Original subtitles

15 years, five chairs,

a lift and some stairs,

18 Dragons.

Yes! Yes! I'm going to make you an offer.

It's all right them making you offers

but I'm the only one that can make this an overnight success.

£22 million pledged.

Thank you so much.

We've trawled our vaults to bring you our favourite clips

from the past... You would make my foot itch, mate.

..and present. Howay. Shut it. Listen.

And pick some of the most memorable classic pitches to show you in full.

Historic losses is last year! Stop shouting.

Have you ever met someone who's that ambitious that he wants

to be free from life and be a billionaire?

What?! The big sales... Thank you.

..and the total fails. Hey.

Did you come in here looking for a fight?

Tonight...

Tej, I'm going to decline your offer.

..it's the entrepreneurs who come out fighting.

I am answering your question, I'm just explaining how I get there.

They don't pull any punches.

You're entitled to your opinion.

OK, Stephen. And I probably wouldn't take your money anyway.

Are you for real? They're not afraid to answer back.

Just to respond briefly, cos that's quite a criticism.

They push the Dragons to their limits.

That was one of my toughest negotiations in the Den.

It's time for the best ever pitches of Dragons' Den.

Fantastic.

This little piggy has gone to market.

The Dragons are a pretty stern bunch.

You're off the wall. You're feeling very uncomfortable at this moment

and you damn well ought to be. Aren't you?

But they don't always get their own way.

20% is too much, I've worked too hard.

And when the entrepreneurs get fired up,

it can get quite lively in the Den.

You can't possibly have a patent.

I absolutely have.

That concept is patented.

Over the last 17 series,

we've seen deals being dismissed...

50%. No way, Jose.

..defiance under questioning...

I don't think I really do want to discuss that here today.

..and tempers flaring. It's not flippant, it's very serious.

We've seen reactions...

I find that fairly insulting. ..and retorts.

I would rather stick pins in my eyes than invest in this.

I wouldn't want to work with you.

But when it comes to feisty, this lot coming up are hard to beat.

Here's sports technology lecturer, Dr Mike Caine,

who's come up with this cheeky number - a vest that squeezes

your muscles when you breathe in.

We've made a small number of these to test the concept

of providing an elastic load around your thorax.

I love an elastic load round my thorax,

but gym owner Duncan Bannatyne wasn't so keen.

I employ about 300 personal trainers... Mm-hm.

..and they would say, "You're wrong."

300 personal trainers?!

No wonder he's in great shape.

They would say you don't have to overload the muscle.

You shouldn't use things like that for your muscles,

you should tense muscles yourself.

Of course, one way to get tense muscles is to pitch a product

to Duncan Bannatyne.

I just think what you're talking about is a load of rubbish.

I think you're full of hot air

and for that reason, I'm not going to invest, and I'm out.

But the entrepreneur was having none of it.

Just to respond briefly, cos that's quite a criticism.

I'm an academic at the UK's leading sports university,

Loughborough University.

I have a worldwide reputation for publishing good research

in inspiratory muscle training.

With all respect, you've made an informed decision,

but it's not an expert decision.

I have a team of people who've published PhDs on this kind of work

and it will work because we know it will work.

Peter Jones certainly enjoyed Mike's fightback.

I think you've put Duncan firmly in his place

and I'm very personally pleased that you've done that.

I don't think he has.

Er, I think he has, Duncan.

When Surrey-based entrepreneur Jack Hanauer came into the Den

to pitch his word game, it led to a right old war of words

with Peter Jones.

Each round, nine new cards.

Everyone played rather nicely at first.

If I said here, for example, spaghetti,

can you find the one card of each colour that I'm describing?

Italy. Eat. Cook. Perfect.

That's the essence of the game. Did I just win? You did. Yes!

But Peter Jones wasn't sharing Deborah's love of the game.

I think that you'd get bored very quickly

after playing it once or twice.

Actually, if there's ever a demographic of the person

who's most hostile to it, it would actually be yourself.

Men of a certain age, who come and look at it and think... Uh-oh.

..and think, "I'm under pressure."

I think that's an absolute load of nonsense.

Well, that's your opinion.

No, it's not my opinion. I think that's just nonsense.

Well, it is because I've been doing this for three years.

Yeah, you've been doing it for three years... But I wouldn't do it...

..and you've sold 4,000 games. Yes. But it's all about

getting it out there. You haven't got it out there.

No, I haven't. That's why I'm here.

This is not so much of a pitch,

it's like an argument you'd have down the pub.

The Jack versus Jones battle raged on, as Peter questioned

the packaging of the product.

That could be a magic box. It could be.

It doesn't say what it does on the tin.

Bertrand Russell said, "Anything that can fit in a nutshell

"should stay there."

Who said that? Bertrand Russell. Who's that? A philosopher.

Doesn't really matter who said it, what matters is

is what he's saying.

After educating Peter, it was time for Jack to get a lesson

from Deborah, who compared him to a cactus.

You're oddly spiky.

Jack's game wasn't a winner, but he felt the Dragons

were the real losers.

They didn't believe in the product

but I do think they've missed a trick.

You'd have thought a lightweight suit carrier for some snazzy

international travellers would be a sure-fire hit with the Dragons.

If any of you want to come up and have a look at how it works,

please feel welcome.

But when Patrick Tatham came into the Den

to pitch his ultra-compact creation...

Because the hanger has hinges in it, it folds over

to be this super compact footprint.

