Dragons’ Den hopeful knew he'd reject any offer and only wanted 'free advert'
A Dragons’ Den entrepreneur says he always intended to knock back any offer - as he knew just what the free advertising would do for his business.
Paul Stanley offered a five per cent share of his Cloven Hoof rum firm for £50,000 but insists he was always going to say no as he didn't need any of the mega rich tycoons involved. The devil-branded drink has gone on to earn him millions - and he puts a lot of his success down to the show.
Hoof became the top-selling rum on Amazon weeks after the episode aired in 2019 and earned the company a year’s worth of sales in just one day. He confessed he strung BBC bosses along the whole time because he knew the power of the brand appearing in front of three million people.
Paul Stanley admits he went on Dragons' Den for 'free advertising' (BBC)“I pretended to be interested and gave the BBC and all of their researchers and lawyers the strong impression that I wanted investment from a Dragon - I spun a load of bulls*** and they fell for it," Paul, from Sussex told The Sun. “I categorically didn’t want any of them on board”.
“In the 12 months prior to the show, I think I had sold 15,000 bottles but the day after being on Dragons’ Den we sold 8,000 in just one day. “I easily made £40,000 off the back of the show straight away, then we grew a little bit afterward, it was a quick win.”
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It's not the only near miss involving a drinks firm and the Den after producers rejected the most lucrative deal in show's history which would have made a staggering £360 million. BrewDog co-owners James Watt and Martin Dickie started their craft beer company 13 years ago and went on to earn a fortune as they went from brewing to launching an international bar franchise.
He always planned to turn the Dragons down - and his punt paid off (BBC)Shortly after setting up the company, the pair applied for Dragons' Den offering the celebrity investors a 20 per cent stake in return for a £100,000 investment. Mr Watt revealed they were rejected by the producers after their screen test and he's calculated that the original £100k offer would now be worth a whopping £360 million.
In a post on LinkedIn, he explained: "In 2008 we applied to Dragons' Den & got as far as a screen test and we pitched our hearts out before the producers rejected us. "They deemed Martin & myself not investment worthy. We were crushed. We were prepared to offer the Dragons 20% for £100,000.
Based on our latest BrewDog valuation, that investment would now be worth almost £360m meaning the Dragon's missed out on by far the best deal in Den history "We got over the rejection eventually. But it took a while." The pair were just 24 when they started the firm and it's gone on become a huge international success with 78 bars across the world.
They even moved into TV with their own US TV show, BrewDogs , and launched The BrewDog Network - a streaming service featuring beer and cooking series, game shows and documentaries. As well as earning millions from Brewdog, Watt and Dickie have won a slew of awards for their beer and for their entrepreneurship.
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