Dragons Den Makes Brilliant Move
Dragons’ Den Makes Brilliant Move by Roxanne McDonald
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It started in the UK, with the ultra-entertaining “Dragon’s Den”…and relocated to the states for even more exposure, as “American Inventor”. |
And worthy of the exposure it is: “American Inventor” rocks almost as much as “Dragon’s Den”—which we were only made privy to in bits and starts…on Fox Reality TV in marathon-format one weekend way back when.
The format is almost the same: from the den where five dragons—Rachel Elnaugh, Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne, Simon Woodruff, and Doug Richard (or in other episodes, Theo Paphitis, Richard Farleigh, and/or Deborah Meaden)
—reigned entrepreneurial over the fate of presenters hoping to get their inventions financed to a splashy and classy Hollywood set with this daunting over-polished runway to the Dragons table—where Peter Jones is joined by judges Sara Blakely, Pat Croce, and George Foreman—inventors present themselves and their inventions for consideration. (read more…)
Dragons, Darlings, and Dignity…for a Refreshing Reality TV Change
Dragons, Darlings, and Dignity…for a Refreshing Reality TV Change by Roxanne McDonald
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A most engaging and charming reality TV experience is “Dragons’ Den” |
I started singing the praises of “Dragons’ Den” the other day, when the first installments aired on FOX Reality TV. I didn’t sing loudly enough.
But first, let me preface this next discussion by saying that I am a writer with one-woman “business” goals–I really just want to write and be paid enough to survive, but I must conduct business as any product pusher might. So in this surreal (to me) sense, I am a businessperson, though I have a visceral aversion for selling, promotion, and all the details that mandate a successful “business”. [Tough sh*t, say the successful writers: you have to sell
yourself… constantly and consistently.] Like the presenters to the dragons who get unnerved, hyperventilate, and even cry on the spot, I get the heebie jeebies trying to boast my talents/services and thereby boost my income.
I have done the public speaking thing many times and with much healthy regard/response (as I was lucky to be a good teacher with a massive following), but on several other occasions have presented with hair and clothes flying, notes and books falling, my frustration coming through in flailing and swearing, and a general reception of looks of absolute horror on the faces of the panel or audience receiving me. I hate to brag as it were, saying “look how great I am” or “look at how many awards and accolades I have earned/collected….”
My philosophy maintains that if you are good, you will get repeat business: and I live on the clients who come back for more of my help, support, and, well, product. But this “build it and they will come” misjudgment works only for a few and only in certain milieux. But to win continued support, a writer or any artistic talent must “sell”—unless he is J.D. Salinger or she is Greta Garbo.
So “Dragons’ Den” shows us how to get through such necessary encounters. “Dragons’ Den” teaches tiny businesspersons like me so so much–about business models, entrepreneurial acumen, and, especially, nobility of character. That is, while the presenters to the dragons have talent and the occasional promise of marketability of a product or service, the dragons offer lessons in salespersonship which they deliver with such confident and kind words and smiles that they represent the refinement the presenters can only hope to aspire to.
Role models, the dragons pay attention to the presenters. They respect the person pitching regardless of how kooky or careless the person presenting may be. They smile. They offer advice and ask interested questions. Oh, sure, on occasion they roll their eyes, snicker, or get frustrated—having to deal with, say, the woman wanting 150,000 pounds who cannot account for the proceeds from her last year in business: when Rachel Elnaugh asks the presenter where the sales went, re-invested or distributed, etc., the woman says she has no idea and wishes she knew. Yet Rachel doesn’t humiliate or denigrate but only explains that she could not possibly invest 150,000 pounds when in another year they would be asking the same thing, asking where the money went….
Hot, Hot, HOT Show: Dragons’ Den
Hot, Hot, HOT Show: Dragons’ Den by Roxanne McDonald
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Between the firebrands needing financing and the five fire-breathing “dragons” testing before they invest, BBC’s “Dragons’ Den” is one sizzling reality TV show. |
FOX Reality has outdone itself…again. It has brought a most engaging BBC reality TV show to American viewers—the John Hesling production, “Dragons’ Den.” The actual “dragons’ den” is a warehouse attic of minimalist decor, wherein sit (each at a simple cocktail table with a drink and a pile of pounds) the five dragons—Rachel Elnaugh, Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne, Simon Woodruff, and Doug Richard (or in other episodes, Theo Paphitis, Richard Farleigh, and/or Deborah Meaden)—
wealthy investors sitting for promotional pitches of designers. BBC’s appointed economics editor Evan Davis hosts, narrates, and conducts the exit interviews.
The necessary elements of the pitch are of course a marketable/market-worthy product, but also a convincing promotional presentation. Here’s where the personality dynamics and reality TV intrigue come in, for many of the pitch-men and –women are nervous, inept at selling their ideas, thin-skinned, or emotionally bankrupt.
One woman tries to get 125k pounds to back a recyclable cardboard seat/umbrella/table contraption that one can fold out, use at a concert or car race, then “toss in the bin”. But not only does the woman insist on the product’s capabilities as unrealistic (that, for instance, it is “completely wind-resistant) she is so defensive that by the time it is Rachel Elnaugh’s turn to shoot fire across the room, she just out and out tells the woman that she is unlikable and therefore unbackable. For most of the moguls, so is her product—which she leaves on the floor and which Peter Jones (I think, or Doug Richard) approaches, puts a single finger to, and pushes over.
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