..his funding of the business created fireworks.

All told, my investment has been 120,000.

So right now, your business has debt of about 120 on the books.

It's not debt as such.

I guess it is debt, technically, but it's directors' loans.

It is debt on your books. I mean, it's money owed to you.

Yeah, but I would like to reassure you that I'm not intending

taking back those directors' loans any time soon.

Sure, but you've got that debt on your book and how much...

Sorry, I don't... I really don't think it's debt. It is debt.

Directors' loans are debt.

It's a liability. I... Anyway, let's not split hairs.

It's definitely a liability, but, um...

Oh.

But Patrick still managed to bag himself an offer

from Sara Davies.

I would be willing to offer you

all of the money

for 50% of your business, dropping to 35%

when you return me my investment.

But that wasn't enough for Patrick, who was offering 10%.

I don't think I'd be a very good businessman

if I accepted your offer.

I think where you're coming in is too lowball really.

You're allowed to make me a counteroffer. Sure.

It's OK. Do you know what? I think we're too far apart.

You should make a counteroffer, Patrick,

it could be your last chance.

Your offer really doesn't reflect the value of the business

and its growth potential.

I think we're done.

Wow.

What?!

I cannot believe that.

Deciding what value to place on a business

can cause all sorts of problems in the Den,

like with our next entrepreneur, who created what's known

in technical terms as a right ding-dong.

Let's watch from the start.

Take it away, Evan Davis.

The Dragons are investing their own cash in the Den,

so don't be surprised if they ask searching questions.

How well will our first entrepreneur answer them?

Hello. My name is Matt King and I'm the inventor of WeQ4U

and I'm pitching today for a £150,000 investment in return

for a 1% equity stake for my established, profitable business.

Matt, sorry to interrupt you, but did I get it right?

You said 150,000 for 1%.

That's right, yes.

My company specialises in helping people get through

to busy call centres without having to wait on hold.

And I'm going to show you how we do that with one of our products,

the WeQ4U app, which is available as a free download.

To use it, you just open the app,

enter the number you wish to reach and hit "start call".

PHONE RINGS

RECORDED MESSAGE: Remember, if you get stuck in a queue, just press 9*

and we queue for you.

So now we're being put through to the call centre.

RECORDED MESSAGE: Thank you for calling. All of our agents are busy

at the moment... OK. So now we're stuck in the queue.

We just press 9*.

RECORDED MESSAGE: Please hold for the next available a...

Thank you for using WeQ4U. OK. Now we can end the call.

There we go. And now we're waiting in the queue

but your phone's no longer connected to the call.

Rather, we're queuing for you, and you'll be reconnected automatically

when the agent answers.

It's a real no-brainer for anybody to use.

Now, the WeQ4U app is not what we sell.

What we sell is the business product that we sell to call centres.

And that's actually the main focus of our business because it generates

substantial ongoing revenue streams for us, and we already have several

high street brand name customers.

And last year, we sold over a million minutes of WeQ4U

for business to UK call centres alone.

Thank you very much for listening to me today.

A highly professional pitch from South Londoner Matt King.

His technology combats the annoyance of lengthy waits on hold

to customer call centres.

But he's looking for an investment of £150,000

in return for just 1% of the business.

Hilary Devey needs more information.

Right, Matt, hi, I'm Hilary.

Hi, Hilary.

Tell me about the company to date.

Well, we turned over £300,000 this year.

Over 50% of that is profit. Right.

Don't go so fast. Sorry. You turned over 300K... Yes.

..this year. Yes, this year.

What was the profit? The profit was £152,000.

Is that net profit or gross profit? That's gross profit.

So what was your net profit? We paid off all our loans.

Our net profit this year, er,

I think it's around £40,000.

Um, so what you're saying is,

you've valued a company at £15 million

that turned over 300,000, with a net profit of 40,000. Yes.

How have you arrived at that valuation?

Well, we're looking at the size of the market, really.

According to the Department of Trade and Industry,

the UK market's worth £300 million alone. You can't...

Cor. Are you for real? Mm-hm.

A focus on the valuation and not the new technology

is not an ideal start for any entrepreneur.

How will Matt fare under interrogation from Duncan Bannatyne?

Matt, can you explain to me how the Department of Trade

and Industry evaluated the market for people who want to buy an app?

Sure. So there was a recent study

by the Department of Trade and Industry that found

there were 6,200 call centres in the UK

with ten or more staff taking or making calls.

66% of those are inbound positions,

and the average agent's salary is £15,000 a year.

The average reported answer rate at the call centres is 95%.

So if you multiply... I don't know what any of that's

got to do with my question. I am answering your question.

I'm just explaining how I get there. Today. Yes.

So if you multiply all that, that means that the current spending

on answering inbound calls is £13.7 billion a year.

So that means that the 5% of abandoned calls, by the same logic,

are worth at least £700 million a year in the UK.

Matt, this is a complete wind-up. Why are you here?

This is not a wind-up. No, of course it is. You're not...

Listen, you're a sensible guy. You're not delusional.

You're trying to have a bit of fun.

The fun is about to backfire very seriously

and you're about to go up those stairs faster than you came in. OK.

Why on Earth would you come in here and try and suggest

that a business that is making diddly squat is worth 15 million?

Well... And you have a technology that isn't proprietary. It is.

Technology that can be written. No, it's not.

Can you ask him the question that he hasn't answered?

