I think it was mentioned on an episode of YBF that the candidates were very tired, having to do the tasks, then up till the "small hours" working on their business plan, so yes I assume that all "business plans" have been pre-approved.
Who do we think will win?
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I think it was mentioned on an episode of YBF that the candidates were very tired, having to do the tasks, then up till the "small hours" working on their business plan, so yes I assume that all "business plans" have been pre-approved.
And yes the Dragon's often say they're interested in the person, when they find out said person already owns a successful company or owns Patents on other various inventions, I see it as greed from the Dragons.
And yes the Dragon's often say they're interested in the person, when they find out said person already owns a successful company or owns Patents on other various inventions, I see it as greed from the Dragons.
Originally Posted by george.millman:
“Lord Sugar didn't go with Tom's business plan, he went with Tom himself. The business plan was changed; they didn't use the chair business.”
“Lord Sugar didn't go with Tom's business plan, he went with Tom himself. The business plan was changed; they didn't use the chair business.”
OK I perhaps should have made myself clearer. I think he went with Tom based on his ability as an inventor, NOT on his ability as a businessman/ his performance in the actual tasks etc..
I see they are actually selling Tom's nail file product now and Suggsey is even tweeting about it as a product, trying to flog them for fathers day! I'm not saying Tom was a bad candidate, far from it, but for me there is no way on earth he was the best all round business candidate, he just had the best ideas.
Originally Posted by lammtarra:
“In Tom's series, the change of format seemed to happen part-way through the series, so Lord Sugar's judgement could have been swayed by business plans that had not yet been written. In any case, the nail file was not mentioned in Tom's business plan. Remember that although Tom lost a lot, he was not taken back in to the final three which means, first, that his PMs did not blame him for defeat, and second, that Lord Sugar could not have fired him.
Helen would doubtless have won the old prize but iirc the cloud had a silver lining and Helen was taken back by her old employer with a big promotion and salary increase.
Now, Lord Sugar has, we are told, approved all of the business plans, so the question is whether he thinks each person is capable of successfully implementing their plan and making a profit.
On one of the Dragons Den end of series roundups, it was said that in most cases, the people are more important than the idea. If you look at the Dragons themselves: Theo owns shops; Duncan has gyms and nursing homes; Deborah ran a holiday camp. Nothing new or innovative there.
So we should take the boardroom at face value. The question is not whether (say) Kurt's milkshake idea can make money but whether you'd be prepared to trust Kurt to run it and not spend a quarter of a million quid on napkin-sized flags or flag-sized napkins.”
“In Tom's series, the change of format seemed to happen part-way through the series, so Lord Sugar's judgement could have been swayed by business plans that had not yet been written. In any case, the nail file was not mentioned in Tom's business plan. Remember that although Tom lost a lot, he was not taken back in to the final three which means, first, that his PMs did not blame him for defeat, and second, that Lord Sugar could not have fired him.
Helen would doubtless have won the old prize but iirc the cloud had a silver lining and Helen was taken back by her old employer with a big promotion and salary increase.
Now, Lord Sugar has, we are told, approved all of the business plans, so the question is whether he thinks each person is capable of successfully implementing their plan and making a profit.
On one of the Dragons Den end of series roundups, it was said that in most cases, the people are more important than the idea. If you look at the Dragons themselves: Theo owns shops; Duncan has gyms and nursing homes; Deborah ran a holiday camp. Nothing new or innovative there.
So we should take the boardroom at face value. The question is not whether (say) Kurt's milkshake idea can make money but whether you'd be prepared to trust Kurt to run it and not spend a quarter of a million quid on napkin-sized flags or flag-sized napkins.”
A very good post, and I actually agree- I probably should not have focused on the business plan's per se. I agree they are investing in the person not the initial business plan.
What I meant to say was I believe Sugar had already bought into Tom's ability as an inventor, a fair way before they got to the final.
Originally Posted by chrono88:
“Either Myles or Neil.”
“Either Myles or Neil.”
After this episode which excludes:
Spoiler
Yes definitely. They both impressed me so much in this episode. Either them or Leah.
If Natalie and Kurt came forward a bit more, I could see them as serious contenders too, they've both come back from the boardrooms twice! That must mean LS appreciates something they're doing.
