debra's. I was pleased for the update that he rejected the accepted offer soon after.

Duncan's out:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...12-series.html

Next series will be his last. Think we saw it coming really but still a shame. Leaves Peter as the only original Dragon.

And good riddance to the miserable sod. As my one-time employer Richard Branson used to tell us - "Business should be fun". Peter Jones made the odd investment for a laugh. You couldn't imagine Bannatyne doing that, although the whole point of being rich surely is that you can splash it around a bit. Otherwise what's the point?

I always thought that DD was for someone with a great idea but no money, I know they do deals based on that sometimes but it feels like most of the time without three years worth of accounts that show massive profits, they don't go for it.

Won't be worth watching it without Duncan.

Ah gutted! He was definitely a grumpy sod but I from time to time I did enjoy his put downs. I'm going to miss his accent too!

Not been the same since James Caan and Theo left. Not watched a single show since Theo left.

Dragons Den is a tired old show now that has had a fair few years.

I've stopped watching this a while ago now, it's just too samey.

Yes, for me it's long since jumped the shark (tank). Not nearly enough wacky inventions like in the early years, nowadays it's just all boring things like franchised cleaning companies.

Well the new series begins on Sunday, with the same line up of Dragons. Shame that Duncan is still hanging around, probably just there for the money nowadays (no pun intended).

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