Like, does the call centre need to have his software on

for the app to work? Yes or no?

No. This is cannot be answered with a yes or no answer, I'm afraid.

So the app is distinct from the WeQ4U business solution.

And if they have the business solution, then nobody needs the app

to get through without waiting.

That's the answer.

Matt, you have created something that you are selling into a market

and you're making a bit of profit. So far, so good.

The trouble is, what you have told me in coming in

and asking for £150,000 for 1%

is that you might be bordering on the arrogant. OK.

Because I have to tell you, I know what you're going to say.

I can absolutely guarantee, you're going to cite all of those

big social networking sites

that started in somebody's garage

and because of the size of the market... Look at it now.

I'm sorry but, at that stage in their early days, they were not

valuing their business at 15 million.

So unless you can tell me in 30 seconds flat

why you think it's OK to come in and ask for 1% for 150,000,

I am absolutely as quick as anything going out. OK.

Well, I'm going to start with that then.

Really, a business is worth what people are prepared to pay for it,

and what the vendors are prepared to accept for it. That's the reality

of the situation that I'm sure we're all aware of.

That's used ten of your seconds, so... OK.

I am going to use the Facebook example, because they did

a valuation of 104 billion, based on just 1.5 billion...

OK. Having told you that I'm not accepting that... Yeah.

..you've got ten seconds to come up with something other than

the same old, same old. This is a unique product in the marketplace.

It is the best product in the marketplace

at solving this problem, which costs call centres

a huge amount of money every day.

I have to tell you, this is disappointing. OK. You are smart.

You've got a product that works.

If you'd come in here with a sensible valuation,

asking for a sensible sum of money,

I'll bet you I'd have invested in you. Right.

But I'm sorry. For all of the reasons I've just talked about,

I'm out. All right. Thank you, Deborah.

A first and early blow for the confident entrepreneur,

but there are still four Dragons left.

Will Theo Paphitis be more forgiving?

Matt, what's your background?

I've been programming computers since I was seven years old.

I hold a double first class degree in Physics

from Keble College, Oxford, and a lot of the maths from that

has gone into the product. I've worked for IBM and Logica

and I spent five years in San Francisco learning how to do

Silicon Valley start-ups.

Silicon Valley start-ups.

Right. My view is your whole business plan is flawed.

First of all, any business as a call centre that takes so long

to answer is disgusting. But that's not what we're doing.

So the first thing they should be doing is being encouraged

to sort themselves out. Simple as that.

It's so far off humanity's radar.

You know what? I don't want to listen to any more of this...

But you shouldn't be there.

..because we have the same views on how the call centres are.

I've done this as a disgruntled customer. Yeah.

Trying to make things better. But you're making it worse

for the rest of us. What are you doing to try and make things better?

I'm complaining. I think everyone should stop using them.

And then, when they lose their customers, they'll give

proper customer service. Well, that's what... Look, I'm talking.

So that's what should happen.

I can't invest, so I'm out.

A tetchy exchange of opinion,

and one that results in the loss of another Dragon.

The bad news for Matt is that it doesn't look like Peter Jones

is ready to let him off the hook either.

Matt, you're an intelligent guy,

but do you understand the alienation

as a result of what you've done?

And I don't think it has anything to do with the thing

that you're trying to describe to us.

I think it has a lot to do with the credibility of you trying

to come in here on a wing and a prayer and suggest

that you have a business that is worth 15 million.

OK. To come in with the offer that you put across today

is bordering on insulting.

That's why I'm going to tell you that I'm out. OK.

Er, Matt... Yes.

One of the things that call centres are doing now is trying to encourage

e-mails rather than telephone calls. Mm.

Is that not really...? Yes, there are some companies

that are starting to do that. In fact, some of them are even

closing their customer services lines

and saying it's all e-mail now, but people are feeling

very disenfranchised by that sort of operation.

Point is, if you make a telephone call, you're there

listening to the phone ringing, listening to the message.

If you send an e-mail... When an e-mail comes in, it comes back in.

Yes. And we bring that to phone calls.

So I think that will prevent your business expanding

at a rate that it will be worth £15 million in my lifetime.

We're just looking at expanding. So for that reason, Matt,

so for that reason, Matt, I'm going to say that I'm out.

All right. Thank you very much.

Matt, I'm much younger than Duncan, actually,

and I couldn't see a return in my lifetime either.

In fact, I couldn't even see

a return in my son's lifetime.

Would you like me to demo the business version

of the product first? No. No. No, I wouldn't. OK.

What happens to the call centres

that say, "All our operators are busy at the moment?"

They've actually clocked your number.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Oh, we think that's a really bad idea.

We will return your call within one hour. OK.

What's wrong with that? When you're making one of these call-backs,

you're actually taking an agent off taking those inbound calls.

So let's say you've got ten agents. Somebody requests a call-back.

In the next cycle, you've got nine agents taking calls...

No, you're not - it's automated.

..and one person making outbound calls.

So now your inbound queue is getting longer because you have fewer agents

taking the inbound calls. No, no.

So pretty soon you find you have eight, seven, six, agents...

Have you ever run a call centre?

..and pretty soon you find you're an outbound call centre.

Did anybody ever tell you that God gave you two of these

and one of those? I believe that's the first time.

Well, I'm telling you now.

And also, please use them wisely. OK.

So would you like me to finish explaining what the problem is

with that system or not? Not really. No. OK.

