Dragons Den Time Wasters

[joggerjayne]

Is it just me?

Or are the "Dragons" increasingly wasting people's time?

More and more, they are asking for details of successful sales. How many units have you sold? What was your net profit last year? How many orders have you got?

They only want to invest in businesses that are already doing well.

In other words ... people who don't really need a Dragon.

In older series, they were adventurous entrepreneurs, who would invest in promising ideas, like Levi Roots, and Peter's band (can't remember the name).

Now, it's just like going to the bank. Have your figures ready, and you might get the money.

Have the Dragons themselves become total time wasters?

Has the programme become a total bore ???????

(hint - the correct answer is "yes")

[joggerjayne]

You can watch a whole programme, for an hour, and only one person gets an investment.

And then it's from that new Dragon, the man in drag who sounds like a chain smoker.

[Frank97]

Yes, that does seem to be the case.

[Frank97]

"the man in drag who sounds like a chain smoker."
Lol!

[joggerjayne]

Sorry, what I meant was ...

The successful businesswoman with the nice, husky voice.

[andy-hughes]

i think it's reasonable for any investor putting personal money into a new venture - which is the ethos of the programme - is entitled to make some pretty deep enquiries about the prospects for the venture.

As I understand it, the Dragons are bringing their individual expertise as well as financial backing, which is far more important - and if they are going to spend time with a new partner, they need to know what they are getting into, and if the project has a reasonable chance of success.

if i was a Dragon asking questions and getting vague or 'don't know' answers, it would colour my willingness to put my money and time into a potential project.

So i think it's reasonable for someone to ask about prospects and success thus far - even if there is no sales and no track record, the Dragons may still stump up of they see a genuine potential prospect in front of them.

[Old_Geezer]

Isn't that always the way ? Like banks, you can have a loan if you don't need it. Seems to apply to venture capital too then.

I tend not to watch the programme. Yes I found it interesting when I did watch, but I felt a bit uncomfortable when they just enjoyed pulling someone's idea apart. That said there have been a few crackpot ideas put forward.

[joggerjayne]

Exactly, O_G ... you can have a loan if you don't need it.

The people who really need a Dragon are the complete scatterbrains, who have a great idea, but are totally uselss at business, and have made a hash of it so far.

The programme might as well be called "Bank Managers Den".

It used to be about exciting, dynamic projects.

Now, it's about safe investments.

zzzzzzzzzzz