Deborah Meaden | Full Address and Q&A | Oxford Union

I like a round of rolls first I'm just hoping I get one at the end because it could be so I said also stand I shall stand first of all please forgive my casual attire but I she spent the day bird dogs I was told that tonight was gonna be more of a fireside chat well I can tell you it is because I even have dog hairs all over my legs which I think makes it complete but I had an amazing afternoon visiting the medical detection dogs over in Milton Keynes and I was absolutely wowed and I did say I'm actually gonna change my speech completely and I'm going to talk about the medical detection to unlock me what I first of all I would like to say thank you so much for inviting me here I for somebody who didn't even go to university I mean I left school when I was 16 and actually I'm kind of surprised now because you know I love knowledge I love being challenged I love being unlike smart people I so I don't really get why I didn't go to university because you know I not knowing me now I think I would have really enjoyed it but I actually didn't thrive at school you know I wasn't terribly academic and actually the truth be known I have got the attention span of a gnat so I suspect that given a topic just to actually get to grips with you know I'm I'm one of those temporary I'm a temporary expert whatever I'm doing at the time I absolutely become expert on it and about week later I can t remember what it was what I was talking about so so I'm not terribly sure how I would have I would have got on University what I want to do if you don't mind is I actually think it gets much more interesting when we we can get to have a chat so I'm going to kind of whiz through my life with through my life you know that's sort of the key moments that led me up to being a dragon you know to being a business person to being an entrepreneur you know actually ending up on television and then I really want to get back to talking to you you know the we can have a fireside chat which is what we were supposed to be doing so I think I have my first signs of being an entrepreneur when I was about seven when I picked some really awful laburnum off the laburnum tree which will a Burnham apparently isn't a good flower to put in farces but I picked some off the laburnum tree and I stuck them outside of our front gate and and put a little sign up saying you know whatever was two and six for a bunch of laburnum and and you know and I sat there and nothing happened and and then I looked across and I thought oh I know why anything's happening because the cars are driving that way and they actually can't see me I can't see my flowers so what I'll do I'll go and put them over there on the neighbor's drive so I put them over on the neighbor's drive and I sat there and I salsa and the neighbor was blinking furious so she marched you know watched him to see my mother and said do you know what your daughter's up to and my mother looked to me as she went that is bad girl bad I could just see the pride in my mother's face there's Location Location Location she's got the dish you've got it already but I genuinely need you know I think why am i entrepreneur I think why I decided I wanted to go into my own business is actually not sure I could work for anybody else I've had one job this is going to make you giggle but please try and keep a straight face my one and only job was as a sales room model you did well you were good you did well the only thing I had to be it was working for a fashion house and the only thing I had to be was 5 foot 10 tall it's one thing in life you can't lie about I'd actually be honest I don't think you should ever lie but there's one thing in life that you can't lie about natcha height because as soon as you walk in the room they know how tall you are and I walked into the room this guy said to me but you're not five foot ten are you and I said oh but no chuckle Marty was amazing I know I know I know by will work so hard I will be really really good and he gave me a chance and all five foot took me I never modeled any other clothes he wasn't gonna sell any of my model nobody gave me a chance and I absolutely hated it I realized immediately I didn't want to I just don't take instruction terribly well and and I realized immediately I didn't want to do it but he had been good to me and I stayed there for about nine months of hating it and then I thought actually I've done my bit now I paid him back and I moved on but it was a it was a pivotal moment for me because I thought I can't work for anybody I need to go out and find something that I can do for myself that something was well what I realized very quick Travis I was in I was in I was at home and I wasn't really doing anything and nothing was really happening and I just thought you know what if you don't do anything in life nothing happens you know that's that's guaranteed do nothing nothing happens so I took myself off I had some friends in Italy and I took my illness thing got the money together and flew off to Italy and kind of changed my life just changed my scenery and from that the first business idea came it was to bring ceramics from Italy back into the UK had no money at the time there was a thing called factoring it's like invoice discounting so you know I was able to fund it through that and I had an absolute ball and it was a complete failure I ran up about 3,000 pounds worth of debt all my credit cards which at the time might not sound like a lot of money at the time when you haven't got it and you got to pay it back it was a lot of money but I got a taste for it I just thought oh I know I know what he did wrong but actually I really gave me a boss even getting it wrong was was kind of okay but if I did it next time I'd do it like this so I was kind of off and that was my first business it was a failure it taught me a huge amount and what it the one of the big things it taught me is that actually I kind of learn better through the things I get wrong than the things I get right the things I get right I have a momentary yes and then I'm off the things I get wrong I really don't like that feeling and it very quickly that the way to get myself you know to get I had to if you get it wrong you beat yourself up for about 30 seconds you pick yourself up and you think you know what I'm not going to be doing that again luckily the next business it was something I had seen in Italy so something came out of the whole Italian thing it was a business called Stefano I don't know if any of you know but it's a fashion business called Stefano and and I'd seen in Knightsbridge there was a shop with Stefano shop of just seen that in Italy and I popped in there and I said oh it was the head office and they said all downstairs besides all I was thinking about are you doing any franchises in the yoke I'm 19 20:19 are you thinking about doing any franchises in the UK and they said all virtually well yeah our RM DS downstairs and we are and I've sort of bounced in and convinced Carlo Mugello to to offer me one of the first franchises in the UK and and that was my first business success and you know and then and then I felt what it was like to get it right that lasted probably for about 18 months two years and then I realized actually the franchise model I I it was a good starter but I quite like to own my own business and so then I then went into oh you'll love this one I then went into price bingo I am a damn good bingo caller if ever I'm I'm your girl but actually you know it didn't matter to me it didn't matter what I was doing if it matter it's glamorous I didn't care what field it was in I love business and I still do I think anybody watches Dragons Den can say that I just love business and then I just worked I just work there was nothing magical to it you know I didn't think I'm gonna be a millionaire I didn't think my aim in life is to make millions I put my head down occasionally whatnot