Economics Students and Readers:
In the first week of class, we learn about the categories of Economic Resources--Land, Labor, Capital and Entrepreneurship. We define them, look at specific examples and explain how they are scarce. The TV shows Dragon's Den on the CBC in Canada and Shark Tank on ABC in the US/CTV in Canada feature Entrepreneurs that are self-made multimillionaires and billionaires who are engaging in Venture Capital Investment. Small entrepreneurs who have existing businesses or products go on these shows and make what we like to call an elevator pitch where they sell a portion of the equity in their firms in exchange for money to grow the firm and access to the Dragons'/Sharks' contacts and experience in order to help develop and grow their firms. Biographies of the Dragons and the Sharks can be found by clicking on the hotlinks in those words
Some of these small entrepreneurs ink deals with the Dragons/Sharks and end up growing and becoming very successful. Others refuse the deal but are still successful thanks in part to their exposure on Nationwide North American Television. Still Others offend the Dragons/Sharks and get rejected, and despite having a good product, end up failing. Finally, there are always a few entrepreneurs who come on the show that are sloppy, unprepared and get mocked out of the room.
Below is a video from Dragon's Den where the owners of EthicalOcean.com are making a pitch regarding their online marketplace for sweatshop free, econ-friendly products and we see Jim Treliving, Kevin O'Leary, Arlene Dickenson, W. Brett Wilson and Robert Herjavec debate the merits of such an investment.
Below is Dougie Luv, the owner/operator of Dougie Dogs making a pitch on Dragon's Den very recently. Jim Treliving, Kevin O'Leary, Arlene Dickenson, W. Brett Wilson and Bruce Croxon send him away since his Total Revenue aren't profitable enough. Jim Treliving is the majority owner of Bostons: The Gourmet Pizza in Canada, the US and Mexico, and his knowledge of profits needed base upon square feet of operating space is based on years of experience. Dougie is invited to come back once he hits minimum targets set by the Dragons.
Last but not least, Donny McCall the owner and developer of the Invis-A-Rack cargo management system for pickup trucks appeared on Shark Tank this past Friday, January 27, 2012. I can't post the video directly here, and he spoke with the Sharks at the very end. However here is the Link to the Full Episode on ABC.com. Note that Kevin O'Leary and Robert Herjavec are on both Dragon's Den and Shark Tank. Shark Tank also includes Daymond John (founder and CEO of FUBU), Barbara Corcoran (a real estate mogul) and Mark Cuban (Owner of the Dallas Mavericks and founder of a ton of various businesses and enterprises).
I hope those of you that are not entrepreneurs can appreciate just how much knowledge, creativity and inspiration it takes to be one of the Dragons/Sharks, as well as one of the entrepreneurs that goes on the show and makes their pitch. Also note: useful business and economics vocabulary appear in bold italic in these articles.
Success to you all!!!
Prof. Lewis
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