Next up are Brian Smiley
and Euan McCreith
Two Scottish techies with a plan to revolutionize the mobile app
For our fantastic products it's you know, innovative disruptive and you know, yeah, it's very exciting
Whenever we pitched, we've had a 100% hit rate in terms of them pitched classes investment, so I'm very confident
Narrator: No shortage of self-belief, but how will they fare in the white heat of the Den?
Hi guys, I'm Brian Smiley founder and CEO of Beezer.com and i'm Euan McCreith, the director of product innovation
We're here today to offer you the opportunity to invest
125 thousand pounds for four percent equity in Beezer.com
I was running an award-winning digital agency in Sydney
When I started to hear the same story from Sony, and my clients "Brian, we spent a fortune building our app, but nobody's downloading it"
The only way to solve this problem was to bypass the app stores
So, what is Beezer?
Beezer.com offers the ability to create your own mobile app
Using a simple and intuitive online tool. Once you've built your app,
you can send the app directly to your users using various methods, including SMS, email, social media
importantly completely bypassing the app stores.
The largest website builder in the world is forecasting 30,000 paid signups by the end of year one, which equates the
150,000 pounds turnover per month at the end of the first 12 months. Our turnover by the end of 2019
is aiming to be 1.2 million pounds with a net profit of
360 thousand pounds
So the mark is huge and the time is right for Beezer.
I'm gonna hand you over to Euan now, to do a product demo
So here we have a Beezer-built app, built upon our platform that will appear on
The user's home screen where they can launch that app
They can access the features that we've built here for Dragon's Den
One of the features being the ability to vote on the pitches so you could see
What you thought of this particular pitch somebody's interested in investing?
So, I think that kind of leads us very nicely onto questions
Mobile apps made easy is the proposition on offer from technology entrepreneurs Brian Smiley and Euan McCreith.
Who are seeking
125,000 pounds in return for a 4% share of their business
Tej Lalvani is keen to find out more about the geezers behind Beezer.
Hi Euan, and Frank
So, can you tell me a bit about your background?
How you guys got into this app? And what did you did before? I'm from a technology background?
So I graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2003 from computing science
and I've been involved with tech businesses for the last 15 years and I was running an agency on Sydney in 2008 and
Nine times out of ten when we built an app for a customer. They've come back knocking on our door saying Brian
This is fantastic, but we just can't get people to download it from the App Store. How do we overcome this challenge?
I've got quite a few brands and the world has changed
You have the best product in the world, but you come market it. Yep. It's worth nothing. Sure
So if I emailed to my database, mm-hmm the app. Yep, if they click on. Yep
Does that go straight on to them from their phone? Yes, (inaudible) absolutely and then they're into my shop. Yes
It's great for spreading content, but then you can incentivize
It going viral. Thanks with downloading our app for every 10 shares
we're now gonna give you a chance to win X or
For every share you get we're gonna give you a further discount off that product
Increasing product awareness while boosting sales a compelling combination for any business to business product
It's left the Dragons eager to know more about how the company is set up
So who owns the company
So yeah equity structure we've got I've got 20 shareholders in the business all smart money investors
I own 32% the company
So I'm majority shareholder in the business
And we know it's raised eight hundred thousand pounds to get the idea going to 150 thousand pounds on my own money into the business
So I've sod my two houses. My fancy art collection. I
put everything into this
And does the company have any money in the bank?
Yes, we have just just under two hundred thousand pounds in the bank still
And what she current burn rate of cash? The current burn rate of cash is thirty thousand pounds
Okay, so you will have gone through your cash in the bank within the next
six seven months
Yeah, but we're gonna be money generating within two weeks. So we've been working on the Wix and Weebly integrations
That's the two channel partners we signed up with. Mm-hmm
When we turn on the tap, I'll have funds coming into the bank from that by the end of the year
We'll have nine hundred thousand coming in
Who will be your biggest revenue earner of this nine hundred thousand. Wix. Wix.com. Wix.com? Yes.
Just talk through that. So what's a Wix website?
Wix is Beezer, for building websites
It's a platform that empowers non-technical people with the ability to build their own websites
They're trying to promote their own business through a digital channel
So with a few clicks from the Wix website
You can come onto the Beezer platform and put your website in, to then distribute that to amplify reach of your website
Bryan and Euans ingenious distribution model cuts out the need for a middleman
Potentially spelling the end of the App Store
Deborah Meaden wants to delve further into their customer base
Where do you see as your
primary market, who are you going after first? Well at the moment
we're talking to three major banks, and we we're really close to securing deals with two of them.
One of them was already using the product in one of their sub brands. We've had some traction in the event space
So anybody who wants to start up in an event?
I'm assuming that the other tech companies will follow suit. Is there anybody else out there?
That's all we're doing in norther. Not actually the way we were packaging it. They don't answer the problem
The problem is apps are not making at the store. They're sitting there until they died in the wild. But every single day
there are developers all over the world creating these types of products and they're churning them out at a rate of knots you're
You're losing the opportunity on big data
What's this trust? I don't understand big data, but you know what?
I think it could be the next big thing for Beezer at some point in the future.
That's might be concerning because you're missing a massive trick
If you had an action to go and touch the big data you're starting to ring fence and protect the very thing that you're building
Help us.
You know, I absolutely I'm thinking I I love be- it's our baby and I love Beezer so much and you know
If we can create, you know, there's some real longevity in the business through that big data and play then you know
I'm all for that
The duo's failure to harness all the data flowing through Beezer to analyze customer
behavior has thrown a potential spanner in the works and
Jenny Campbell is confused about why they've come to the den in the first place
What you need a poxy 125K for? You've got smart money. Yep. Do you still need a Dragon?
