Dan Eisner, True North Mortgage

In 2007, I was impressed by Dan Eisner‘s mortgage brokerage business, True North Mortgage, when he described how lucrative and profitable it was when I met him at the Calgary Dragons’ Den audition.

By chance I met Dan again today, and he said he now has 7, yes SEVEN, officies across Canada (2 in Calgary, 2 in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Halifax).

I am happy for Dan. Have a watch of my video interview with Dan Eisner in 2007.

Season six premiere – episode 6.01

I watched the Season six premiere tonight and even taped it so I can rewatch any part if I wanted to. Like many others expressed on CBC Dragons’ Den Facebook page tonight, I miss Brett Wilson and the show is not the same without Brett. Plus, I think I have seen enough of non-entrepreneurs (some people simply call them “crazy” or “nut”) that are put on TV to be laughed at (note: not “laugh with”) at length!

Whats going on? This is the six season already, don’t we have more entrepreneurs in Canada that have serious businesses to fill the show? Of course, it is fun TV to have non-entrepreneurs to let TV viewers laugh at and critize but I would rather learn from some good and solid businesses and pitches.

I’ve watched Brett Wilson’s new show “Risky Business” and love it. Sure, Risky Business isn’t perfect but it is great for a series premiere. You can watch Risky Business online here. In contrast, Dragons’ Den is at its sixth season now, I honestly expect more.

Don’t get me wrong, my bet is Dragons’ Den Season Six will make CBC a ton load of money but I think CBC need to up their game and put less “non-entrepreneurs” on the show.

I’ve been a long time Dragons’ Den fan and I want to emphasize that in Oct 2006, I wrote a harsh article criticizing Globe and Mail’s John Doyle’s negative review of the brand new and not yet popular Dragons’ Den. I was fair about what I wrote then, and I am fair about what I write now.

Watch Brett Wilson’s brand new show Risky Business online – Highly Recommended

Dragons’ Den fans know our beloved Brett Wilson left the show last season. Well, CBC’s lost and Slice TV‘s and our gain as Brett is back and he has his own great show!

Watch Brett Wilson’s new show Risky Business online now if you missed the show’s premiere last night (Monday 9pm ET/PT), I love it. Highly Recommended.

I’ve got the pleasure to get to know Brett for a few years now, he is really a nice and fair guy off TV and on TV. Go Brett Go !!!

Bruce Croxon, new CBC Dragon

I haven’t visited the CBC Dragons’ Den site for a while. Today, I found the charming Lisa Gabriele, Senior Producer of Dragons’ Den, spoke to “Bruce Croxon, a 50-year-old, married father of two young children, who lives in downtown Toronto“. Have a watch of the video. Season 6 of CBC Dragons’ Den comes back in Sept 2011.

Brett Wilson interview – Leaving Dragons’ Den, TV offers, Uno, Risky Business, Canoe Financial, Twitter, Facebook, and Maya Wilson

Few days ago I had the great pleasure of chatting with Brett Wilson, Calgary entrepreneur, investor, former Dragon, and philanthropist. We chatted about a wide range of topics and I have posted the five video clips on YouTube with transcripts.

* Brett Wilson interview – 01/05 – Leaving CBC Dragons’ Den, TV offers, Uno bike, and Ben Gulak (with transcript)

* 02/05 – New TV show “Risky Business” (Info and chat about Brett’s new show “Risky Business”, coming this fall) (with transcript)

* 03/05 – Canoe Financial (Brett has a substantial investment in Canoe. We talked about his involvement) (with transcript)

* 04/05 – Social Media (Twitter, Facebook) (How Brett does his Twitter and Facebook magic?) (with transcript)

* 05/05 – Maya Wilson (Brett talks about the recent passing of Maya Wilson, his beloved chocolate brown flat-coated retriever) (with transcript)

Brett Wilson to host “Risky Business” on Slice TV

4:43pm Update: Here is a great radio interview with Brett  by @phoenixonair. Highly recommended. I have fixed this article to correct my mistaken impressions about some elements of the show. Sorry for the mistakes.

