The latest season of Dragons’ Den premiered yesterday at 8:00pm on CBC and all the Dragons were out in full force at Modus Restaurant for the premiere party.
Veteran Dragons Arlene Dickinson, David Chilton, and Jim Treliving were joined by the show’s latest additions, celebrity chef and restaurant magnate Vikram Vij and notorious Bay Street party boy/finance star Micheal Wekerle.
Here’s what we learned on the red carpet:
Arlene Dickinson’s the toughest Dragon:
“She is such a powerhouse. When she stands there and talks, we all listen. She’s incredible.”
– Vikram Vij
“I played the role of almost a herder this season because the guys were all over the place and I just kept trying to make sure they got focused. As a result I think I probably came across a little stronger and maybe a little tougher than I have in the past. But really, it was because I was getting so frustrated because they weren’t paying attention. I had a thing; I would say ‘Riccccola’ whenever Michael got out of control. He knew when I said it that it was time for him to focus.”
– Arlene Dickinson
All the rumours about party boy “Wek” are true:
“The craziest thing I did recently? Do I want to answer that? During a Leafs game, I went streaking down the ice. No, I didn’t. Actually, I’ve been pretty tame these days. My car lit on fire, but that was not my fault. Hmm, well back in the summer Wekfest was crazy. So, I jump out into the crowd when USS is playing and I try to bodysurf but nobody catches me, and I crash down on the floor. I had to get back up and try again but they caught me that time. The people at CBC have really endorsed me and I’m a hard guy to keep under control. They had to have four handlers. They watched me closely.”
– Michael Wekerle
Guests make some pretty common mistakes:
“We still get about 25 per cent of people come in without knowing their numbers, so no investor can make any type of rational decision. What’s also interesting is that a lot of them have distribution plans but no marketing plan. Getting something on the shelf and off are two very different matters. They’re looking for the Dragons to not only provide the capital but the marketing plan. We’re busy; you’re not going to market a product on an on-going basis.”
– David Chilton
“People think that it’s going to be easy to pitch, but they can become very nervous when they get up there in front of the cameras, lights, and the five of us. We want to see how you act under the pressure. It’s small pressure going on to Dragons Den; it comes when you go into business. Lot’s cracked under pressure this season.”
– Jim Treliving
We can expect an exciting season:
“They did a good job of altering the show a bit. There’s still fun and games, but they went with more serious pitches. Mike’s involvement with the show was positive because he is so unusual in so many ways, but he’s also very smart. That combination isn’t often seen and it led all of us to be more on our toes; we never knew what direction the guy was going to go. Sometimes he wasn’t paying attention, sometimes he would come up with a brilliant idea, sometimes he’d give them twice as much money as they wanted, sometimes he’d see a different path to take and we’d all see things a little differently.”
– David Chilton
“This season, we had a family special, which was interesting. Family businesses are a unique thing. In general, the ideas continue to amaze me. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you haven’t, and you think that’s so smart, why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?”
– Arlene Dickinson
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All Images From: Dragon’s Den Facebook
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