One thing that has become apparent in my viewing of online details on the episodes currently showing here in the US on BBC America is that the show appears to be heavily edited here, cutting out several entrepreneurs as we are only seeing 3 presentations per episode but it appears that a lot more pitches are shown on UK TV, typical of course of a BBC show shown here in the US because of the need to have commercial breaks here, any 1 hour show has to have 10-12 minutes of it preened so that the tv networks can make a buck.
I wish with the price of cable bills for ever on the up and up that we'd get more of a PBS model here with no ads and showing the whole program followed by 10-20 minutes of guilt trip asking for a donation. I'd much prefer that than watch a cutdown version and have to site through commercials every 10 minutes, although with Tivo who sites through commercials anymore these days?
Friday, November 21, 2008
Tattoo Erase
Also in the fourth episode we were introduced the wife and husband team the Simpson-Birks with their pitch for a tattoo removal system that involved the application of a chemical with a tattoo-needle to the offending area and over a period of weeks(months?) the tattoo gets more and more faded until gone at which point you could 'get another tattoo', WTF? Don't people ever learn from their mistakes? I suppose someone could want to get rid of homage to an ex and then just go ahead and replace with a new future-ex?
The 'gotcha' here was that these folks did not develope the tech but some geek in Germany did and has nicely agreed to allow the Simpson-Birks to franchise it to their hearts content, huh? What is in it for Dr Deutsch then? Who knows, that being said the idea was that the tech would be licensed to various businesses throughout the country and Europe, but they won't selling the rights for worldwide access, if I remember correctly they were withholding that little earner from the table and I beleive that was there downfall with the Dragons, they got too creedy instead of getting some one onboard with knowledge to assist them they blew it.
However a google on the Tattoo Erase brings out http://www.tattooerase.com/about.html and it seems these guys are still around, although the web site doesn't appear to have been updated in a number of years and I think it will be quite a while before they reach worldwide domination. Good luck!
The 'gotcha' here was that these folks did not develope the tech but some geek in Germany did and has nicely agreed to allow the Simpson-Birks to franchise it to their hearts content, huh? What is in it for Dr Deutsch then? Who knows, that being said the idea was that the tech would be licensed to various businesses throughout the country and Europe, but they won't selling the rights for worldwide access, if I remember correctly they were withholding that little earner from the table and I beleive that was there downfall with the Dragons, they got too creedy instead of getting some one onboard with knowledge to assist them they blew it.
However a google on the Tattoo Erase brings out http://www.tattooerase.com/about.html and it seems these guys are still around, although the web site doesn't appear to have been updated in a number of years and I think it will be quite a while before they reach worldwide domination. Good luck!
Maxi-Mat (Mat to keep you dog from stinking!)
In the fourth episode from the first season there was a presentation for an item for dog owners called 'Maxi-Mat'. Now having previously been a dog owner (now converted to cat owner) I'm certainly sensitive to the issue of a house quickly taking the odor shall we say of any animal living there so this product sounded very interesting to me and I thought would have been a sure winner to be backed by the dragons.
Unfortunately for Mr Tully they just didn't seem to 'get it' and his presentation skills weren't the greatest. What frustrated me was that no one actually asked how it worked, how the blanket actually absorbed the odors, and would it last forever, would you have to buy a new one every few months, a recurring business model. But alas Mr Tully never got a chance to go in to those details and from my searching online for updates and not finding anything, no current web site or product listings on any pet stores that I could find, alas the mat has been laid to rest.
Unfortunately for Mr Tully they just didn't seem to 'get it' and his presentation skills weren't the greatest. What frustrated me was that no one actually asked how it worked, how the blanket actually absorbed the odors, and would it last forever, would you have to buy a new one every few months, a recurring business model. But alas Mr Tully never got a chance to go in to those details and from my searching online for updates and not finding anything, no current web site or product listings on any pet stores that I could find, alas the mat has been laid to rest.
Le Beanock (the sofa alternative)
This product didn't really do anything for me at all as it was pitched as an alternative to a sofa that students or yuppies (very different groups?) would want for their apartments that don't have enough floor space for a full size sofa.