***

I am excited to report a new high-stakes investing television series with Brett Wilson called Risky Business is being launched and premiering on Slice in Fall 2011. The show is holding casting calls for both investors and entrepreneurs.

After gaining better understanding from listening to Brett’s radio interview, the entrepreneurs are definitely not the kind I have originally been thinking of. This makes everything really interesting and non-traditional. According to Brett, Risky Business is based on the UK BBC format “Beat the Bank“. Interestingly, Duncan Bannatyne, presenter of Beat, is a Dragon on BBC.

Here is an excerpt from the press release (emphasis added),

“In each episode of Risky Business, Brett will give the daring couple a chance to risk big and win big. As host, he will guide the investors as they choose between pitches made by two different entrepreneurs, each looking for capital and offering a big return. The options will be unusual – such as investing in undervalued vintage wine labels or betting it all on a high stakes one-night-only event. The duo will stake their life savings on one investment, and Brett will invest in the other.  It isn’t until the end of the episode that it is revealed how each investment performed.  Will the risk-taking couple win big or lose it all?  Do they out perform Brett?  Or does Brett prove he can make money just about anywhere?

G&M: Taming the dragon: Should the CBC muzzle Kevin O’Leary?

An insightful article by G&M’s Marsha Lederman. For the record.

Taming the dragon: Should the CBC muzzle Kevin O’Leary?
MARSHA LEDERMAN
From Saturday’s Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Mar. 18, 2011 4:30PM EDT
Last updated Friday, Mar. 18, 2011 5:39PM EDT

From the beach at a posh Bahamas hotel, Kevin O’Leary is assuring Amanda Lang, via Skype, that the Japanese earthquake and subsequent nuclear disaster – though horrific, he takes pains to point out – may be just what Japan needs for an economic turnaround. “I’m very bullish on nuclear right now,” O’Leary pronounces in attire that is more beach than business. “It’s a buying opportunity.”

This Lang & O’Leary Exchange moment last Monday is classic O’Leary: he’s a dragon, he’s a shark; breathing fire, gobbling up prey. Japan is in crisis, but he sees a business opportunity. Greed is good.

“When I’m discussing a decision around an investment, I’m not trying to make friends,” O’Leary said during an interview this week (not specifically referencing Japan). “I don’t care if people can’t take the truth.”

O’Leary, who also stars on CBC TV’s popular Dragons’ Den and its U.S. cousin Shark Tank on ABC, likes to describe himself as “slightly right of Attila the Hun.” He’s proud of his modus operandi: no holds barred, make no apologies.

Well, usually.

After O’Leary was called out by CBC ombudsman Kirk LaPointe for his now infamous use of the term “Indian giver” on The Lang & O’Leary Exchange, he did ultimately apologize. It was a rare exception for the loudmouthed entrepreneur who has become an important part of the CBC brand.

TRANSLOGIC: BPG Motors UNO (video interview + demo)

Check out “TRANSLOGIC 47: BPG Motors UNO (video interview + demo)“.

“We all know motorcycles are awesome, but in our view most are missing two key ingredients: a zero-emission electric drivetrain and the ability to transform. That is, until 17-year-old Benjamin Gulak created the UNO as a high school senior. Now on their third iteration, BPG Motors is perfecting this unique EV cycle and TRANSLOGIC is the first to take it for a spin.”

In conversation: Brett Wilson

Check out this great Maclean’s article “In conversation: Brett Wilson “. I’ve excerpted three questions and answers that I found very insightful. [emphasis added]

“Q: You’ve challenged the CBC to dole out what you’ve called “constructive criticism as opposed to abuse” on the show. What prompted you to make that challenge?

A: I want it to respect the intelligence of the viewing community—you know, there isn’t a business school in the country that isn’t paying attention to this show. I was the lead deal-making dragon. I don’t know how many deals the other dragons have actually done or closed, but I managed to get 60 done on the show, and we’ve papered 30, and 31 should be done in the next couple weeks. That’s where my own fan base says, “Thank you for showing us how to do deals.” It’s easy to say, “No,” it takes no courage, no brains and no wallet to criticize. Criticism comes free. Action comes at some cost, and I’ve been pretty active. Will the 30 investments I’ve made all work out? Absolutely not. I suspect I’ll write off four or five in the next year because they’re stumbling. But there’s four or five that could become iconic brands in Canada because of the power of the entrepreneur. Any one of those top-five investments will pay for all 30. So I take a portfolio approach.

