In a Dragon's Den special entitled 'How to Win in the Den', aired on BBC2 on Wednesday 28th September, Red Button Design gave us a glimpse of the progress they have made since appearing on Dragon's Den in 2007, along with a sneak peek at the latest incarnation of the Midomo water purification device that has made their name.

It’s been almost 4 years since Amanda Jones and James Brown, two Glasgow University graduates, first entered ‘The Den’ hoping to raise awareness of their water purification device, known then as ‘ROSS.’ Whilst the two students clearly believed they had a good chance of a favourable reception, as they ascended those stairs they hadn't quite anticipated that Red Button Design would become the first company ever to be offered investment from all 5 Dragons for the original equity offered, or the first Social Enterprise to be offered investment at all.

For your viewing pleasure, here is the original segment from the Den back in 2007 - see if you can spot the fancy editing.

It turned out those so-called Dragons have a keen eye for a good idea, and each offered £10,000 for a 2% stake in the business, comprising the full £50,000 that the duo had asked for. Despite this record breaking offer, Amanda and James subsequently decided to step away from the deal. They had just been awarded £45,000 grant funding from the Oxford Said Business School and the injection of this capital into the business, without having to hand over any equity, made taking the Dragons’ early offer somewhat less astute.

Not a couple easily satisfied however, the Red Button team spent this money strengthening their proposition and decided to brave renegotiations with the Dragons a year later, this time with 20,000 prospective pre orders, a prototype in the office, and plans underway for a field trial. They asked for £200,000, and we last saw them in ongoing discussions with Deborah Meaden and James Caan…

To find out exactly what happened, how 'ROSS' ended up as ‘Midomo’ and to see how it fares providing locally managed, environmentally neutral, safe drinking water for an Eastern Kenyan community, make sure to stream or download the Wednesday 28th September episode of Dragon's Den: How to Win in the Den, available on iPlayer for another few days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b015gw5l/Dragons_Den_How_to_Win_in_the_Den_The_Art_of_Negotiation/


John