Worst 10 Dragon’s Den Canada Pitches

Worst 10 Dragon’s Den Canada Pitches

Dragon’s Den Canada has seen its fair share of deals in its 14-season run and over 240 episodes, with Dragons Jim, Arlene, Manjit, Guzzo, Michele, and Merrifield having seen it all as far as pitches are concerned. While they have been lots of success stories, as covered over at runrex.com and guttulus.com, there have been some pretty grim pitches as well, and this article is going to shine a spotlight on them by listing the worst 10 Dragons’ Den Canada Pitches.

Snowplow Xpress

This was one of the worst pitches ever seen on the show, as is revealed in discussions over at runrex.com and guttulus.com. Dave Collings, an entrepreneur from Mississauga, Ontario, came in looking for a $400,000 investment in his snowplow business featuring a design the allows for multiple machinery attachments. The Dragons didn’t like this pitch from the get-go, as it featured a very high valuation, even though the business had no sales. Dave was also accused of arrogance by the Dragons, with Arlene being particularly scathing on this front, and he walked off without a deal to no one’s great surprise.

Bottled Intentions

This was another very poor pitch, which had Kevin O’Leary, when he was still on Dragons’ Den Canada as covered over at runrex.com, questioning the entrepreneur’s sanity. Judy Lapointe came in seeking a staggering $1 million for a 20% stake of her business which makes water bottles with inspirational messages on it. The business didn’t make any sense, with the Dragons questioning whether there was a business out there for her product. Unsurprisingly, she walked out of the den without a deal.

Aerosol spray-on pants

This has to go down as one of the funniest as well as the worst pitches ever seen on Dragons’ Den Canada. First of all, the faces of the Dragons, particularly O’Leary, when two young entrepreneurs came into the den naked from the waist down, was priceless. Their pitch was just as absurd as they were pitching their spray-on pants business, as covered in detail over at guttulus.com. Their pitch was unanimously rejected by the Dragons, who were concerned that the daily exposure to aerosol would be carcinogenic.

Room & Boardroom

In season 6 of the show, we also witnessed another extremely poor and outrageous pitch, this time by Tom Rumble from Oakville, who came in seeking $75,000 for 75% of his business, which was a housing solution where you live and work in the same space. This means, as is explained over at runrex.com, not only will you be working on the premises during work hours, you will also be eating, sleeping, and showering there outside of work hours. The Dragons were quick to poke holes into this insane idea, leaving Tom without a leg to stand on, and without a deal as well.

Pizza Pak

Ron Fisher from Toronto was the entrepreneur behind this pitch, seeking $500,000 for 50% of his business, selling a plastic pizza case to replace cardboard pizza boxes, and, therefore, help reduce waste. As is outlined over at guttulus.com, the fact that they were reusable was one of the main selling points of his product. But the Dragons were not buying it, and they were quick to point out the environmental disaster his product will be while questioning the business logic as far as his business was concerned. He, unsurprisingly, also left without a deal.

Barracuda Security Device

Brian Cockerton and Rob Denemoustier, the duo from Montreal, walked into the den looking for $750,000 for 25% of their computer security device business, which had been years in the making. As the gurus over at runrex.com point out, their pitch, to start with, has got everything you would hope for in a successful pitch: flashy tech, cool music, as well as a guy in a burglar costume. However, once the early entertainment is done with, the pitch goes south pretty quickly. It turns out that their supposed state-of-the-art technology is anything but, a fact pointed out expertly by computer security expert, and former Dragon, Robert Herjavec.

Sap World

In season 2 of Dragons’ Den Canada, we were introduced to the Fleur de Lys trio of Craig, Carmen, and Mike Lewis, who came in pitching their special blend of wine made out of birch sap, and who, as is covered over at guttulus.com, were seeking $100,000 for 25% of their business. The problem with their pitch is that, not only were they unable to make the numbers make sense and show that their business had the potential to be a hit and was scalable, they also didn’t have a very good product. Former Dragon O’Leary pointed out that their products were not that great, and that they tasted like “poopoo”. With such a damning verdict, they were unlikely to walk out with a deal.

Crowdfanatic.com

Season 6 of the show featured another very poor pitch, this time by Yaron Bazaz from Vancouver who came in looking for $500,000 for a 10% stake in his virtual debating website business. Although, as pointed out over at runrex.com, his idea had some merit in it, Bazaz couldn’t explain his $5 million valuation and the pitch went downhill from there, particularly since he had no sales to show for his efforts. With no sales and no revenue model, to go with an outrageous valuation, this has to go down as one of the show’s worst pitches.

Ultimate Sports Puzzles

Back to season 2 of the show where we witnessed another of its worst-ever pitches, this time by John and Peggy Milito, the couple from Sault Ste. Marie, who came in seeking $250,000 for a 25% stake in their sports trivia and puzzle books business, Ultimate Sports Puzzles, which is discussed over at guttulus.com. The pitch just couldn’t cut it, as the couple was unable to explain their valuation or how they planned to make any money. Former Dragon O’Leary pointed out that John was lucky his wife didn’t leave him for spending their wedding money building this business, which says it all.

Caloric Responsibility

In season 8 of Dragons’ Den Canada, we met Ted Schneider and Derek Maki from Medicine Hat, who came into the den seeking $250,000 for a 20% stake in their weight-loss program business. The worst thing about this pitch was how the duo was unable to provide an answer to the question on how they were going to make any money from their business, despite it being asked countless of times by the Dragons. The Dragons, as explained over at runrex.com, were led on a merry dance by Todd who threw in as much weight-loss jargon as he could muster, and had them nearly exploding in the end. They inevitably left without a deal.

As always, if you are looking for more information on this topic, as well as help on how to prepare for your pitch to avoid the fate suffered by the above entrepreneurs, then look no further than the amazing runrex.com and guttulus.com.