Dragons’ Den star rebuked by CBC ombudsman for phrase ‘Indian giver’

From Calgary Herald, “Dragons’ Den star Kevin O’Leary rebuked by CBC ombudsman for phrase ‘Indian giver’”

“The CBC’s ombudsman has blasted businessman and commentator Kevin O’Leary for using the term ”Indian giver” on his CBC News Network show, denouncing the term as “unambiguously offensive.”

The executive producer for The Lang & O’Leary Exchange has apologized directly to Alex Jamieson, an aboriginal man who complained, but O’Leary is a contract commentator and cannot be forced to express regret, ombudsman Kirk LaPointe writes in the report, published last week.

O’Leary, known for his brash, provocative commentary, heads up global investment firm O’Leary Funds.

He cancelled an interview with the National Post because, according to his assistant, he was ”advised” not to speak publicly about the issue.

The CBC is looking at making an on-air apology for the comment and as of Monday had yet to speak with O’Leary about potentially doing the same, according to spokesman Jeff Keay.“

Brett Wilson talks to media about leaving CBC Dragons’ Den

Of all the reports/interviews I could find today (Feb 28th, Monday) about Brett leaving Dragons’ Den, I want to say I enjoy the report (see below) from Calgary Sun‘s Lisa Wilton the most (very detail and insightful). Feel wonderful to be pleasantly surprised Calgary Sun.

Reports (see below) in Ottawa Citizen, National Post, Canadian Press, NewsTalk980 all added a little something and worth a read. And then there are reports in Toronto Star and Calgary Herald.

Here is an excerpt from Calgary Sun ”Wilson opens up regarding ‘Den” (I added the emphasis anyway even I ended up putting emphasis on everything! :) ),

“[ Q ] – Did your reason for leaving just come down to a contract negotiation breakdown?

Well, it started in December.

They gave me three weeks to sign the contract, take it or leave it.

There were some issues with the contract. First of all, they tried to cut the compensation. We negotiated that and got that solved. And they wanted to stop me from going on any other networks, so we negotiated that and got that solved.

Where we got stuck was on schedule. When I told them I had a family vacation and I wasn’t prepared to vary, they told me that wouldn’t work.

So, I politely advised that I would have to be out of the show because I wasn’t prepared to walk away from the vacation. It’s the first time I’ve had all three kids in one place in two years so I wasn’t going to walk away from that. It meant more to me than another season of the show.

Then CBC moved heaven and earth, and I really give them credit for it.

Brett Wilson’s press release: DRAGON WITH A HEART LEAVES THE DEN

I wish Brett the best of luck (for him and for us fans) in finding a national broadcaster to partner and create “television programming focused on celebrating philanthropy in Canada“. I am curious if Brett will consider creating a TV program that showcase and encourage entrepreneurship in his Dragon with a heart way?

On a personal note, I have seen Brett in the last two years attending Banff World TV Festival (a few days in June in Banff where show creators, TV producers, broadcast executives from around the world attend to conduct businesses), it will be fun to see those business contacts help makes Brett’s show comes true.

For the record, here is Brett’s press release posted on his site this morning. (emphasis added) Update: Press release also available on MarketWire.

“NEWS RELEASE

DRAGON WITH A HEART LEAVES THE DEN
W. Brett Wilson leaves Dragons’ Den with challenge to CBC to evolve the show; continues his support for 30 Den deals and charity work for Canadians in need.

February 28th, 2011 – After three years on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, doing 60 plus deals in the Den and personally committing over $4.5 million in final deals with 30 Canadian entrepreneurs, W. Brett Wilson, the lead deal making Dragon, confirmed today that he will not return for the show’s next season. With his departure, Wilson is challenging both CBC and the Dragons to take encouraging Canadian entrepreneurship to another level and to constructively criticize, guide and sometimes finance the pitchers venturing into the Den.