So 10 Left
I think the cannon fodder are Kurt, Jason, Natalie (& Potentially Francesca although she could be given a winners edit, quiet at the start before coming into her own. She has been pretty anonymous although her PM loss isn't great)
In my opinion task by task Jordan has been the strongest of the ones remaining and I would expect him to be in the top four. Neil and Myles are both also front runners although I think Myles could come undone later in the series as he hasn't really shown that much despite winning all the tasks. Neil seems to be on a redemption arc and think he will be top four.
Alex has had a strong edit apart from abusing Jason (although Lord Sugar didn't care about it) and think he could get into the top four.
I can't see an all male final so I think either Luisa or Leah will be there and my money would be on Luisa as Leah seems to be going off the rails and Luisa has done pretty well in the tasks so far.
My prediction for the final is Jordan, Alex, Neil & Luisa. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Myles was there instead of Jordan or Alex.
I think the cannon fodder are Kurt, Jason, Natalie (& Potentially Francesca although she could be given a winners edit, quiet at the start before coming into her own. She has been pretty anonymous although her PM loss isn't great)
In my opinion task by task Jordan has been the strongest of the ones remaining and I would expect him to be in the top four. Neil and Myles are both also front runners although I think Myles could come undone later in the series as he hasn't really shown that much despite winning all the tasks. Neil seems to be on a redemption arc and think he will be top four.
Alex has had a strong edit apart from abusing Jason (although Lord Sugar didn't care about it) and think he could get into the top four.
I can't see an all male final so I think either Luisa or Leah will be there and my money would be on Luisa as Leah seems to be going off the rails and Luisa has done pretty well in the tasks so far.
My prediction for the final is Jordan, Alex, Neil & Luisa. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Myles was there instead of Jordan or Alex.
I agree this year is really hard to call. I'm going to say 10 imaginary pounds on Neil at this point...
Of the women, I'd say Leah is still ahead of Luisa, who often is broadly right in what she says, even if Dale Carnegie was not one of her GCSE English set books. Francesca got her sums wrong in the beer task and made a mess as PM on the corporate away-days; like Natalie, Francesca has no obvious success to fall back on.
Leah > Luisa > Natalie = Francesca
The men are harder to call. Neil is often right but is he a team player or a backseat driver? Alex is often critical of the PM but then pulls in the right direction, and is perhaps the most obvious "apprentice," were Lord Sugar still looking for one. Myles and Kurt have made too many mistakes. Jason is Jason but to say he is creative and hard-working is to damn him with faint praise. Can we read anything into Francesca not bringing Jason back into the boardroom? Jordan seems solid if we forgive his boardroom expressiveness: at least he seems to care.
Neil > Alex = Jordan > Myles = Kurt > Jason.
Leah > Luisa > Natalie = Francesca
The men are harder to call. Neil is often right but is he a team player or a backseat driver? Alex is often critical of the PM but then pulls in the right direction, and is perhaps the most obvious "apprentice," were Lord Sugar still looking for one. Myles and Kurt have made too many mistakes. Jason is Jason but to say he is creative and hard-working is to damn him with faint praise. Can we read anything into Francesca not bringing Jason back into the boardroom? Jordan seems solid if we forgive his boardroom expressiveness: at least he seems to care.
Neil > Alex = Jordan > Myles = Kurt > Jason.
I have a feeling that the welsh guy with the weird eyebrows who invented the folding chair will win.
I'm finding it very difficult to call right now. They all seem so close together with no front-runners. With the exceptions of Kurt and Natalie, I think any of them could win if any one of them starts to shine in the latter half of the series.
Is there any past history involving ad-hoc positive comments?
e.g. Alex's chair was "the best invention ever on any Apprentice series" - LS, and Neil and his monologue were outstanding last week.
e.g. Alex's chair was "the best invention ever on any Apprentice series" - LS, and Neil and his monologue were outstanding last week.
Originally Posted by Monty_Hall:
“Is there any past history involving ad-hoc positive comments?
e.g. Alex's chair was "the best invention ever on any Apprentice series" - LS, and Neil and his monologue were outstanding last week.”
“Is there any past history involving ad-hoc positive comments?
e.g. Alex's chair was "the best invention ever on any Apprentice series" - LS, and Neil and his monologue were outstanding last week.”
