Dragon’s Den
Dragons Den is going into its 3rd season in Canada but originated from a similar show created by Sony in Japan which ran for 3 seasons, other versions have aired in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Netherlands and Finland. Most recently Mark Burnett signed a deal with Sony for the American rights the show will be called The Shark Tank, and ABC are recently ordered a pilot. Contestants of Dragons Den will pitch their business or idea to the Dragons (businessmen and women looking for businesses to invest in) asking for an investment in exchange for a % of their business. After the pitch the Dragons pick apart the business trying to find out if it’s a good investment for their own money. Several months back I had the opportunity to sit down with Sean Wise the Business Adviser for CBC hit business reality show Dragons Den but he is better referred to as the “Dragons Keeper”. Some of you may recognize Sean’s name, is written several books
Sean says his show has real business people with real ideas, unlike Fox’s American Idol, which brings in contestant’s for shock value and amusement. “We don’t know pretend to know what the Dragons will fund, some things we thought they would turn down they have funded and others that we thought were a sure thing they have turned down” says Sean.
This season contesters had the opportunity to pitch their business to the Dragons thought YouTube, and the public could vote on their favorite pitches. Originally the top 10 would be invited to step into the den and pitch to the dragons but the quality was so high that an additional 8 were invited down to pitch their business.
Dragon’s Den is taking advantage of a growing trend in Crowdsourcing, using the crowd to organize the used generated content (the pitches), the crowds votes then bring the best to the top. This process not only brings the top pitches to the attention of the dragons and also gives the community “ownership” of the show. As a member of the crowd I want to know if the businesses I voted for were funded by the dragons. I was told that this season is already been a one million dollar deal a first for the show perhaps as one million dollar deal was a pitch that I supported by voting for it.
Dragon’s Den premieres September 29 on CBC television make sure you tune in to see if your favorite pitch made it to the air.