occasionally I say I put my head down I actually am a scanner you know I'm constantly looking for opportunity and it doesn't matter what it is I don't care whether it's price bingo I don't care whether it's fashion I don't care whether it's holiday parks you know I'm interested in opportunity and if you if you if you watch it if you if you keep your eye on it and look out for it and then take it you know one day after all of that work I looked up and I thought blimey it's a success I've made money and in evens the more surprising moment when I sold my ultimate holiday park business was a millionaire and I don't know how it I don't know I can't you know people say to me you know what do you do how do you how does that happen and I'd love to say we you Flickr / switches and at the end of it that happens and I can't all I can say is that I kept mine you know I kept my hair I was watching what was going on I was feeling the mood and I was working bloody hard and and and then one day it all happened I'm gonna I Buster it quite quickly because the bit that I think most people are really in his dragons den and Strictly Come Dancing I've been business 35 years and the most questions I get an hour about Strictly Come Dancing it's very annoying so anyway I had you know I'd had a lots of businesses and actually they've got more they got bigger and bigger and more and more successful and I had an ultimate exit of my Holiday Park business and and about a week after the exit I got a call from BBC saying would you like to go on Dragon's Den and I said oh no thank you I've worked really very hard to have a lovely life and and and it's all it's it's very nice and I really don't need to be in the spotlight and I really don't need the media to make their own mind up on the way my life is going to be so thank you but no thank you and they came back a second time and I said I said no the first time I said it very politely but you know look for somebody else and then they come back a third time and and they said look no commitment just come along try you know have a tryout and they put me in a room with Duncan Bannatyne and Richard Farley and they bought some entrepreneurs in to pitch for me and you know it was it was the most peculiar sensation it was home it was I just thought oh this is what I do this is this is this is my life I feel really really comfortable here and having gone from no no really I'm not interested I've got a lovely life thank you you can you know you know you can even go away and do your media thing elsewhere suddenly I'm thinking they don't offer me that seat in Dragon's Den I am going to be gutted about seven days before we started filming I got my husband's in the audience here and he will remember I actually had to say to them just so you know I've got businesses so I don't have a clear diary you know you can't just say to me you know what I need 20 days in your three days time you've gonna have to confirm if not you've lost me I mean about seven days before we started filming there I got the call saying would you like to be on Dragon's Den I might anyway I did eat all the time thinking you know what I'll do it for a year maybe if I don't like it won't do it again ten years thirteen series I've been on Dragons Den and I am loving every minute minute of it and if anybody watches Dragons Den I can I can tell you why I love it and I hope you'll find it very reassuring it is as close to business on television we're on television but it is as close to real business that you're going to get on television because it is our money because although you only see five to ten minutes of a pitch those pictures can take up to three and a half hours so there was a lot more information that we gather and actually it's the bit that outside of that you know the business bit outside of the den people come and pitch to you for two maybe three hours so that bit is exactly the same and what we're doing we're agreeing to to do business with these people we'd greeing to go in to invest in them and then of course we come out do all the normal things we do the due diligence you know some of them most of them go through some of them don't go through and and and I've done other things I've done Strictly Come Dancing but Dragons feels like home to me and it still feels like home to me so long may it continue I did say I was going to be really quick what I did actually I talked really quick I don't know if you noticed I just I took 15 minutes to say about half an hour's worth of words but I will sit down now and hopefully we can have a chat so I'll just begin by asking a few questions myself and then we'll open up to audience questions so my first question is that obviously you're a dragon with a capital D on TV but would you say that you're a dragon off screen and if not which animal do you think that describes you oh no I um so I I have this thing about just so you know I am absolutely that is me on Dragon's Den a lot of people when they meet me say well actually you know you're you're much softer and you know you've got a you laugh a lot I've got a lot of laughter you do not get laughter lines like this without laughing a lot so so I have a lot of fun in life but in Dragon's Den people are asking us for our money and they're either you know that they do they do it sometimes with great skill they do a great respect some people actually can put with the ones that really annoy me are the ones who just waste that opportunity you know when you see me angry and frustrated it's like really you had an amazing shot of this and you've done you've let it go so I am that person I make no excuses you know that is absolutely me but my thing is nobody is one thing nobody is one thing you know in television kids you into thinking you know this person because you see that particular angle of them you know all of us I've got a thousand facets to us you know we're all and please remember that in life because you know sometimes we even try to be one thing we convince ourselves that we're this you know well that's crazy you know wrong we're all everything what animal would I be well I know specifically my cat Friday he and I I think we're very similar I don't know I ought to I ought to ask my husband yeah but my cat Friday I think not any cat my cat Friday very independent young man yeah and if only he could work the till I'm absolutely sure be an entrepreneur as you just say that you're often described as having quite a tough and matter-of-fact approach do you think it's impossible to be successful in the business world by taking a softer approach or is this just the manner that has worked best for you no I don't think again it goes back to this one facet I mean you cannot I was at the the height of my businesses employing 1500 people and the thing if you ask any of my employees I remember them I know their names I know when they're fed children I know not 1500 of them but the people I came across and and Paul always said to me not just the people who work for me my customers you know I used to get to know the customers you cannot bark at people all day every day and expect them to in you know expect them to perform well and enjoy working for you but dragons hones in to you know as a particular aspect and so it should dragons is there to show the points of business not the soft bits around business but the points of business you know so I think that's why you know and if I if I have a frustration it it will be that people you know bill they'll think they they assume they know they get me they know me but there's another side to your thought there should be you know I think you know anybody who thinks they can bark their way through business and demand and particularly now your generation very different you know there was a time when you could tell people you know but but you can't you if you want to get the best out of people you need you know you want you want people along with you you want I want to be I want