There are systems out there that will log your number,

log your call and an operator will return your call.

Well, the feedback that we've had from companies that have used that system is that...

They are automated. Not only are they automated. Will you shut up?

Matt, I'm out, also.

All right. Well, thank you for taking the time

to almost listen to me today.

Matt may have defended his business valiantly, but it was the value

he placed on it that seemed to incense the Dragon investors.

He leaves with nothing.

JOE: Sometimes you'll get more out of the Dragons by standing your ground.

Looking for a £50,000 investment

to take his Wrexham Pub Poker League national

was appropriately poker-faced Steve "The Badger" Bellis.

This can be an absolutely massive business.

But Peter Jones didn't agree.

Any pub in the land could do exactly what you're doing.

They can indeed.

That's probably why... This is by far as a business opportunity,

not the nuts.

That's great. You're entitled to your opinion.

OK, Steve... I probably wouldn't take your money anyway.

I'd be stupid to actually accept money from someone

who thinks it's doomed to fail.

The Badger was giving Peter a right savaging,

and the other Dragons loved it.

I love your confidence when you're taking flak

and you're holding it.

And Steve's boldness...

This is probably the best gamble you'll see for quite some time.

..convinced Richard Farleigh and casino-owning Duncan Bannatyne

to roll the dice.

We would want 50% of the equity for £50,000. Mm-hm.

You're looking for an answer? Yeah. No.

Succinctly put, Steve.

I'm happy to negotiate equity if you're happy to negotiate price.

£75,000 for 40%.

By asking for more cash than he was originally seeking -

the first time this had happened in the Den -

Steve had made a little history,

but Duncan and Richard weren't going to fold.

£30,000 for 20% of the equity.

Yeah.

This means the Dragons have massively increased their valuation

of his company from £100,000 to 150,000.

And that vote of confidence draws in other Dragons,

who all want a piece of this badger.

I'll give you 32,500 for 20%.

And if Deborah will do the other 32,500, you get 65,000 for 40%.

With his poker company now valued at just over 160 grand,

Steve was a happy bunny. Er, I mean badger.

Yes, I'll accept the offer.

And he walked down the stairs with 15 grand more than he came for.

Now here come Euan McCreath and Brian Smillie -

he actually doesn't look that smiley - with a gorgeous

little product called Beezer.

It's an online tool for you to create your own mobile apps.

Whenever we pitched, we've had a 100% hit rate

in terms of pitched versus investment,

so I'm very confident.

Anyone like it?

I really like it.

And Deborah's not the only one.

These lads seem very popular.

Guys, I think what you've built is very clever.

And the offers soon start rolling in.

I'll give you all the money. I want 10%.

8%.

I want 6% of the business.

I want 15% of the company. OK.

Not reading the room, Peter.

I don't know whether to cry or fall down.

Of course, being super confident,

our Brian was going to try and negotiate.

If anybody was prepared to accept £125,000 for 5% equity

in the business, I would do the deal here today.

And Brian's dreams came true, because here's a Dragon

who'll take that offer.

I'll do the deal for 8%, but drop to 5% if I get my money back.

You'd do that deal? Yeah.

Anybody else?

Tej, I'm going to decline your offer.

Oh, Brian, Brian, Brian.

Deborah, I reach out to you on that.

Touker, thank you for your offer. Oh. Oh, gosh.

You don't want my offer. Yeah.

I'm out.

Brian's brinkmanship looked like it was backfiring in a big way.

Oh, that's a shame you did that.

Until that point, you were faultless

but actually, that was a bit of an impetuous thing.

You have got Dragons here who are going to add massive value.

I appreciate that. Oh.

You know what, Brian, I'm really shocked.

You've alienated one Dragon to my right,

and then you go straight to Deborah, which has now alienated me.

Yeah.

But despite the awkwardness of the situation... OK.

..Brian managed to get back into the driving seat.

Are you still in, Peter?

I am still in, but I'm in at 15%.

Do you know what? I'm going to go with my gut on this.

And my gut says...

..go with you, Peter.

Wow. Well done. Peter, that was fantastic.

Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you.

And for once, it was the Dragons who'd been made to sweat.

That was one of my toughest negotiations in the Den.

That's how I'm feeling right now. I'm actually clammy.

Let's move on.

When fish and chip shop owner Rashpal Dhillon

and her sons Gurminder and Arminder

came in to pitch the boot buddy, a magical cleaning device...

That's it. Away you go.

All you have is a really simple and easy method of cleaning your boots

in seconds. ..Peter Jones got to the heart of the product...

It is just a water bottle with a brush on the end.

..and Deborah Meaden was ready to wave the red card.

I'm not into football.

I just don't think I'm the right fit for you.

But Rashpal and Gurminder weren't about to let her go that easily...

It's not just football

that we can restrict it to.

..and set about convincing Deborah she was making a mistake.

Dog walkers, golf, and also the people who work on building sites.

You know, if you change the bristles,

make them harder, you know. That's...

So anybody with muddy boots.

She's persuasive, your mother, isn't she?

Well, that's something you don't see every day in the Den,

or indeed ever. I would love to be involved.

Deborah changed her mind and invested along with Touker Suleyman

and Peter Jones. Three's my favourite number anyway.

Well played, Mum.

Our next entrepreneur stood his ground and ended up at the centre

of a right old scrum. Staying calm under pressure is the key here.

