''Dragons' Den'' is a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

program format in which

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

s pitch their business ideas to a panel of

venture capitalist Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in terms of number ...

s in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it is known as ''The Tigers of Money'' (), a pun on "The Tiger of Malaya" (), which was the nickname of WWII general

Tomoyuki Yamashita was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Yamashita led Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya and Battle of Singapore. His conquest of Malaya and Singapore in 70 days earned him the sobriquet "The Tig ...

. The format was created and is owned by

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...

and is distributed by

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production company, production and broadcast syndication, distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, California, it is a division o ...

. Local versions of the show have been produced in over 40 countries, as well as one for the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

; in some countries, more than one version has been aired. The first version to air outside of Japan was the British programme ''

Dragons' Den ''Dragons' Den'' is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it ...

'', which launched in 2005; in the several years afterward, most versions named themselves ''Dragons' Den'' or variations thereof, though some also used other animals in the title, such as lions. Since the launch of the American version of the show, ''

Shark Tank ''Shark Tank'' is an American business Reality television#Investments, reality television series that premiered on August 9, 2009, on American Broadcasting Company, ABC.Hibberd, James (May 10, 2012)Dancing,' 'Bachelor,' and a bigger 'Shark Tank ...

'', in 2009, many versions have been named ''Shark Tank'' or variations thereof. In versions where the name of the show contains a creature's name, the investors are referred to by that name. The Israeli version of the show, ''HaKrishim'' ("The Sharks"), was the first to use the "shark" moniker, during its launch in 2006.

Format

The contestants are usually

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

s, product designers, or service operators who have what they consider to be a viable and potentially very profitable business idea, but who lack funding and/or business acumen. They pitch their idea to five rich entrepreneurial businesspeople, who in most iterations of the show are referred to as "dragons", "tigers" (in the original Japanese show), "lions" or "sharks". Before the show, the contestants have named a specific amount of money that they wish to get along with a percentage in the business that the contestant is offering to sell to the investors. The rules stipulate that if they do not raise at least this amount from the dragons, they get nothing. In return, the contestant gives the dragons a percentage of the company's

capital stock In economics, capital goods or capital are "those durable produced goods that are in turn used as productive inputs for further production" of goods and services. A typical example is the machinery used in a factory. At the macroeconomic level, ...

, which is the chief point of negotiation. The program does not show the entire pitch as scenes are selected and edited from the episode due to time constraints. The dragons probe the idea further once the contestant has made the presentation. This will either reveal a sound business proposition resulting in an investment offer from one or more of the dragons in return for equity or a withdrawal from the transaction by either the contestant or all of the dragons. A rejection by the dragons is often given as "I'm out" which is usually triggered (in the investor's opinion) by the investor asking for a larger equity stake in the business than the contestant wants to give up, the contestant's valuation on the business being too high compared to its overall profits, the product not having any proprietary value, or the investor's belief that they cannot add value to the business. Sometimes the dragons identify troubling facts such as an embarrassing lack of preparation on the part of the contestant, the contestant's lack of business knowledge, their perceived

margin Margin may refer to: Physical or graphical edges *Margin (typography), the white space that surrounds the content of a page * Continental margin, the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust *Leaf ...

s, competitors, insufficient sales, or high manufacturing costs. Contestants often negotiate and barter with the investors. The deals agreed to on the program may or may not actually be carried through.

International adaptations

: Currently airing : An upcoming season : Status unknown : No longer airing

References

External links

Official "Money no Tora" site
(WebArchive) *
''Den D''
(official Czech Republic website)
''Dragons' Den''
(official Polish website) * * * * {{Shark Tank Dragons' Den es:Tu oportunidad

Format

International adaptations

See also

References

External links