to be surrounded by people were a lot better than me at stuff and wanting to be better than me you know and being better than me as definitely it definitely works worked for you during your course and the show is at about 3.5 million pounds worth of investments that you've made you listen to Graham Norton no great no any reason I say he said 2.5 million I'm not really really competitive I suddenly got notice by 3.5 million you want to say I thought I'd go for the highest good so you've made investments from kind of scary spray to fit mix is it possible to single out a favorite not a favorite there's a lovely I'm a love the one I'm with girl you know honestly if whichever bit investment I am with I they absolutely have my full time and attention you know and if I'm working on that investment that is it I've got no other investment in the world but there was a fantastic story 13-year old guy called Jordan who had been bullied out of Scooby's home tutored bullied out of school home tutored very very smart guys a bit awkward bit socially awkward but very very smart I had moved out of home was living with his grandfather and they were putting blinds up in his bedroom and they couldn't get the blinds to stare from the plasterboard so he and his grant his grant I says to him come on then Jordan let's go and design something and they design this plaster ball fixing that is strong enough to put blinds up they've got the good sense to realize they might have something and they patent it and he cut when he's 18 he comes into the den and pitches this is last year and we are now in 3,000 stores across we are the strongest plaster ball fixing in the world we're in 3,000 stores across the UK and just signing a deal with Hillman in the States for 10,000 stores and that to me it's brilliant it's this I take this as I mean it it isn't changing my life but for me that's what dragons about it absolutely has changed Jordans life and I've seen him grow you know it's not just about the money I've watched Jordan realize you know I can do this this is it's brilliant I absolutely love it so I say it's not much but if you ask me about one my others like it just as enthusiastic and to be a bit meaner what what about the worst you've ever heard oh no I could list what does it have to be the worst could I not keep you citadels for cat's fire nails for hat I ask you lots of different colours as well and the one I absolutely loved they were so even when they left the day I know I didn't love it because I just thought I know you're gonna die just know you're going to do it I just know because we were all wrong all the dragons were wrong he'd come up with this idea that you can't get a beach bed when you go on the beach we can't get one of those sun beds which is often true so what you do is you get a suitcase he designed a suitcase that had a bed inside it so that you took that on holiday with you and then when you went to the beach you took a suitcase with this beach bed in it and you know when you think I actually don't know I I don't know what to say I have we did try to stop him got a feeling you did it as you say you're known of course for being a dragon but obviously as you also mentioned many people know you for Strictly Come Dancing so which have you enjoyed the most or is it is it possible to yeah I don't think one ranked them I mean that's you know sometimes you just can't say what is better I mean Dragons is home and and when I when I'm there you know I sit down in my cherish it I'm not working you know it's just I love it and I because I love business and even the crazy people this is on you chips cut that no even the crazy pitches you know I think I actually admire them but you know they're doing said they've got off their backsides and they're standing in there pitching strictly so I'm at home there and I know what I'm doing and I feel very confident and comfortable strictly I was terrified I mean I've never been so scared because you are dancing live in front of 11 million people I'm not a performer I'm not a dancer and they say things like to me act coy well a I would find it quite hard to act coy but I mean I'm not an actor so I found but I loved it I loved it because I was constantly on my mettle you know it brought me to a place that I just constantly had to you know I'm very comfortable doing business I know how it works but actually being in a place where you're constantly scared and you're constantly having to be your best is actually quite a I really enjoyed it that's great and who's it who's the tough or judge Peter Jones or Craig rubber hood honest I like Craig I think Craig tells the truth I like that you know III know I think they're both honest I can't tell you that do you know you can't always you can't always right you can't always say one two three they're just different um so when Anna when winter came and spoke here last year she said that the best advice she ever received was to get fired and I'm just wondering have you ever fired anyone that has gone on to be a huge success no and I wouldn't remember them if I had only because I don't remember failures I beat myself up at the time and then I move on so I couldn't possibly assert that I've had what's been very nice there's been some people have gone on from working for me to be successes which is exactly the opposite question to the one you disaster as you said you mentioned with was a Jordan who you saw watching him learn and grow to become better businessmen but do you really think that entrepreneurship is something that can be taught or do you think it's something that an instinct that some people are born with well the first thing I want to do is differentiate between being a businessperson or being an entrepreneur because being an entrepreneur everybody in business now calls themselves an entrepreneur and actually partly Dragons Den it's got something to do with that I know a lot of really really successful people who are not entrepreneurs they're not entrepreneurial you know they've made a lot of money they've done very well thank you very much but they haven't I think to be an entrepreneur you've got to be that person who spots opportunity takes it and that doesn't mean once you know when I look in the history of successful entrepreneurs they're doing it all at the time so yeah I do I think there's a big difference now therefore I think there's things that you can learn to make you better in business you could absolutely definitely learn and so unsure and you know I wish I had I learned through mistakes you know I probably could have made less mistakes that I paid a bit more attention but I do think there are personality traits and when I see all entrepreneurs don't look the same they don't behave the same but what I do see an entrepreneur is they're risk takers you know they're their emotional intelligence they're what their scanners they're what the observation you know if a when I think of all of the Dragons they will pick up the tiniest little nuances in people you know they they understand people's body language you know we sometimes will sit in the den and all fibers we'll just think something I don't know what it is and it's just we're picking up on something so I do think there are characteristics but you know that doesn't mean to say that there isn't a piece that says you should learn aspects of business certain you should so if if you are trying to learn of what you think is the best way to teach it as you mentioned you yourself didn't go to university do you think that university degrees have become redundant in the business world I think it entirely depends what business you're in I mean if you're in a special business if you are in a specialist business and then I think having specialist knowledge would absolutely help and I think University teaches you many that you know it teaches you it teaches you to learn it teaches you to have good judgment you no doubt have good judgment how to consider