Which I never really understand, because the initial investor has taken more risk upfront, by the time it comes to the "Den" the product/patent etc has usually been produced and now they're looking for capital to get the product to market.

"Shock Exit" Neils plan is to trawl, the deaths section of newspapers, offering to buy the houses from the "estate" hence "parasite" lol

I was wondering:

Perhaps whoever gets called 'Parasite" walks out of the interview?

True, but if they go together and make it a partnership even though one of them is more like an investor the Dragons will often look over it assuming they like the business and the people have annoyed them too much. It's more the personality than anything else.


The Dragons value themselves very highly and see it as why should I get a lower slice than the earlier investor? And more often than not it is because the business is not in a shape where they can over look such a mistake. That more often than not is why they go on the show, because their business isn't where it should be because they can't put the investment in required to get it to where it needs to be.


I know it isn't really a spoiler but as it is talking about a spoiler I've put it in spoilers just incase.

One of the interviewers walks out?

No, they just terminate the interview, it sounds as if who ever they interviewed really cheesed them off to get them to say that.

Sorry meant the candidate walks out

Perhaps the shock exit is Nick being dragged off by the Savile Squad who are acting on allegations that he has an illegal copy of "Debbie Does Dallas"

There's a shed load of products that do exactly the same thing... I can think of half a dozen just off the top of my head. And they mainly have huge lumbering teams behind them.

The problem is, the market for such a thing would only ever been in the tens of thousands, and they'll be hobbists (so you can only charge peanuts). Anyone actually interested in App development would use one of the relatively simply engines like Unity

Jordan is really getting some stick on this thread. IMO much of it is undeserved. I think he was naive to assume there could be negotiation around the 50/50 share between Lord Sugar, him and his partner. I think he disclosed more than he intended too, as he was put on the spot.

Regarding his behaviour at times, i.e. whooping with joy at a win and then almost choking when he thought he might be fired last week - give the guy a break! He wears his heart on his sleeve more than the others and is, to me, much more honest as a result.

There are times he irritates me and can seem smug but overall I prefer him as a person to most of the other finalists and he has some good ideas. I agree with the poster who said that he doesn't see eye-to-eye with Lord Sugar on lots of things, e.g. the hand made vase (which I thought was beautiful and that he might have sold with a bit more time). I think Jordan comes from an upper middle class background and his class difference to Lord Sugar shows and might irritate the latter. This could undermine his chances of winning.

I don't think Jordan will be the one described as a parasite. The programme would not have been edited to reveal who receives such a stinging criticism (from Claude) ahead of the interviews. Of course I might be proven wrong. I hope the parasite is Luisa, quite frankly.

A further problem with Jordan's plan is that he is several years too late. There are already huge numbers of developers both amateur and pro in this market. If it goes the way of the 8 and 16 bit markets (in which I have personal experience, working for a company that did a hell of a lot better than Lord Sugar's Amsoft), then it will gradually be consolidated with a few big players and a load of also-rans. The £250k is simply not enough. If he asked for £25m he might be in with a chance.

The trick is to spot the market that will follow mobile phones and tablets...a bit easier said than done.

Interestingly I had a feeling it may have been Niel, just based on his business plan and the editing in the trailer. But I think personality wise Luisa is the more likely candidate to be labeled as such.

I prefer Neil to Luisa but I'd be interested to know why you think it might be him, if you care to share more.

I don't particularly like either of them honestly and I think I'd rather see Francesca and Leah in the final 2 as Jordan has dipped substantially for me, he has something about him that is not all that pleasant in my opinion. But my reasoning behind thinking its Neil is a gut feeling based on the editing of the boardroom and his business plan along with the editing of both the previews on the show and You're Fired. I could be wrong but my gut says although wise.

Maybe the shock exit will be candidates discussing tactics outside the BR (like Matthew and Paul did in Series 1) and the receptionist snitches to Lord Sugar, and he sends Nick and Karren out to dispose of the baggage? That would be fun!

There's one spoiler we know of that could either back up the 'voluntary exit', or something completely different:

I've worked for various tech startups in my career as a software developer. Only one has actually made a profit and repaid the VC money we received. We also received multiple million £'s rather than the paltry £ 250k that Lord S is offering.

If Jordon is trying to develop some kind of application framework to save time then I think it's a non-starter.

There's no real incentive to make apps easier to design. That's where people like myself make money. The results of "build your own apps" are generally quite poor and basic. If you want something that is fast, reliable, and easy to maintain you give me £.

If it's some other kind of programming framework it will be hard to make money. Most of the popular frameworks are open-source with money being made through training and support.

It could be an App design agency but if Jordon isn't the coder then I don't see any reason for Lord Sugar to team up with them.

Yes, tech startups are very risky. You have all the problems of starting a business, plus usually having an unproven business model. It could be a way for Sugar to get back into the IT market, but he has generally been hardware focussed rather than software. (And last thing - the Amstrd Internet Telephone - failed badly)

It sounds like he doesn't understand the format of the programme. It's not that Lord Sugar would get 50% and Jordan and his partner would have to split the other 50% between them. It's that Lord Sugar is to invest £250k in the winner and the winner alone. A third partner adds risks. He or she would be an unknown quantity. Lord Sugar knows Jordan though watching him on all the tasks. He doesn't know this new partner.

This seems like a deal-breaker to me. Frankly, Jordan should not be there at all. He should have had more sense to apply, and the production team should have vetted his proposal.

Jordan took an intensive web development course at Makers Academy earlier this year.

Would that enable him to replace the software developer in his biz plan? I've read that the lines between software and web development are increasingly blurred.

Thanks.

I agree, I don't know why he kept Jordan in. I spent the whole episode hoping that Myles would go, and then at the last second I changed my mind because Jordan is a huge risk. Myles is a safer bet than Jordan - or if Myles had to go, it should have been another double firing.

Not really. Yes, you can develop Apps with just web design knowledge, but they will be pretty basic and slow. (Facebook initially tried this and ditched it).

For anything remotely advanced you will need skills in software development. 12 weeks of web development won't cut it. (Although since he is an Apprentice he will think he is a master coder).

I've known top programmers with 10 + years of development who still consider themselves beginners. (But these are people who can code operating systems in their sleep). A good coder constantly updates their knowledge.

It's a bit like mastering Photoshop or carpentry or tightrope walking. Yes, you can do a 10 week course, but you need 10 years actual practice to become anything close to an expert.

Yes he should but I suspect the production team would have been ringing their hands, if he got far enough (which of course he has) the result would make "good" television so would leave him in despite being an obvious loose canon business wise and doesn't stand a chance on winning all because of the fireworks that would hit off in the boardroom.