I think you guys- Really? Yeah, I think you guys can add- Are you looking for a particular Dragon?
I'd like to get an offer from all five of you today
But yeah, they can think the attempt that there's a couple of Dragons here that know that this is their sweet spot
And then what would the Dragon do over and above your smart money? Open doors.
I know what I can do
I've done it from but for my other tech businesses, it's put them in front of the right people
Yeah, so I'll make you an offer.
Give you all the money. I
Want 10%. I want to get my money back, I'll go down to five. Mmhm.
An offer, but in exchange for more of the company than the 4% the duo were originally looking to part with
Will Tej Lelvani be prepared to match or better it?
Guys I think what you've built is very clever, you know, I can help you with all the tech contacts and
Building your brand in the UK and internationally and that's what I do day in day out
So I too will make you an offer I'm gonna offer you all the money for eight percent.
I really like it. HAHAHAHA.
You know
And I love that it's disruptive. You know it at the moment businesses don't have a choice
You know and they're forced between do I have an App or don't I have an App?
Instead of thinking actually there's a different way of doing this
so I am gonna make you an offer and I'm gonna offer you all of the money and
I want 6% of the business
Okay.
Brian and Euan are remaining poker-faced despite the escalating bidding war in the den
Will a tech-savvy Peter Jones be next to join the fray?
Guys, I think you've done really well I
Actually believe that you have got something
So I'm gonna make you an offer for all of the money. Mm-hmm
But on the base of the fact that I hold the golden key to unlocking that value for you. I
Want 15% of the company.
Now I don't know whether to cry or fall down
Just leaves me, how are you feeling? Good? I'm close to winning a sportsman's bet. So I'm feeling good
All five dragons gonna make an offer. Hey that's counting your chickens so really
It's an easy follow for me, you know, I've got the tech Titan saying "I'm in" you're very credible, and this is clearly working
so why wouldn't I make an offer but
You're gonna lose your bet I
Personally, don't get that excited about it and it's important to be excited about what you're involved in. I know. I'm out.
Time to think! Yeah - any chance we can get out the Den?! Yeah. Please. I think we
Brian and Euan now have four competing offers to consider
But accepting any of them would mean giving away a bigger slice of the business than the four percent that they originally pitched
All right. It's a tough one.
So I've come in here today and I do wholeheartedly stand by the valuation we put on the business
and I'm pleased that I really thank you for all the really nice comments that you've given us today
No disrespect to the other Dragons and there was two dragons we came along here specifically was keen to work with and that was Deborah and Peter
Peter 15% is considerably higher than obviously what we're looking to sell today
I wonder if there was a way that we could get you involved in the business and
Anybody's to get your investment back and lower you down to somewhere in the original six percent. I
Want to do a deal
And so do I I would be willing to go down to ten percent if I received my investment back.
Okay.
Deborah would you be willing to move on your equity at all? I
I pitched a competitive offer, I saw what everybody else was talking about and I pitched a competitive offer. Yeah. No, I think you did. Yeah
Neither Peter Jones nor Deborah Meaden are prepared to bow to Brian's demands a
Risky change of strategy will be needed if he's to snare his dragons of choice
If anybody was prepared to accept
125,000 pounds for 5% equity in the business. I would do the deal here today
Otherwise, I have to walk away - I have to protect my shareholders position
I'll do the deal for 8%, but dropped to 5% when I get my money back
125 for 5% is where I'm where I'm at with this. I
I believe this business is gonna be worth 18 million pounds in 12 months time
I'll do that deal. You would do that? Anybody else. Tej - I'm going to decline your offer.
To Deborah I reach out to you on that.
I came in for two Dragons and I'm not gonna be bad to go. Thank you for your offer.
Oh, you know what my oppa yeah. Basically you don't want my offer? Yeah. (Ooh gosh.)
I'm out. Thank you
Brian has summarily rejected offers from both Touker Suleyman and Tej Lalvani.
The entrepreneur has acted in haste, but will Deborah Meaden make him repent at leisure? Oh
That's a shame you did that
Until that point you were faultless, but actually that was a bit of an impetuous thing
You have got dragons here. You're gonna add massive value here. I appreciate that. (Ohh...)
You know what, Brian, I'm really shocked. You have a potential opportunity with a unicorn here and
The very person that can connect you and connect the dots
You've disbanded and then you've alienated one Dragon to my right and then you go straight to Deborah, which has now alienated me. Yeah.
On the basis the way you're handling this I'm, erm,
Feeling a little bit strange about it
Okay
Brian's brinkmanship is in danger of badly backfiring
His chances of securing an investment once rosy, now hang by the slimmest of threads
Are you still in, Peter? I
Am still in but I'm in at 15% - yeah - dropping to 10. Yeah
Okay, so based on the fact we have two two dragons have put in two separate offers and not offered to make a combined
offer, do you know what? I'm going to go with my gut on this.
And my gut says
Go with you Peter. Are you accepting my offer? A 100%. Wow.
Well done. Thank you. Pleasure. Crazy excited Thanks. Thank you
Brian and Euan have done it
They leave the den with a hundred and twenty five thousand pounds and a Dragon with the contacts and expertise
to take their business to the next level that
Was one of my toughest negotiations in the den, that's how I'm feeling right now, I'm actually clammy I'm sweating like crazy
That experience was like a roller coaster and at one point yesterday. God poured it. Yes, but you know what?
Saw it for what it was, clawed it back and closed the deal