things so you know I think it's down to the person and I also think University has its place it doesn't matter why you do it if you want to go to university go to university you don't want to invest it don't go to you know it's it has it has value in itself doesn't it but I personally I by the time I don't recruit people now I don't actually work in any businesses I've got 30 businesses I'm invested in but I don't actually work so I don't recruit anymore but certainly whilst I'd taken you took university degrees into account I was still very interested in hearing you know the story the life story of the person as well and obviously throughout your career if you're not darkly incredibly busy with all of your various ventures so do you find it incredibly hard to take time off and just stop and relax I don't think I do find it hard I don't know I've got my husband it's like having the truth fairy in the room no I think so when like when we go on holiday I absolutely can have downtime and I ride so I so we've got a place in Somerset and I ride and we've got the animals and I find when I'm actually riding when I've absolutely got downtime I can do it I do find it quite hard when I'm working I'm working you know it's very hard to get my attention yeah it is but but I know I am I think I can do down time and there's just one or two questions more from me before I move on to the audience and the next one is that so I read in a garden and Oscar that had been quoted saying that you weren't a feminist and I was just wondering why why is it that you didn't identify as a feminist whatever they don't identify as anything I said quite recently I'm not a woman in business I mean business you know I just don't think the whole I don't think the point is we're all equal you know we're all different but we're all equal and I think kind of taking a stance that says we're not just reinforces the thing that we're not so I think the best thing I can do in business is get on and be good and people accept me as good at what I do it doesn't really matter about my gender it doesn't mean to say listen I get it you know I've you know we've all everybody has prejudices you know that's whether you're fat you're short you're tall you're male your feet everybody has views when they meet people it's very easy to pick up on the gender thing because it's very very obvious it's like race you know black point you know male-female is it is obvious but I think you give it strength when you see it and I always say if I stand and take my gender into account anybody I'm talking to does exactly the same thing because I'm telling them to I'm signaling to them genders a point here genders an issue you know however you know I I'm genuinely confused when people take take it into it it's like what are you doing you know I've been quite lucky because I've always been the customer that means you know people have wanted to deal with me there's a couple of moments in my life I've had to say you need to get over it and if you don't get over it don't deal with somebody else but you know and that it that I n know that I am in a fortunate position to do that and now I'm just a dragon I'm not a man or a woman just a dragon now so nobody nobody does the whole gender thing on me now have you felt like some of those attitudes have changed like as a result maybe a changing society or just because you become more successful and and more and more successful and as such that deserts more more respected I mean it's hard for me because what does happen people do change around I hope I haven't changed much but people do change around you you know so so it's it's very and I find it really interesting to watch people how they you know how they react towards me so it's hard for me to tell but I do observe and I do think that that the younger the younger at the peak sorry the younger people are that I meet and deal with the less the issue is so I do think I hope it's working its way through you know I think and these things they don't change overnight you know but I don't yeah I do ice definitely see less and less you know it's really is not an issue for a lot of the younger people that I work with so the last question for me is that on top of your incredible work as a businesswoman you've also done a lot of charity work and in particular I was quite interested about the microfinance charity that you worked with LEM with care and I just wondering if finally you'd be able to just explain a little bit about that and why you've enjoyed working without charity well I what so I I my approach to charity is that if I'm going to engage with the charity I want to know about the charity so I don't engage with anything until I've seen it on the ground because I've seen lots of words I've seen lovely glossy brochures and then when you get to actually visit it's not quite what you think so um first thing I mm with care they approached me they said you know a lot of our entrepreneurs are women it would be I'm talking about gender now look I mean said I know but a lot of our entrepreneurs these so what men with care does is it's micro financing in third world countries and it is usually women it is often the women who are getting the money to know set themselves up a market stall or whatever so so in their environment it's quite helpful to have something that someone they identify with so would I please go over and have a look where I go make a trip and and see whether or not I want to engage with with lend with care and I'd been to Cambodia porn I've been to Cambodia just after the war so it was a broken country I mean it was when we truck we were backpacking through it and and it was there was some it was some really awful things so I said actually I would like to go back apart me that's what I'd like to see how how its mended itself and to see how lend with care could help with that and so I visited with Len wakare visited a lot of entrepreneurs there not a entrepreneur I mean we call them entrepreneurs but they're just trying to make a better life for themselves you know and sometimes it's 50 pounds to buy themselves a basket so they can take the tomatoes to the market you know but it was actually quite humbling because that I'll tell you one very quick story there was a lady who had sewing skills and she'd borrowed the money to buy a sewing machine and Anna had to chat with her and I said oh so you know how does that change your life so it's absolutely brilliant because it's meant that I've been able to teach all of my I've got all my friends in I've taught them how to sew and now they're able to buy themselves sewing machines and I said oh and what about you know what about your life and she said well yeah that's what I was talking about I said but you will actually talk about your friends she said but they are mine they were my life and it was very interesting for me to watch how somebody mmunity was still working you know how they were still her reward her you know it wasn't profit wasn't cash it was the fact that she was able to help her community and her friends and I just came back and thought blimey we've got some stuff to learn from these people you know it kind of boils it back down to the basics when you when you you know and we miss that we miss that we're all about cash and profit and that's the end of it I know that sounds we are coming from a dragon that you know because we sit and talk about cash all at a time but the truth you know their profit isn't just money it's the you know it's the stuff the the difference you can make the app your your put your your prized outcome and if you can reach that that's your profit thank you for that we'll start off by opening up for questions from the floor I first go to is doing the mic hi I was just wondering especially early on in your career when you're starting well you've done the research and you intuitively felt like you did have a good idea how did you find the right people to turn