Dragons' Den

Dragons' Den is a reality television format featuring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas in order to secure investment finance from a panel of venture capitalists. The programme originated in Japan as Money Tigers or Tigers of Money ("マネーの虎", a pun on "Tiger of Malaya", the nickname of WWII general Tomoyuki Yamashita). The format was created and is owned by Nippon TV and distributed by Sony Pictures Television.

Local versions of the show have been produced in nearly 30 countries, as well as one for the Arab world; in some countries, more than one version has aired. The most popular name for the show is Dragons' Den or variations thereof, a name that originated in the United Kingdom. The show has also been titled Shark Tank (a name that originated in the United States) and Lions' Den, and variations on those names, among others. In versions where the name of the show contains a creature's name, the investors are referred to as that creature.

The contestants are usually 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 direction. 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), and 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 stock, 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 that the investor may become interested in investing capital in return for equity, or an embarrassing lack of preparation on the part of the contestant (such as the contestant's lack of knowledge of the business' profits or margins), the uncovering of troubling facts (such as insufficient sales or manufacturing margins) or other reasons which may play a factor in the investors consequently rejecting the investment (such as 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). A contestant may give a counteroffer to the investors, if they feel their offer is not sufficient compared to the contestant's initial offer, which may also be subject to rejection if the investor feels the contestant asking for too high a monetary amount and/or an insufficiently low equity.

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