Let's watch it from the start.

Hit it, Evan.

EVAN: Our final entrepreneur into the Den

is Manchester-based John Kershaw.

I think I'm excited.

I might just be bricking it.

My biggest challenge in the Den is going to be getting

across the idea that my business has value,

even though it doesn't yet have very much revenue.

That's going to be the big thing that's probably going to trip me up.

Hello, I'm John.

I'm from M14 Industries

and we are a dating company.

This £3 billion-a-year industry gives you effectively two choices -

you can sign up to a service like match.com or OkCupid,

answer hundreds or thousands of questions all about you

and what you like to do on a Friday night,

and they use this information to match you with people

who are sort of like you.

Or you can sign up to one of the apps like Tinder or happn.

And these do away with all of those questions and instead

give you effectively a list of people for you

to swipe your way through.

These apps are very fashionable.

They're very cool, they're very mobile-friendly,

but they're very bad at actually matching you with people

that you have anything in common with, except proximity.

We think the solution is with simple, niche dating apps.

By targeting a specific niche, you can get the specificity

of a service like match.com and blend it with the simplicity

of a service like Tinder.

Bristlr is our first product.

Bristlr matches those with beards to those who want to stroke beards.

DRAGONS LAUGHS

Don't worry, it gets better. It's fine.

So Bristlr's been a huge success.

Since we launched a little over a year ago,

we've welcomed more than 150,000 people to the platform.

We've made more than half a million matches between them,

and I've personally had a bunch of wedding invites,

which is just really lovely.

We've received national and international press coverage.

The Evening Standard put us alongside apps like Uber

as one of the top 30 apps for Londoners,

and Time Out New York listed us

as one of the top ten apps for New Yorkers.

Now we're looking to expand.

I'm here to ask for £80,000

for 15% of M14 industries

to allow us to grow beyond beards.

We are opening up our technology to allow anyone or any company

to have their own, fully-managed dating or social app.

And...it's just very exciting.

So thank you very much for your time.

I look forward to your questions.

A pitch with passion from hirsute hopeful John Kershaw.

He wants £80,000 in return for a 15% share of his tech business,

providing bespoke dating and social apps.

Deborah Meaden already seems smitten.

You see... Can I just tell you? I loved that as a pitch.

I always say to people, "Just speak what you know about

"and do it with passion," and to end up saying,

"Well, it's just so exciting."

I love it. You've got me already.

Right. So at the moment, you're trading.

Are you making money? I mean, describe what the business is

doing at the moment.

As far as Bristlr's concerned, it's turning over

give or take £1,000 a month.

But it's our proof of concept. We set it up, we pushed it.

And it's just rolling and bringing in as much money.

As far as M14's concerned,

we have one of the largest radio networks in the UK,

on board, fully signed up.

We've signed with one of the largest publishers in the world

to start developing for them.

These contracts that you've just signed... Yes.

You mentioned you signed one with, who was it?

Er, I can't say the name.

Right. So, like Global?

Er, that could be them, yes.

Yeah. Is it them?

Yes.

If you've just broken my NDA, I'm going to be so mad, but...

OK. I'd like it known that he said that, I didn't.

I'm bad at secrets. I'm sorry.

Didn't take long, did it?

You guys are good. Um...

To be fair, you're rubbish. It's not that we're good,

you're rubbish. Come on now.

You cracked too easily, you cracked too easily.

I quite like the fact that we're good.

Um, OK. So you've signed with a radio business.

By the way, I think that's quite good.

What will that give you in terms of income?

We're anticipating it to be in the region of tens of thousands

per year in recurring revenue. OK.

The entrepreneur's disclosure

of a potentially profitable media partnership appears to be wooing

Peter Jones, but is retail tycoon Touker Suleyman

playing hard to get?

The fact that you're focusing on the dating apps,

surely, once most of them go out of business

and the top 20 or 50 apps are there... Mm-hm.

..you're going to run out of business.

So in the same way we went from Bristlr to dating,

we see it as progressing from dating into social apps.

Right. So, for example, we have a client called Bump,

and they are for single mums and new mums to find other single mums

and new mums. That's not a dating site,

but the way you match-make people with similar interests,

that's kind of where we see that growing.

John's forward thinking has certainly clicked

with Touker Suleyman, but can he convince Sarah Willingham

that his app design company can scale up to a serious size?

How many people realistically do you think you can reach

and what does that mean in terms of revenue? Just paint me a picture.

In terms of dating, we think the market cap that we can reach

in the next several years is about 10,000 individual partners,

which would turn over around about 100 million.

Based on what? Where's that 100 million coming from?

Based on the size of the industry and the number of niche websites

that sprung up and the amount of demand already out there.

But, John, you're talking about finding 10,000 Bristlrs. Yeah.

Er, yeah. Is that really possible? Yes.

Some will be Bristlr size,

some will be ten times the size and some will be ten times less.

We're not talking about... No, I understand that

but the ones that are ten times the size are not going to use you.

They would start with us, because... They'd leave you.

There's no real need to leave M14 because for them to run

their own technology, for them to have their own developers

and for them to do their own customer support would cost

more than we are actually effectively billing them

because we have the economies of scale.

The self-assured app entrepreneur appears to have an answer

for everything, and it's prompted Touker Suleyman to make up his mind.

You're very credible. Thank you.

I want to get my toe in the water with you. OK.

I'll make you an offer.