to for help well I'm gonna have to own up I don't really do any research I was kind of fortunate enough I didn't have any money and I kind of so I went to Italy and a friend of mine was a fashion designer and while I was in Italy there was an exhibition on of beautiful home wares and I was honestly had nothing to do for the day and I sort of went into this exhibition I saw this lovely stuff and and just thought well it's very it's beautiful this is the business of the hilt by the way so don't take this as a model it's very lovely found four of those companies convinced them that I could bring it over to the UK no research whatsoever in fact I'm gonna be honest now I went over cuz I had a boyfriend over there that's a very good reason to go over to let go of so Italy had an absolute ball but but I didn't do any research and I didn't plan and actually I am going to say something very odd I absolutely have got a research you've got to understand your market to a point so all of your research I always say do all of you don't get emotionally engaged I love this thing about get really passionate don't get passionate now I would my advice would be do your research understand your market understand your route to market and then if you're convinced draw a line under it and then get passionate and don't let anybody else talking about of it I my first business got into debt because I put it on put but I actually funded it through credit card and I was lucky enough to use factoring invoice discounting cuz it was type of business that you could do that I think friends and family are the obvious choice but you need to be very very careful because you need to make sure that they understand it's a business relationship and particularly the beginning when you're young it's quite hard to have those difficult conversations where you actually say you know guys health warning here you can lose your money you know so I think if you're going to go with friends and family you need to be really really you know if you can't have the conversations you shouldn't borrow from your friends and family because anything left unsaid is exactly where it's going to come apart so you know friends and family banks lend money but I drive me mad at the moment people are kind as a bank banks are lending banks are just not lending to a business you know banks got into trouble through lending to bad business banks actually do lend money to the right businesses now crowdfunding is fantastic you know I don't know whether you want my talk about money or whether you want support crowdfunding is fantastic you know or finding a mentor in the same business that that you're wanting to go into I could go on thank you hi Deborah firstly thank you very very much becomes the Oxford Union with regards to Jack Dragon's Den one of the scenarios that I find really interesting well I when all the Dragons want to invest and the entrepreneur has to choose which dragon they want to go with if you an entrepreneur pitching to the Dragons which dragon would you choose to go for consuming they went with the same conditions same amount of money and cut which dragon you choose and why excusing yourself do you know that's a hard one because what what nobody should do and this is very this a very good question because I watch it in Dragon's Den often people have decided when they come up those stairs they know the dragon they want you can see it you know the eyes they'll pitch to me and it's just like there are four other although pitch to Peter and I think oh great you know but actually they can change their mind because again don't forget people are forming views on us what they have they see us on television when they get into the den they should change their views because they're seeing a lot more about us so that doesn't really answer your question what does answer your question is depending on my business I would choose a different dragon because we all have different skillsets we all have different expertise and I shouldn't just be going on something that I thought outside of the den I should be reading what's happening in the dead listen to the questions who's asking me the most intelligent the most engaged questions who can tell me what they can do for my business better and the answer is always me totally you're not you're not when you're looking for an investor you're not looking for a friend yeah it's great you know listen as it happens I genuinely I love my investments I mean poured I get so excited I really like the people I'm that I'm working with it hasn't always been so I would say there's two or three people I've come out of the den I thought you know what life's too short and I've actually handed their shares back but I'm not but but that was that was four different there were some issues in there as well but you're not looking for a friend you are looking for an investor somebody who can actually take your business forward well the you know the the the the gold is actually when you get both I do worry a lot of people say well of course I'm best in the person but actually if the products bad you've got a good person on wasting a lot of time on a bad product so I'd I won't do that you know I I would employ a good person but I wouldn't if somebody thinks that their products really good and they're putting their all into it I wouldn't matter how good they were something tells me their judgement is not quite right hello as a student who graduated last year I was wonder if you had any advice for graduates as you leave call it as you leave University because it's quite difficult cuz your home for most of the jobs they're saying do you have like years of experience which I'm not sure where to get necessarily from and it might be a slightly cheeky question but I know you said you're not recruiting anymore but with the business you go in is there any chance I'll send you my CV I love her Oh talk about taking opportunity brilliant it's hard for me to give advice I actually because I haven't I was I was never I wasn't a graduate however I am I do still see the receiving end honestly I thought it is very very it is tough out there but you've just got to do it goes back to me saying if you do nothing nothing happens and sometimes you've got to change something if you keep doing the same thing if you're writing the same CDs you're making the same application Jordan looking to send you know you're writing to the same sort of businesses just stop and think I've got to do something completely different here and sometimes it can be moving yourself into a different place you know and actually saying I'm not even gonna try and do the thing I wanted to do I'm going to do something over here because it's it's amazing once you've taken a step how the next step followed I didn't I haven't I don't plan but this will really surprise people I don't know but I have short term plan I have business plan and then I'm completely flexible on it you know it's business plans I say to everybody have a business plan and be completely prepared to move off it you know because it because life doesn't go to plan just do something and if it's not working change it you know change whatever it is that you've got to change change your stamp or change where you're sending applications to change your CV you know go and meet people and talk to every the world and his wife do what you've just done to me and say you know any chance because one day somebody will get impressed by it and say yeah if it just back that thank you I have series of questions so first of all one of the other cast members Hillary TV um if I'm not saying her name wrong Hillary Divi one of the Cosmo yeah in a documentary in BBC she kind of alluded that everyone is a Machiavellian and you know in order to be successful you have to be a Machiavellian what are your ideas on that that's number one another thing that you mentioned earlier that you would employ a good person well what makes a good