Friday, May 18th, 2012
Ed Hart breathes fire on television’s Dragons. He doesn’t seem to like them, not one little bit.
What example does the BBC’s Dragon’s Den set for business development and funding? Not much. The whole process is a charade.
People with ideas are paraded in front of those who don’t have them and often persuaded to sell-out when it would be better to try and stuff part of a treadmill up Duncan Bannatyne’s most eloquent orifice.
Why would anyone be prepared to be cajoled and patronised in this harsh Dragon’s Den into flogging a 20-50% of their business? Because there is a vacuum.
Banks are risk-averse, short-termist, purblind and have personnel who have no experience of business.
Fall victim
What happens to many people with good ideas is they often fall victim to to the flaws of venture capitalists. These “champions” of business are part of a casino culture by other means.
One of the misnomers of modern capitalism – rudely exposed in the recent financial crisis – is that you can make money out of nothing. A giant Ponzi-style version of pass-the-parcel which reveals nothing whatsoever.
This same short-termism and product-absent business model sees vast amounts of investment lying dormant or declining in value in property.
What’s really baffling is how some ideas are rejected by the Dragons when the risk involved requires little more than the kind of money they would spend on a car, holiday or party. The idea that this is any kind of an investment model is a travesty.
Once again it shows the venture capitalist flaws.
Drivel
Defenders of this drivel might say – “it’s good tele” – but good business it ain’t.
The Dragon’s are successful – monetarily – but are they people of ideas? Do health clubs, stationers, recruitment companies, hotels and telecommunications represent the apotheosis of novelty and innovation? Do they hell.
The people with the real ideas are paraded in front of these televisual martinets to be stripped bare like a carcass on the Serengeti.
So do you think the Dragons are villains, the Dragon’s Den harsh or just some guys trying to make an honest buck by giving us good television? Comments as always welcome.
Ed Hart is wowdewow’s commercial writer.
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Tags: business ideas, dragon's den, television torture, venture captitalists
I couldn’t agree more. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. The poor suckers – unable to find funding elsewhere (i.e. from banks) – are forced into the hands of these predators.