Wilson also hinted at starting his own show to celebrate Canadian generosity through philanthropy and indicated he will continue to step-up his own work to raise money for Canadians in need.

“The contract re-negotiations were complicated. The key issues were my availability and the use of show branding to promote Dragons’ Den deals. We were very, very close to a resolution. But we fell short for several reasons, but mostly we just ran out of time, for which I’m obviously disappointed. I would have loved to have done at least one more season’s worth of helping Canadian entrepreneurs’ dreams come alive,” said Wilson. “I remain very much committed to the concept of Dragons’ Den, to the amazing Canadians that show up in the Den to be tested and challenged, and to the many deals I’ve done through the show. Every deal has been for an interesting product, but more importantly, all came from great entrepreneurs in the making, many of whom I continue to personally coach and actively promote.” Selected highlights of Wilson’s Dragons’ Den deals and his ongoing work to support them, as well a high level summary of imminent public appearances are in the Backgrounder below.

“When I joined Dragons’ Den, I told the producers I would continue – as I always have – to do deals with a social conscience and always with a tendency to invest in people over businesses, knowing that every business has speed bumps, and, that in the end, it’s ones’ key partners that are the primary determinants of the success or failure of an idea or a business,” Wilson said.

Brett Wilson leaving CBC Dragons’ Den

This morning, I am saddened to read from TorStar and Calgary Herald that Brett Wilson is leaving the CBC hit show Dragons’ Den. Here is an excerpt from TorStar,

“Entrepreneur Brett Wilson is leaving the show Dragons’ Den at the end of the current season.

CBC-TV executive Julie Bristow says Wilson and the broadcaster could not agree on the terms of his contract.“

Brett is a great guy and one of my most favourite Dragon on the show. I love the fact that Brett managed to find ways to close most of his Den’s deals. I like many of the businesses he invests in and secretly wish I could also invest in some of them if I am given the chance! (I won’t name them publicly here. :)

I will add more to this article if I have more to report.

I know I will miss watching Brett on the show. Good luck and all the best Brett.

P.S. On a personal note, in June 2008, Brett was really nice in agreeing to be video interviewed by me and he answered every question I had. It was a great pleasure to know Brett before he appeared on the Den. And I can honestly say Brett has always been the same easy going, friendly and nice guy. Here are links to part 1 and part 2 of the video interviews.

Note: For more updates (latest Feb 28th update with links to Brett’s official press release), see cross posted entry here.

Concrete Equities, $118 million, 3700 investors and many broken dreams

Before Concrete Equities went into receivership in spring 2009, it used to be a major advertiser/sponsor of CBC Dragons’ Den and many people got to know about the company through those ads. Sadly, “More than 3,700 investors, most of whom are from Calgary, lost more than $100 million through investments with Concrete Equities.” It is sad that many people had to learn the lesson in such a hard way.

For the record.

From CBC News “Alleged Alta. securities breaches under review” (Monday Feb 14, 2011) (emphasis added),

“A hearing into a Calgary real estate investment firm’s alleged breaches of Alberta securities law got underway Monday.

Four former directors of Concrete Equities, which went into receivership in 2009, are accused of acting as dealers without being registered, not filing prospectus and making misrepresentations to investors. [...]

More than 3,700 investors, most of whom are from Calgary, lost more than $100 million through investments with Concrete Equities.“

From Calgary Herald “Concrete Equities under scrutiny at hearing – ASC to determine if now-defunct Calgary company misled investors” (Feb 15, 2011) (emphasis added),

“Monday, lawyers for the ASC outlined the case they hope to prove, which includes investors who were promised returns of more than 600 per cent and told the investments were risk free, as well as those who weren’t told of marketing commissions of between seven and 10 per cent being paid to Concrete Equities.

“You will hear evidence in the course of this hearing that Concrete Equities Inc., in raising capital in Alberta, failed to disclose certain information to its investors in its offering memoranda, which the investors will say was information that they would wanted to have known when they made their investment,” ASC counsel Andrew Wilson told the panel of three hearing the case. [...]

The ASC allegations involve David Jones, David Humeniuk, Varun Vinny Aurora and Vincenzo De Palma and six limited partnerships.