person can you illuminate that a little thank you so much so um Machiavellian do you have to be no I think you can absolutely now's your moment to choose how you want to be in business I have always said I want to be able to sleep at night I want to be I want to be I want to be happy with the person I am and actually I hate to sound smug but I am I am smug and I'm happy and that is but that's because I I decided how I wanted to be I want to be straight down the line I don't want people guessing with me I deal with stuff people don't have to think oh is she is everything all right because they know you know now that works for a lot of people it scares a lot of people because they're not used to it personally I think life is an awful lot easier if everybody just told the truth it just said what they meant said what they wanted said how they wanted to behave said what the dick would be so much easier I think the whole Machiavellian thing is slightly old-fashioned I don't think your generation do that in the same way I do think you're talking a much straightaway I find it really refreshing I find young people are much much better at saying what they mean on what they think and I think that's partially because the way we now work on social you know that there's no room for lying anymore because you can't lie you will be found out being Machiavellian kind of relies on you there's a little bit of deceit in there you know so I personally don't agree with that at all it's entirely up to you what you want having with the type of business people you want to be I just want to be straight easy to deal with you know an honest and and that's I hope any but you know listen I'm not put this will really surprise you I'm not perfect I'm not perfect but that's my aim and and and what was the second part of the question but what's a good person that's that well that's very hard because you never judge put a person on one thing do you I mean again it's trying to this we do this as humans we try to boil down what you know what's your favorite what's your one thing what sure it's very very hard to do that because it usually is a combination personally I look I'd I've really value emotional intelligence I think it really gives you good judgment and if you ask me the single aspect or what really if I had to say what if I have if you forced me to say one reason I was successful it's because I am I've I've got good judgment I've got good judgment because I read people well and I bother to read people well I listen I've talked to them and listened to so I would be looking not the thing that said I've got good emotional - intelligence you know I've got high level of what I'd be looking for is in their CV and the way they structure it somebody who I felt had good instinct had good judgment had you know understood understood me as well this is the other thing I'd say about CBS I know when a CV the same C B's being sent off to 150 people because it's the same CV and it's not targeted at me and you've got to make your Seavey's you've I've got to feel like you have applied for my job you know and too many people just get that CV and they bang it out there as to as many people as possible I want to know why me you know why did you why have you chosen me and my organization work for tell me thank you I will just come back down here to the phone so earlier you said that one of the great things about Dragons Den is how close it is to real business and one of the programs that Dragons Den is often compared to or coupled with is of course The Apprentice which has come under a lot of criticism for being increasingly with every series let has less credentials with every series it's getting more gimmicky more like reality TV all the time and that it's losing what was good about to in the first series going into tabloids that kind of thing I just wondered if you had any thoughts about that without incriminating any of your colleagues now I think the apprentice it's a good question I think the apprentice is a very different program I mean apprentice started on BBC two and I've always said if dragons ever went from BBC 2 to BBC 1 I probably wouldn't be I would leave and that's because it's it's a wider audience and there's a different expectation of the audience from BBC one it's BBC one's job to provide to its audience you know it's you know its job is to provide what it expects Dragons Den wouldn't sit there very well because you've actually got a you've got a you've got a concentrate you've got to engage you've got a you know you've got to really be very interested in business I think what the apprentice does really well this is a very diplomatic answer is that what the apprentice does very well is it actually entertains and and you get glimpses of business the truth of the matter is nobody runs a business like that well if they do they wouldn't last very long I mean you know getting people into boardroom going you're fired it's not you know it's not the way you do it but I do think it has a place and I do this you know there's a lot of it is interesting and anything that engages people in business I think is good you know anything that makes people think that you know I could give it a go even if they say well they you know they're idiots I could do better it doesn't matter you know I I think it I definitely it has value it has a place and it obviously does it's very very popular but Dragons is better thanks yes the man in the check shirt thank you looking back over the 13 series he said you've done on Dragon's Den what was the one that got away what was the one that you didn't didn't accept the pitch and they they went on to do really really well and you look back and think well it's only well the first thing I'm not a well if only girl I I genuinely I'm just not you know I give it my all I get it or I don't get it I've got 29 businesses I'm really really happy with you know I'm not I don't need more businesses and either I do a deal along the terms that that you know I think of fair terms or we don't do the deal there there have been and and I genuinely mean I don't it's a fantastic reason to be wrong when people go on and make a huge success I mean what what a lovely what that's a great way to be wrong so it really doesn't bother me but there have been businesses that have gone out there there's been tangle t's you know great story came on with her with the and I completely missed the point you know I said well I've got one of those my horses what doesn't really matter it really matter it taught me it taught me thinking well actually the same product in a different marketplace that's a good business you know I learned from tackle teas and they've that's a that's a great success story I really I I hate the whole half full and half empty cup thing but actually everything I'm learning every day I learn from the pictures I learn from the entrepreneurs you know everything I do and I honestly think that good comes from you know I shouldn't have invested you know he's gone on to do fantastic things that's it you brilliant number thing that I'll ER was I need to be a little bit more open mind Reggae Reggae sauce Reggae Reggae sauce I got so I got so fixated to be fair he got his numbers wrong by a factor of a thousand you know I mean yeah really I got so fixated on that I missed the point I missed the point that he was like he was amazing you know it was him it was and again I learned to think you know what stop looking at just the numbers look around the person that you know and but I don't see that with regret I'm just it just doesn't really I'm not a regret er hi Debra it's great to see you I was wondering if you had any advice for somebody that sort of wants to get into some property development actually um oh I don't know it sounds like you it why do you sorry what's your background have you got if you've got knowledge and no I don't know not at all that's the thing it's sort of like a kind of family thing my