I'm willing to put up half the money for 12.5%.

If one of the other Dragons wants to join me in this journey,

you know, that is my offer. OK. Thank you.

A proposition from Touker Suleyman, not just to the entrepreneur,

but to the rest of the Den.

So far, online innovator Nick Jenkins has kept his counsel.

Is he about to declare his hand?

I see the beauty of what you're trying to achieve.

I know it makes a lot of sense to me.

I'd like to make you an offer.

I'd like to make you an offer for £80,000 for 20% of the equity.

That'll be my offer. OK.

A second bid for the entrepreneur's business as Nick Jenkins offers

the full cash, but bypasses Touker Suleyman's suggestion

to split the investment.

Which way will Sarah Willingham go?

I'd also like to work with you, and I'd also like to invest.

I will offer you all the money... Mm-hm. ..for 20% of the business.

Or I will offer you actually any - on the same proportion -

any proportion with any number of Dragons.

But I would just like to go on this journey with you.

OK. Thank you.

Three potential matches.

Touker Suleyman's offered half the 80,000 for 12.5%,

Nick Jenkins, the full amount for 20%,

and Sarah Willingham is so keen to do a deal, she tables

an open-ended offer to split with any of the Dragons

on any of their terms.

What's up Peter Jones's sleeve? John...

I'm going to tell you where I am

because I own a company called Brandpath, Brandpath Commerce,

and we are now... I don't know.

We're a top-ten global player in e-commerce.

And I was sitting here thinking,

"Have I got a conflict of interest?"

But I've come to the conclusion that regardless of whether

I have a conflict of interest,

I'd like to invest in you.

You are probably one of the most appealing individuals

to invest in that I've seen in the Den for a long time.

I think I'm blushing. Genuinely.

Oh, thank you very much.

With your level of knowledge of where to take this business

and the support that I could give, I think that...

I think we'd be a really good team.

So I'm going to make you an offer.

So I'm going to offer you all of the money for 20%. OK.

But likewise, if Nick would want to share it, I'd be very happy

to share the investment with Nick as well.

I'd be very happy with that.

I think you'd have a much greater chance of success

with the pair of us working on it.

Thank you.

Peter Jones and Nick Jenkins join forces in a strategic bid to seal

a deal, but their equity demand

is 5% more than John wanted to give away.

Is Deborah Meaden about to up the ante?

So I'm going to make you an offer.

Um... And I'm going to match these guys.

I'm going to make it really hard for you.

I'm going to say exactly the same thing, which is that I'm going

to offer all of the money, which is 80,000.

I want either 20% of the business

or I'm happy to share with any of the other Dragons.

That's my offer.

A major coup for John, as all five Dragons are feeling the love

and showing the money.

But as Nick Jenkins and Peter Jones join forces to try to clinch

the deal, it's time for a tenacious Touker Suleyman to get tactical.

I'm going to offer you all the money.

I thought you'd already made an offer. No.

He can make more offers. I did, but I can change my offer, can't I?

Don't look at me! I can change my offer. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You want to change your offer now? I want to change my offer. Right.

OK. I want to give you all the money... Mm. ..for 15%.

That's shaken it up a bit, hasn't it?

Wow.

I need to put this in a spreadsheet.

Realistically, to summarise, I think you've got the pair of us for 20%

and then the other combinations would be either Deborah on her own,

Sarah on her own. Sarah and myself.

Yeah. And, but, or...

..you've got all of it with Touker.

Or I would share with somebody if somebody felt they wanted 7.5%.

I won't do that. So I'm probably... It's either me and Sarah...

Me as an individual or me and Sarah.

OK. I'm going to pace around anxiously for a bit.

Do that, do that.

It's the entrepreneur who is firmly in the driving seat

and the Dragons, who must sweat it out.

Will he go for a deal that means giving away 5% more equity

than he intended, or opt for Touker Suleyman,

whose revised bid for a 15% stake undercuts them all?

I've finished computing.

Thank you all so much for the offers.

I don't know, it's a really nice sort of vote of confidence.

But I think just by sort of experience...

..I'll have to go with you two.

So I'd like to accept your offer. Well done. Congratulations.

Thank you very much. Well done.

That was unexpected. Well done. You're very credible.

Yeah. Well done. Thank you very much. Oh, great.

Well, I'd best get back to work. Thank you very much.

I thought he was great.

A thrilling finish for the app entrepreneur, as he picks

his perfect investment partners.

It definitely hasn't sunk in yet.

I think what happened in there was amazing and wonderful

and I'm very lucky.

Congratulations, guys, I'm very jealous.

You know when you have to smile and say congratulations,

and you're like that... Urgh.

"I'm so happy for you!"

I get that. Brilliant. Brilliant.

JOE: Of course, if you want to get your own back on the Dragons,

the best thing to do is become a massive success

without their involvement.

Revenge is a dish best served fabulously rich.

That's certainly true in the case

of Trunki, the colourful kids suitcase created by Rob Law.

Meet Terrance and Trixie,

the world's first ride-on suitcases

for globetrotting tots.

Here we go. Have a go on Terrance.

Richard Farleigh took Terrance for a test drive.

But when Theo Paphitis famously turned his attention to Trixie...

..Rob's pitch imploded.

You've pulled the hook off her, yeah? I've noticed that one.

I shouldn't have done though, should I?

So why did that happen?

Um... I'm...

..not entirely sure.