I think there's a lot to that. Neil's getting some positive comments of the kind not very credible winners get to justify their win. I didn't think it was that believable from what we saw - though Lord Sugar may not think much of motivational speakers,and be genuinely impressed by someone doing it at no cost. Alex had something more tangible in the chair.
Otherwise, the praise has been selective. Luisa has done a good job navigating to a win and profit between the extremes of too little and too much stock - but her win was played down. Attention has focused on the girl's rows, whilst the males have been as bad often. Kurt and Francesca failed in the weeks that tested their skills (or got nearest to that) Myles won in a task thats relevant to his proposal, but not well. Its difficult to see what task could be relevant to Leah's proposal though.
There's also the acceptability finally of their proposals. I can't see him going politically for services for the global rich, or flogging cheap Greek property, or cosmetic surgery - if any of thats whats on offer.
Originally Posted by thenetworkbabe:
“I think there's a lot to that. Neil's getting some positive comments of the kind not very credible winners get to justify their win. I didn't think it was that believable from what we saw - though Lord Sugar may not think much of motivational speakers,and be genuinely impressed by someone doing it at no cost. Alex had something more tangible in the chair.”
“I think there's a lot to that. Neil's getting some positive comments of the kind not very credible winners get to justify their win. I didn't think it was that believable from what we saw - though Lord Sugar may not think much of motivational speakers,and be genuinely impressed by someone doing it at no cost. Alex had something more tangible in the chair.”
Do you think Lord Sugar gives praise to each individual for something, so they can air the ones that he said to the person who went on to win? As obviously they don't know when they film it who will win.
I think it's between Jordan, Neil & Luisa with Jordan a slight favourite. Alex will come unstuck as project leader.
Originally Posted by lammtarra:
“
Neil > Alex = Jordan > Myles = Kurt > Jason.”
“
Neil > Alex = Jordan > Myles = Kurt > Jason.”
It is tempting fate to change this order when in a few short hours, one more candidate will be fired, but on reflection, Myles is at least as bad as Jason, if not worse. In particular, selling lucky cats to the casino involved at least two separate, crass errors. First, the offer of batteries, which he did not have, rather than a discount to cover their cost; second, wasting even more time (and arguably devaluing the stock) by actually fitting the batteries, which took even the casino by surprise.
Neil, Alex and Jordan have each played a leading role in winning tasks (while not PMs) -- the speech; the chair; the buffalo. Kurt and Jason have each blundered but not as badly as Myles.
Neil > Alex = Jordan > Kurt = Jason > Myles.
Leah > Luisa > Natalie = Francesca,
Originally Posted by george.millman:
“Do you think Lord Sugar gives praise to each individual for something, so they can air the ones that he said to the person who went on to win? As obviously they don't know when they film it who will win.”
“Do you think Lord Sugar gives praise to each individual for something, so they can air the ones that he said to the person who went on to win? As obviously they don't know when they film it who will win.”
I would have thought that it is genuinely meant at the time it was said. That was what I originally meant, anyway.
Originally Posted by Monty_Hall:
“I would have thought that it is genuinely meant at the time it was said. That was what I originally meant, anyway.”
“I would have thought that it is genuinely meant at the time it was said. That was what I originally meant, anyway.”
That's what I think as well. Besides, in the case of Neil's speech, even though he was probably impressed it wasn't even said to be Lord Sugar's personal opinion; Karren said it, and she was passing the message on from the clients, so I would have thought it was genuine.
Originally Posted by lammtarra:
“Neil > Alex = Jordan > Kurt = Jason > Myles.
Leah > Luisa > Natalie = Francesca,”
“Neil > Alex = Jordan > Kurt = Jason > Myles.
Leah > Luisa > Natalie = Francesca,”
No real change after the caravan task, though Luisa is perhaps up a notch and Jordan down one, since she clearly outsold him but I'm not sure that tells us much about business in the round.
Alex made the wrong product choice, and Jason made a sale but they maintain their respective positions behind Neil who once more got the big call right but still comes across as smug and self-absorbed.
Neil > Alex = Jordan > Jason > Myles
Leah > Luisa > Francesca.
Originally Posted by DUNDEEBOY:
“Everyone seems to be forgetting about Luisa for some reason”
“Everyone seems to be forgetting about Luisa for some reason”
I think Luisa could win. She is a good seller and LS likes to make money.
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