That pitch alone lost me, have you seen this thing? It needs far more space than a sofa to hang from and who in their right mind is going to drill holes in their ceiling to support this thing? Not only that, and I know one of the Dragon's had the same comment, if you are a student renting a space you don't want to lose your security deposit by drilling large holes in the your ceiling!
Now I do like my hammock, but I like it in the yard, in the summer not as something to curl up on in the winter in doors and not something I think I'd have the expertise to find support beams to hang from.
Well evidently not all the Dragons shared my opinion because Rachel Elnaugh invested over £50k for a large stake of the company and a quick google on 'le beanock' shows they do have a web site up and running selling it for 495 UK pounds, half the price that Mrs Hertage was intending to sell it at, but hey at least she is selling it, cushions look like they cost extra.. ouch. I think I'll stick with the sleeper sofa for when relatives visit over this, I don't see my relatives going for a hammock when they stay over (not that they ever do!)
That pitch alone lost me, have you seen this thing? It needs far more space than a sofa to hang from and who in their right mind is going to drill holes in their ceiling to support this thing? Not only that, and I know one of the Dragon's had the same comment, if you are a student renting a space you don't want to lose your security deposit by drilling large holes in the your ceiling!
Now I do like my hammock, but I like it in the yard, in the summer not as something to curl up on in the winter in doors and not something I think I'd have the expertise to find support beams to hang from.
Well evidently not all the Dragons shared my opinion because Rachel Elnaugh invested over £50k for a large stake of the company and a quick google on 'le beanock' shows they do have a web site up and running selling it for 495 UK pounds, half the price that Mrs Hertage was intending to sell it at, but hey at least she is selling it, cushions look like they cost extra.. ouch. I think I'll stick with the sleeper sofa for when relatives visit over this, I don't see my relatives going for a hammock when they stay over (not that they ever do!)
Baltersan Castle
The first show that I saw was the 3rd episode from season 1 and one of the most memorable entrepreneurs from that show for me was the guy trying to setup executive vacation packages for celebrities in a Scottish castle.
This one was memorable for me having Scottish ancestry and with family who still in Scotland so I was rooting for the guy, but when he showed 'Baltersan Castle' the property he had bought and wanted to renevate I knew this one was a none starter. The place is literally just 4 walls, not even may 3.5 half walls at best!! Ah the look on the Dragon's faces when they saw the state of the property was priceless.
Needless to say Mr Brown didn't get the investment he was looking for but was determined to make his dream castle a reality. Unfortunately his web site http://www.baltersan.com/ shows that some 4 years after the show aired in the UK Mr Brown's hotel in the highlands dream is up for sale for some 195,000 British Pounds.
If only the place came with a title I'm sure someone rich from this side of the Atlantic would have taken the place just so his wife could have the title of 'Lady of Baltersan'.
This one was memorable for me having Scottish ancestry and with family who still in Scotland so I was rooting for the guy, but when he showed 'Baltersan Castle' the property he had bought and wanted to renevate I knew this one was a none starter. The place is literally just 4 walls, not even may 3.5 half walls at best!! Ah the look on the Dragon's faces when they saw the state of the property was priceless.
Needless to say Mr Brown didn't get the investment he was looking for but was determined to make his dream castle a reality. Unfortunately his web site http://www.baltersan.com/ shows that some 4 years after the show aired in the UK Mr Brown's hotel in the highlands dream is up for sale for some 195,000 British Pounds.
If only the place came with a title I'm sure someone rich from this side of the Atlantic would have taken the place just so his wife could have the title of 'Lady of Baltersan'.
Disclaimer
I thought I'd take the chance to say that I have no affiliation with the BBC, this show on any one who has every been on it (that I know of!). And I will not be posting any copyrighted material on this site, including links to content posted on youtube. It is my intention on this site to post the updates on the entrepreneurs and their stories from the research I've done.
Dragon's Den in America
The first series of the UK show started showing here in the states on BBC America earlier this year and this blog is devoted to entrepreneurs who presented on that show, updates, where are they now, did their ideas work? And most of all I'm hoping to find that those who the Dragons turned down made a success of their ideas and that way there is hope for us all :)
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