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Surf entrepreneur appears on BBC2 series
by George Mojo
31/01/2007:// It’s no easy feat pitching your business idea to five highly successful entrepreneurs. Add a studio, production crew, lighting and cameras and you’ve really got something to sweat about.
But that’s exactly what surf instructor/entrepreneur Olly Daglish did on the new BBC 2 series of The Dragon’s Den, asking for a cool £50,000 investment in his company Ollypop. The program will be aired on BBC2 at 8pm on Wednesday 7 February.
Based in North Cornwall, Ollypop was launched in August last year to promote the new Ollypop surf towel. The Ollypop is designed to help surfers practice jumping to their feet quicker and more smoothly, improving their technique for when they're back in the water. It’s the first product of its kind in the surfing world and has been embraced by surfers around the globe.
The TV show gives budding entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their ideas to five multi-millionaire entrepreneurs; Richard Farleigh, Deborah Meaden, Duncan Bannatyne, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis.
To be successful, they need to get the full investment they pitch for and must give away a stake in their business. In all cases the Dragons give the entrepreneurs a very hard time, sometimes leading to tears, often tantrums and occasionally rendering the pitcher speechless! They’re not exactly generous with their money either, in fact nine out of ten times they don’t invest, but this didn’t seem to deter Olly.
“It all happened so quickly. I was contacted by the associate producer of the Dragons' Den early in November. He’d read about Ollypop in the press, loved the idea and asked me if I'd like to apply to go on the show. He sent the application through and after a lot of deliberation I thought what the hell, filled it out and sent it back. Three weeks later there I was in the Den!”
Olly asked for £50,000 in return for 20% of his company and has no regrets about going on the show.
“It was a great experience, I’m so glad I did it. Obviously I got quite a grilling from the Dragons but that makes good TV. The fact that I was asked to apply I think shows how attractive surfing is, not only as a great sport but as a massive commercial industry."
"Things like this also help to put Cornwall on the map and new businesses are setting up all the time - we’ve really got something to offer down here now.”
And did he manage to put the Dragons’ fire out? “You’ll have to wait and see. Let’s just say I haven’t lost my ‘pop’ as a result!,” said Olly.
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