Well, it's all in the editing. I noticed that in the earlier seasons of Dragon's Den, they would have quite a few crazy pitches that seemed to be let on the show for laughs, but now there are far fewer of those. Lately, I've come to disagree with many of the dismissals, either from passive-agressiveness on the part of the Dragons, or disappointment over the fact that the pitch wasn't understood properly when they've actually been really good ideas. And then there are the times when the pitches simply don't resonate with them and those doing the pitch get sent packing.
I rarely watch this but the few times I have, I have never laughed. People are going into terrible debt for their ideas--some of the products seem ridiculous and I wonder how much they will lose--their savings, their home, their relationships-- because they won't give up on their idea. Other times, I do think that some of the ideas have great potential, but perhaps in a more limited market. But then, I wasn't a business major, so what do I know? But no, I don't laugh. I find it rather sad, actually.
I used to watch Dragon's Den a lot but I found the formula really predictable. In the early days you could pretty much g'tee that no one would get funding, apart from the very last pitch. It sucked any drama out of it. It got a bit better, last time I was watching, admittedly a fair few years ago now, there was usually a pitch that was accepted early on and, very rarely, sometimes the last pitch wasn't, though this was usually because the pitchers themselves turned a Dragon's offer down. Occasionally I might watch a bit of an episode but I usually have other stuff I like to watch instead now.
On Shark Tank (US), it's usually the company's valuation that kills the deal, and the business owners stubbornness. That said, some people don't come on to make a deal. It's just free advertising for their product which makes them rich anyway.
Now a days, it seems the Dragons are more keen to make deals, and it's become rarer for a pitch to be declined outright and laughed out of the Den. Incredibly, assuming we're talking about the Canadian version of the Den, there are high-octane moments where they'll buy into a pitch with high evaluations when the idea and the business model is good enough, which is often accompanied by all of the dragons either fighting over it or all of them going in. Something like this happened during the most recent season. There have also been moments that have left me scratching my head in wondering what the Dragons see in something. Maybe it's part of the shock value, but I find this happening more of late, where there'll be a high evaluation, the presentation isn't all that great, but then one dragon ends up giving them what they want, often to the consternation of the others.
^I was referring to the UK version, sorry should have been clearer, though I suspect they're fairly similar
Yeah, that I don't doubt. They mostly differ in the personalities of the business tycoons themselves.
And that is actually what I am more interested in... people who succeed despite the experts lack of faith.
^ Yeah, on the Canadian version of Dragon's Den, we've seen many who ended up turning down the Dragons and have had great success due to the exposure the show brought them.
Same here…and it isn’t so much “Mr. Wonderful” that turns me off..but that surly jock Cuban. The most noble ideas never seem to get money. Cuban threw money at some new alcoholic product because they were “selling fun.” Like we don’t have enough drunks. One of the few rich men I respected was Robert Belfer a philanthropist who got burned by Enron, Madoff and was finished off by FTX. A good man with a reverse Midas touch. By and large—the better the businessman—the worse the human being.
You should try watching the Canadian Dragon's Den. There are a lot of noble ideas that have been on there that have been invested in. When it comes down to it, some of these understand that it's not all about the money, but the ideas behind them. Some of my favourite pitches are the ones where the dragons buy into the stories and the people behind them.