Neil Narfason, a senior vice-president at receiver Ernst & Young, told the hearing Concrete Equities – which raised $118 million from 3,700 investors – couldn’t list all its bank accounts and had accounting and bookkeeping standards that were below expectations.

“All the basic stuff was not there,” Narfason said, referring to ledgers, financial statements, tax returns and bank statements that were missing or incomplete. “It’s unusual for a company in that business not to have a handle on funds.”

Brett Wilson on Shaw Vancouver – Feb 15, 2011

Here is a nice interview with Brett on Shaw Vancouver.

Ben Gulak TEDxIBYork talk

Ben Gulak, a former Dragons’ Den entrepreneur, is one of the smartest young inventor/engineer that I know of. The following is a video clip of Ben’s TEDxIBYork talk. May be one day Ben will be Canada’s own James Dyson. Will see.

Note: Here are two previous entries about Ben.

3twenty Solutions gives new life to old shipping containers

3twenty Solutions‘ Bryan McCrea, Channing McCorriston & Evan Willoughby gave a wonderful pitch of their business on CBC Dragons’ Den. I love interesting use of containers, and I am impressed with the 3twenty‘s business and its tagline of “durable, stackable, transportable modular structures – give new life to old shipping containers”. Seem like a wonderful business idea with some good potentials. As a business, new entrants to the market can probably copy and compete with them without much difficulties but I trust the entrepreneurs will work very hard to ensure a good return for themselves and their investors.

Best of luck to the 3twenty team. Check out their Facebook, YouTube video, Twitter, and Flickr photos. Here is their pitch video on the Den.

Here is a CBC news video clip (posted in May 2010) about 3twenty going to the Den to ask for money with more details.

Snappy Socks

To me, Snappy Socks‘ Corla Rokochy is one of those entrepreneurs that has the can-do spirit. And she is also very likeable. It was wonderful to see her receiving investment from the Dragons (I can’t remember for sure but I think from Arlene and Brett).

The socks look cute and the snap-on button is a great idea. If there is one thing I don’t like about the business, it is that anyone can attach a snap-on button to their socks. And if the idea/business become successful, there is nothing stopping other copycat businesses from anywhere (including China) from attaching snap-on buttons to their socks. Hopefully, the initial investment will have generated enough returns for Corla and the Dragons by then, and Corla will have created new products to sell.

Best of luck to Corla and Snappy Socks!

Honibe – The Business and Patent

Honibe pitched their dry solid honey “honey you can hold“ business on the Jan 19, 2011 episode of CBC Dragons’ Den. Although I haven’t tried the product and don’t know how good/bad it tastes, it seems like a good idea (even it may seem a bit pricey).

Knowing I won’t have time in the next while to write a more detail article about Honibe, let me share with you what I’ve found so far. Here are links to Honibe’s Canadian trademark (TMA729391) and patent (CA 2649936) for interested readers. I had tried but was unable to find Honibe’s US patent filings (to me, US patent is important to have since US is a much bigger market than Canada). For those that are new to patents, one can learn a lot about about a business from its patents (in this case, Honibe’s patent).

National Post has an article “Sweet deals buzzing around honey firm” about the pitch and the business and provided an update of the deal. News from CBC, “Dragons’ Den offers $1M deal to P.E.I. company“

There is a press release from the governments,  ”Federal and Provincial Governments Congratulate Island Abbey Foods on Winning International Award” when Honibe won the prize for Best in Canada 2010, Best of Sweet Grocery Category 2010 and Best New Food Product in the World 2010, the Global SIAL d’Or, at the Paris-based awards.

Here is a video of Honibe Dragons’ Den pitch.

BPG Motors UNO electric unicycle – an update

It is really nice to read and watch updates of Ben Gulak’s BPG Motors (see Facebook page) after previously interviewing Ben in Dec 2009.

The following are two YouTube video clips. Also check out this Facebook video clip of “The CEO of SolidWorks talking about the Uno on Stage @ SolidWorks World“.

BPG Motors: Transforming UNO Video

BPG Motors: UNO Development Video

[HT Brett]