parents are sort of approaching retirement and I was having a conversation with my mom and I was like perhaps we should get into property development you know to keep the income coming or something coming yeah so so I separate property in into our property which we spend I promise you away too much I'm totally over capitalized on our house I mean I would be saying to somebody else you are barking you shouldn't be spending that money if you're going into property development you're not buying houses and building them to the house that you want you gotta be very clear it's it's no different to any other business you've got to know your market you've got to know why you're doing it I don't know whether you talked about renting or actually just buying capital you know rent and then capital growth but you've got to make sure that you understand why that property is good not just that's a nice house I'd love to develop it because too many people do that you know it's got to be well because I intend to rent a students therefore it needs to look like this and I'll keep it for that many years it's just a business proposition it's no different and as I say too many people get themselves into trouble because they get emotionally involved in it and they have the kitchen that they want and they want the you know the better taps and maybe that's maybe that's the market that you're going for but you've got to know why you're doing it you know and and make sure it I was i I do find writing that I'm still a writer downer I'm afraid and I never look I was right my reasons down you know and then I never look at them again this should just gone into my head and I have to sometimes check my decision making against hold on a minute why are we doing this you know because it's very easy to get carried away there's that at all helpful there anyone with the right at the back hi Deborah thank you for your talk um I just wanted to know what you thought of the UK and EU and how you would have thought it could have affected only if your businesses of the UK hadn't been in the I am totally Pro EU I I the facts speak for themselves so they are our biggest trading partners on ously I mean I will course these two sides of the argument because I can see two sides to every argument and you need to see two sides so you need to see all of the argument to actually get whether yours is right or not but I mean of course it's easier to trade while we're in the EU and anybody who thinks it isn't going to be easier to trade is absolutely you know the disillusion and if it's easier to trade it means that we have bought we make more stuff we export more stuff we have more jobs you know III really I worry I really really worried that we will we have this weird thing about the year we have this sort of hatred that we have this love-hate relationship when we we measure it on the fact that some crazy health and safety law came in once you know or what are they doing messing around with the way we make our sausages you know and and and they would pick up these these sort of marker points then everybody goes oh that's mad we need to come out of the EU without really understanding and I think that the the government's job now is to actually properly lay the arguments that properly lay the arguments out so people understand the fact and then don't just lay the arguments I engage people because they're going to make the decision based on the wrong factors because you know because of the ceiling health and safety law that that you know probably I'd nothing do with it you you and in the first place so I am unequivocal pro-eu yeah we just get just here hi thank you very much indeed for your table sorry two questions first of all M how long roughly do you find that you spend with the businesses in which you invest in Dragons Den what sort of points do you look for to leave them perhaps to move on from them and the second one is one of the good things about Dragons Den the quite amusing thing from a TV point of view is seeing how you engage as a group of five it's a bit like at the top gear relationship that you're all quite different do you have a sort of a preferred series when there was a group of the other four with whom you felt you had the best Accord rapport and I suppose conversely as a group of people whom you would rather not have been on TV with I actually think is anybody watching the latest series of Dragons Den I actually think we've got a I genuinely think you know listen even if I didn't by the way I'd be saying this because it's the BBC and I'd be saying this is the best group of dragons anyway but trust me I mean it this time it is I actually think we're working very well at the moment we're all very very different I think just having new dragons is good because I think it makes us change you know it's what I was saying about to make life change you've got to change something and actually you can't dragons as five people sitting in chairs with entrepreneurs coming in and pitching the only thing you can change is the dragons and the entrepreneurs and I think when you change the Dragons we up our game we you know I've had to spend the last series I had to work out what the other dragons were doing and the other dragons were thinking so um you know so I I think this is a good set I think when I first joined who was that that was Theo Imus Theo Thea was a very very good dragon he was and he he filled the retail space very very well he's a good man good dragon so there was Peter Theo Duncan myself and Richard Farley I think that was a pretty strong set yeah I would say that was the strongest set although I was new so I didn't really know yeah I I'm you know I wasn't really as familiar and I think now we've probably got the second strongest as a set of dragons sorry what was the first time I'm really sorry you feel you should move on from your businesses or investments within there so so what I do with my business is we will do completely differently for what I do of my businesses is that I the first thing I do is visit them and I spend time with them so I not they have a view on what they think they want I want to get a glimpse of what I think they need and that can take quite a bit of time at the beginning then what I do is I match them because I've got 29 this 29 or 30 businesses that's terrible isn't it 29 I think 29 businesses I can't possibly give them enough time and attention if they need it so what I do I match them with somebody that it's an entrepreneur they've been there they've done it themselves not somebody works for me somebody I know in life and I then often give them a piece of the action I'll give them some of my share and I will ask the entrepreneur I'll introduce them I'll say does this work and I will get that person to work with them be their first port of call and that way they've got somebody on call all of the time they can then use me when I should be used I shouldn't be involved in the date you know I shouldn't be that person they pick the phone up and say oh Debra should we do this you know they need to use me for strategy usually I should be straight you know strategy and exit I can be very helpful at exit so that's that tends to that tends to be how much time some people actually some people just need the money you know they don't need a lot of time other people I won't name them but I did have somebody was phoning me every day going - ever I'm not gonna call you every day and it's like but you are aren't you when does it stop so and your your report I know what's behind that and you're absolutely right because the most important thing is that we don't become embedded in their businesses you know they have got they are this is they own the businesses we are there to enhance their businesses and it's very very important and it's odd all the decisions they were making the day before we get involved or I get involved they stop making it's like now I'm on like they lose their confidence