The Dragons were sure they'd seen enough.

No deal.

The moment Theo pulled that handle off, the whole integrity

of the quality of that product was compromised.

You think you have something. I tell you, you don't.

Well, he does, actually, Peter.

A company that's turned over 180 million quid, to be precise,

after selling over four million Trunkis.

If only you hadn't pulled so hard on that handle, Mr Paphitis.

Here's a future gold mine our Dragons can't fail to spot.

Online platform Hungry House - the company that kick-started

the online takeaway delivery explosion back in 2007.

Hungry House is a website that makes it easier than ever before

to find a takeaway restaurant and order a delivery.

You get a personalised directory of your local takeaways.

It's a bit like the Yellow Pages,

but all the menus are right there too.

Deborah Meaden told them no-one would ever use it.

I think what most people think is, "I fancy a Chinese tonight,"

or, "I fancy an Indian tonight."

I don't think you go on to a website and think,

"What do I want to eat tonight?"

I just don't think that's people's thought processes.

So I'm out.

Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis couldn't see a future

for the business either,

but James Caan actually liked the concept.

I actually do like the concept.

Thank you.

And Duncan Bannatyne had spotted an opportunity too.

I can see this business having possibly a potential.

James and Duncan split the bill for dinner

and invested £100,000 between them.

We'd like to accept your offers. Excellent.

And Deborah, Peter and Theo were forced to eat humble pie when,

a little over a decade later,

Just Eat bought out Hungry House for a reported £240 million.

Talk about food for thought, eh, Dragons?

Next up, one of the most successful products ever to grace the Den.

Since appearing before the Dragons,

this entrepreneur has shifted more than 60 million units.

Let's watch this one from the start.

Talk to me, Evan.

Shaun Pulfrey from South London is first to face the Dragons.

He's asking for £80,000.

Hello, my name is Shaun P and I'm here with my business,

Tangle Teezer Ltd,

which has sole intellectual properties for my product,

the Tangle Teezer.

I'm looking for an £80,000 investment

for a 15% stake in my business.

Tangled, knotted hair drives hairdressers insane,

women crazy and children reduced to tears.

The Tangle Teezer's uniquely designed teeth

will gently...

..effortlessly glide through the hair,

removing knots and tangles on contact,

virtually eliminating hair damage and breakage

that is caused and associated with conventional tools

on the market today.

HE GRUNTS

And...

..forget them. Now...

..there is two markets for Tangle Teezer.

One is consumer and one is the trade.

I will be taking Tangle Teezer to the trade.

Already it has received two nominations

for finalist competitions for innovation

within the trade itself.

And, finally, not only do I stand here for investment today,

I am also looking for a Dragon that can help me take this product

to a global consumer market.

Thank you.

It's a flamboyant pitch from London hair colourist Shaun Pulfrey,

who needs £80,000 to launch his Tangle Teezer invention,

designed to make light work of knotted hair.

Now, James Caan is keen to find out what makes the brush different

from any other already on the market.

Hi, I'm James, James Caan.

Shaun, what is it that's so unique about this product?

What is it that makes it untangle?

OK. The product itself is actually in the teeth.

The teeth has been designed in this like three-tier system,

so when they actually touch into the hair, rather than obviously

in the conventional way which causes friction,

the teeth are designed to collapse and spring back.

Shaun, you're obviously a hairdresser.

Hair colourist, yep. Hair colourist. Yes. What's the difference?

I specifically divide just on colouring hair itself.

I don't blow dry, cut or style. I just colour. You just colour.

Hi, Deborah. Sorry. Sorry, can we just go back on that...?

Oh, I'm sorry. You just colour, like her hair?

Well, I colour, yes, like Deborah's highlights...

You clearly don't, because this hasn't had any colour on this.

Oh. Well, I beg your pardon, it's one beautiful colour.

Well, there you go. Shaun... Wonderful. What a beautiful colour.

Go back to my question, my question was about you, Shaun.

Right, so you colour hair. Yeah.

And when did you invent this, come up with this idea?

This one... About 15 years ago, I used to have...

15? No, about 15 years ago,

I had a particular client with very long hair. Yeah.

And I've come to the realisation that, actually,

if you actually hit the hair itself,

it would naturally untangle itself,

it has a natural ability to untangle.

So three years ago, I embarked on the project

to make this more sophisticated.

And this is what the teeth are designed to do.

All they're designed to do is pass over the hair itself

and cause like a vibration

so that actually helps to naturally detangle.

Shaun might have put his foot in it with Deborah Meaden,

but he's holding his ground.

Theo Paphitis wants to know how well his idea is protected.

Shaun, have you got the patent on this?

As far as the patent goes,

recently, I received information back from my patent lawyer

there'd been some citations made against it,

but no citations had been made against the teeth.

Erm, what's the difference between...

..this and the horse grooming tools that are used

with sort of collapse...?

Well, it looks exactly like that, actually.

So I'm just interested how you think you can get protection on something

that I think I've got in my stables at home.

From what I received back from my patent lawyer

was that the actual design of my teeth, there'd been no citation.

The one you may have back in your stables may flex and feel like...

I think you're missing the point, Shaun. OK.

You see, I don't care how this is designed. OK, mm-hm.

I don't care how yours is designed.

I don't care how the one back in my stables is designed.

All I care is that it does its job. OK.

So if there is already a product out there

that's doing exactly the same as yours, albeit for horses,

but it would be very easy to say,

"Well, let's make a smaller one and sell them." OK.

