How much did he get?
James Halliburton of Seatriever International was on BBC2’s Dragons’ Den yesterday evening, facing the panel of financial investors with Waterbuoy, his emergency floatation device that is designed to save dropped valuables from a watery grave.
Waterbuoy was a big hit and James walked away from his pitch with one of the best deals ever offered by the Dragons.
“I was quite calm on the day of filming,” recalls James. “One thing that I knew was in my favour is the fact that I have a working product that the Dragons can invest in; it’s not an idea or a set of products that don’t exist yet. The design, manufacturing tooling, branding, patenting even the packaging is all finished – I was there to get them interested and to get their help with the retailing side of the business.”
He continued: “The Dragons’ Den TV studio is a very strange environment, unlike any business meeting you’ve ever been into. It’s quite intimidating and I can see why some people just lose it when the cameras roll – it is very intense. I was quite calm waiting for my turn in front of the cameras – but that feeling didn’t last long. Soon, it was time for me to enter the Dragons’ Den and I was facing the panel.”
After a brief explanation and a successful demonstration of the product, James had the attention of Theo Paphitis, Peter Jones, and James Kahn, who began a bidding war.
“Two camps emerged, Theo and Peter combined their efforts against James, and I was left with a choice between the two. For the purposes of the show and due to Peter and Theo’s experience in the more relevant retail sectors, I settled with their offer of £200,000.”