and it's a weird thing you know and I have to step back and say guys it's your business you know you carry on doing what you're doing I'm here to make it better but I'm not here to undermine you and you know take you take your back great okay just to the question of just that how about their blood my name is Daniela Petrovic I'm really glad that you came thank you very much I'm big fan and I have two questions for you one is would you rather invest in business that requires more capital than your time or vice versa because they are especially in technology space where I work there are people who know their graph and they they probably need your probably more capital than then your involvement but there are also other areas where they they would need more connections and more time in that way so that's first question and second one is there is a huge amount of research here at Oxford especially in biomedical space and biomedical technology when you try to implement that research into big organizations like NHS we hit big obstacles is there something where investors like yourself would be able to help young businesses so so the first question time or capital I don't I don't mind but actually this will sound odd but the money's the easy bit you know I mean that it's an easy investment when you say look I believe you I think this is a good investment there's no cash if I go tell me whether it tell me when you've made me lots of money you know that that's easy so for me to actually put my time in I've got to feel it you know I've got a want to involve my say 13 dragons don't need any more businesses you know so when I get involved with a business it's because I want to you know and you might say anybody what who watches dragons might well have seen me say you know what I don't think I don't think you care enough you know I think I care more than you do about this business so I don't mind but I need to be very clear on what it is and I have to it's a good question because I put it into those slots do you just want my money or do you actually want my time if you want my time I've got to feel the business you know because and I've got to be able to add something you know there's no point me sitting I think I know nothing about it in terms of new technology it's very interesting so I was talking to the medical medical detection dogs today and you know and some of the stuff that they're doing and I Paul and I involved with quite a few charities that you know support a lot of research and often what comes out of that is is research that's done for charitable use but then actually recent research that out of that for some commercial aspect so all that has to happen then is that has to be bundled up in a commercial way you know that just that's an investment it kind of doesn't you know it doesn't matter to an investor what you know where it came from it just has to be shown to me in a way that proves to me not proves as much as you can prove you know that there's an opportunity here and that this would be used that's that's all you know business is so easy honestly you know I just I spent my life Center people please don't think I'm clever because it's really really easy you know a but but but people bundle things up into they kind of think you know research is one thing and the business side of the commercials another thing and charities another thing all they're all you know they all have to behave in the same way you know there has to be there has to be a product it has to be a reason for it there has to be an outcome for it there has to be an it's all the same sort of thing so but but you just need to know your audience and you need to talk to me in a business type way because I'm not a scientist I won't understand the research tell me why there's a market there could be a market in this tell me why I would be interested in investing I think we've got time for one last question that was a very quick hand to go up so if you see that Thanks hi and thanks very much for your time it's really helpful there's been a lot of discussion from CEOs recently about resources and resource management specifically with regards to their energy and you've touched briefly on time and trying to make sure you've directed your time and available energy to the correct way but I was wondering where you place yourself on the spectrum of managing energy and business from the Harriet green extreme of sleeping for three hours and night two people who are perhaps needing of more sleep probably like most of us and I just wondered how do you manage that equilibrium particularly with the view to having a long term career do you have any take on that sorry you've been your energy your put your gut no certainly I'm yours mine yeah so how do you manage your energy and do you have advice i spaced more generally I'm hyperactive I don't manage my energy I just I did it I'm I've always been much to my father's disgust I've always worked when a business needs me so I've never worked 9:00 to 5:00 I used to turn up to my first my only job late because actually nothing happened at nine o'clock in the morning you know it didn't get busy till ten o'clock and I really didn't feel the need to get in at nine o'clock and sit there like thumbs cuz everybody expected me there at nine o'clock you know at but I also wouldn't be out the door or it would be out the door you know if I finished at four o'clock okay so I've always had this thing that says I do when I do what I do when I'm productive and if I'm not being productive just stop doing it you know and and I think it that's that's more in tune now than it was in my day in my day you know you turnt you you were the first in the morning and your other last person out at night and that's how you were judged on how good you were you know I was it whereas now if there's a lot more you know fluidity and in the way that you can work so I think the most important thing is prioritizing and making sure your down time and that's the most important because we can all work your jobs never done you know you've got to accept your job never and it never finishes so you've got to be able to manage your downtime and say well actually you know that bit of the job's done and I need I need to charge up my resources like a like a battery that is as important but only be there when you need to be because I see so much time wasted and so much energy wasted you know and making sure that I'm doing things that that have proper output you know I I see people work so hard and achieve so little you know it's it's heartbreaking and they think they're doing such a good job you know and it's just please you know work an hour a day just be more effective you know but it there's a lot of pressure on people to do long hour you know there's a lot of pressure on you get into some of these highly charged environments you've got to be there first thing and you've got to be there I won't play that game I'm not interested in it you know so I think I think you know set your own rules set your own rules make sure you're effective make sure you when you're doing it you're on it and when you're not on it just think you know what I need downtime that's it I'd know magic was that was that the question you were asking did that answer the question yeah well thank you so much Deborah for joining us this afternoon it's been an absolute pleasure if I could just ask everyone to remain in their seats first Deborah and I leave the ladies and gentlemen please put your hands together one last time Deborah Medan you

Channel: OxfordUnion

Views: 106,545

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Keywords: Oxford, Union, Oxford Union, Oxford Union Society, debate, debating, The Oxford Union, Oxford University, Deborah Meaden, Dragon’s Den, entrepreneur, business, businesswoman, talk, Q&A, Strictly Come Dancing

Id: kk8MH9nRHqQ

Length: 64min 36sec (3876 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 05 2016