I don't know, I've never seen the one for horses.

But all I can turn around and say that is I shall certainly

look at that one for horses and see if it functions

and performs like mine.

Shaun suddenly sounding less confident

under the scrutiny of keen equestrian Deborah Meaden.

He needs to get his pitch back on track quickly.

Shaun, how many of these have you put into the market for testing?

There must be about 300, 350 floating around over...

And how many, how much...?

What's the stats and the feedback? How many people?

Feedback that I've had from that, er... How many people?

I would say up to, well, just recently collecting at 20.

I had never actually gone any further with that feedback

because for the simple reason I have not had the product

to actually sell.

And that's why there's never been...

Why didn't you sell some of the 300 instead of giving them away?

Cos I was more interested in getting the feedback

from the people themselves actually using them.

But you haven't got the feedback, you just told Peter

you had 20 feedback out of 300.

Why didn't you give them away and say, "OK, I want feedback

"within two weeks"?

That...that is the feedback that I've just recently chased up.

That isn't... Shaun, from just listening to your answers,

you know, I think, you know, working with you,

you'd have me pull my hair out.

It's not a business, Shaun.

It's not a business that would make any money.

And, er, you know, well, I'm out.

Shaun's lost his first Dragon.

Will Peter Jones share the concerns of his rival investor?

Shaun, this is really frustrating because you can't give me

any indication that your product is good.

You've just got a brush.

That's all it is.

I wish you the best of luck. OK.

But until you have research that's backed up,

you can't get an investment from somebody, least of all me.

Yeah, fine. So I'm not going to declare myself out now.

Two Dragons out.

Now Shaun's fighting to save his pitch.

Will Theo Paphitis throw him the lifeline he desperately needs?

If you got £80,000 from somebody here today,

what would you do with it? What would I do with it?

Erm, I would use it, first of all, for stock investment. Yeah.

I would also then use it to put more full time into this,

for promotion. What does that mean?

I'd have to actually reduce my work hours at work.

So how much of this 80,000 would you be...? 30.

30. So, 30 of it's going to go to cover your costs.

And the rest of it in stock. Mm-hm.

How are we going to make money out of this investment, then?

From initial sales going into the wholesale, through the hairdressers

and from online. So, how many would you have to sell?

In the first go?

Yeah. In the first run, 20,000.

And they'd have cost you how much each?

What, to make? £1.25. And you're going to sell them to trade.

Yes. How much? £5.50.

Have any of the wholesalers given you an indication

that they will take this?

I haven't had the product to sell so the answer to that has been no,

but I will be doing that... Whoa, whoa, that's absolute rubbish.

Not having the product to sell is irrelevant.

Actually knowing whether they're going to take it,

you can then make the product.

But then I've actually... You're not going to make the product and then

have 20,000 sitting in your back bedroom

and them saying, "Actually, Shaun, it's rubbish, mate."

Well... That's not clever, is it?

An angry Theo Paphitis has lost patience with Shaun.

The Dragons never respond well to entrepreneurs who want

an investment to stockpile products before they've got firm orders,

and today is no exception.

You really had one job to do today which was demonstrate

that this is a cracking product

and is THE product that needs to go out there.

You haven't demonstrated that.

You talk about your patent protection -

even if you did get a patent, the patent will be meaningless

because there are other products out there that might be

slightly different in their design, but they actually do the job

and if they see this out there, "Ooh, that's a good idea,

"we'll do it in our market."

So I'm sorry, I'm out. Shaun, can I tell you where I am?

Erm, I think you haven't really thought this through

very carefully at all.

You haven't really got a qualified patent yet.

I think, so from my perspective,

I think this is a waste of time.

So I'm out.

The Dragons' confidence in Shaun's business acumen is slipping away.

All that now lies between him and expulsion from the Den

is Theo Paphitis.

You're going about this all wrong.

You've failed dismally to actually do the basic things.

If you'd come in and said, "I've spoken to three distributors,

"they'll all take it. They know the industry.

"They know the salons."

Done. Done deal. You didn't do it. OK.

And for those reasons, I, too, am out.

Well, Theo, I thank you.

And that's exactly what I'm going to do when I leave here.

Do it. Thank you. I will do.

Fantastic, Shaun. Thank you very much indeed. OK.

Shaun is leaving the Den with his resolve intact,

but with any dreams of investment in tatters.

Do you know what that is?

It's a HAIR-brained idea.

JOE: Well, that was an action-packed skip down memory lane, wasn't it?

What a lot of determined entrepreneurs.

From the poker-faced...

You're looking for an answer? Yeah. No.

..to those with plenty of barefaced cheek.

Tej, I'm going to decline your offer. Oh...

Oh, that's a shame you did that.

And we've also seen an app inventor

with one of the greatest departing lines ever seen on Dragons' Den.

Thank you for taking the time to almost listen to me today.

It just shows there's more than one way of fighting back in the Den.

Next time...

Hello, Dragons!

ALL: Let's raise the roof!

..the tide turns...

..as the entrepreneurs go all out...

# And give me some reggae, reggae sauce... #

..to woo a Dragon.

I've got a special something for the ladies.

Ee bah gum, I love you.

Thar not so bad thi sen.

It's irresistible, just like yours truly.

I love you,

and I really want to make this work with you. Sorry!

# Go on, now, go

# Walk out that door! #