3 Tips To Win Investment In Dragons Den

I haven’t watched this show for years.

I was surprised to learn it was still going.

Once a big fan, after a few seasons of much promise, caricatures, egos and arrogance took over from the charismatic pull of genuine invention against take-to-market tension.

A previous ‘dragon’ (potential investor, aka in its original setting of Japan as ‘money tiger’, and elsewhere in the world as running the ‘shark tank’) returns after absence. As part of the pr campaign, she offers these three pieces of advice for budding entrepreneurs;

potential business partners must know their figures, never bluff and ditch the sob stories.

There’s clearly something to take from this into any sales pitch.

Especially one for a new enterprise.

Figures in our general solution sense though, can mean any of price (including packages, add-ons and quantity breaks), projected returns or payback periods, and the whole manner of delivery, implementation or ongoing options and expectations.

To never bluff is standard. Cheating is not winning. And you will be found out, and lose. Don’t make stuff up.

And ditch the sob stories, because pitching by pulling heartstrings is certainly not a sustainable B2B tactic. A reality tv talent contest judge or sofa-sat voter the commercial buyer is not.