(Cross posted at Dragonfly with possible additional readers’ comments)
The following are my brief reviews and comments of the Dragons’ Den Season 2 episode 7 business ideas and pitches.
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House keeping comment:
I am a big Dragons’ Den fan but I am very disappointed with the businesses and pitches in this episode. I haven’t reviewed any of the previous episodes so quickly and use so many, “Unfortunately, not really a business.” to review a business pitch.
I have to say this episode is probably my least favourite episode in season 2 and probably season 1 (allowing for time to learn). I really hope the remaining episodes will feature better businesses or pitches.
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On some level, I admire the entrepreneurial creativeness of Noemi Berius in creating her business as a result of “looking for an educational gift to give my goddaughter. I wanted to find a book with a hero that looked like her, with her darker skin, beautiful long brown hair and big brown eyes …“
At the same time there are three challenges that make this investment by Arlene (100K for 51% of the company) a risky one in some sense.
1) The stories can be copyrighted but the concept cannot. If others see the product profitable, there is nothing stopping them from entering this market and creating their own version of these customized stories, etc.
2) Even though Noemi suggested in the Dragons’ Den Forum that her primary motivation for this product was not for data mining. But the potential for comprehensive data mining of young kids (and targeted marketing to them and their parents) are clear and present dangers. I blogged about the potential abuse by current corp of multi-nationals (including brands like Barbie Girls) in an October blog entry, “Children’s Privacy Online” (with video) based on materials from Office of the Privacy Commissioner, so I won’t repeat my discussion here.
3) As a result of the privacy concerns expressed in #2, I don’t know how knowledgeable parents will react about giving up their children’s privacy in such a young age. The problem with an extremely customizable product full of personal details is that it will be quite a challenge to establish an acceptable privacy policy.
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Not really a viable business. Kevin is known for his “personal style”. But it is a bit sad for me to see Kevin toy with the entrepreneur for paying him $50 to buy his prototype. I suppose it is his right to offer what he likes, and it is up to the entrepreneur to reject or accept. Still, based on the edited footage, the $50 offer seemed a bit insulting to the entrepreneur and appeared meaner than needed to be.
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Unfortunately, not really a business.
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The entrepreneur should really try to sell her product first as oppose to raise money to buy inventory which she had yet to sell one (at taped time).
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Dragons’ Den is probably the wrong forum for seriously raising $10 million. On the other hand, the free national TV exposure can be a good thing for many companies that need to raise funds.
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I know nothing about men’s underwear as a business.
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Unfortunately, not really a business.
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Unfortunately, not really a business.
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Bend-No-More
Unfortunately, not really a business.
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Tampac
Unfortunately, not really a business.
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Stainless Steel Monuments
Unfortunately, not really a business.
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Garage Door Sports Screen
Unfortunately, not really a business.
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Tuesday, 13 November, 2007 at 8:18 AM
Hi Kempton,
Very thoughtful post as usual. I have to say I admire the work you have done and the comments that you write . I love http://www.startup-review.com/ . It is quite insightful. I appreciate the work you have put in to help entrepreneurs.
I agree with you that there is abuse potential on the privacy side. As a mom, an active internet user and an ethical person, I want my customers and their children to be safe and ethically served. We have spent considerable time as a company discussing what our policy should be regarding children’s privacy and the legitimacy of what we do. Here are a few of my thoughts.
1. Despite the suggestions of consultants, employees and parents and unlike the Barbie and other branded sites, our site is geared towards adults purchasing products for children. Our primary customer is NOT the child. We do not have games or any other incentives for children to come on our site or give us information. The adult decides what information is provided. They come on the site to learn about and purchase a product. Nothing else.
2. The option discussed by the Dragons for data-mining would be done with products for third-party branded companies. The Dragons even suggested we give out this product for free to people who would provide their information. In this case, I believe it would be clearer to the customer that the information is an exchange for the free product. The information would again be garnered from adults. These adults would have to be told how this information would be used. Marketing to children is illegal. Companies would only be able to use this information to sell to adults only. Hopefully this would create more relevant offers.
3. We do not sell or share the information obtained for Printakid books. Our privacy policy will always explain exactly how we will use the information. That being said, I know that people don’t always read these policies so if we were to significantly change it, we would have to actively explain it and let customers opt-in to any new use of the information.
4. I do not have a huge branded company. The loyalty I am developing is with satisfied parents and grandparents. Being an internet-based company, I build my business through word-of-mouth. I can’t afford to make any mistakes on the privacy side. If I do not respect my customers, if I do a stupid thing with the trust my customers give me, my business will die (and deservedly so). I hope you will continue to keep your eye on me and other big businesses who deal with children. Keep denouncing shady tactics. The companies who treat their customers ethically will end up winning customers’ trust and business
5.I plan on making sure these rules are in any contract I sign with investors. If ever I lose the majority ownership of my company, this ethical position will stand.
6. With all of the advances in technology, the market is going towards more personalization. Everyone is doing it. I don’t think it is a question of IF we should personalize. Customers want this feature and companies have the technology to provide it now. Maybe I am wrong, but I don’t think you can put the genie back into the bottle. I think the challenge will be HOW to develop standards and procedures and how to track companies and keep them accountable. I hope to be able to work with my customers to help define how to do this appropriately for Printakid. Maybe we can teach Barbie a thing or two about good corporate citizenship :)
7. Does this potential for abuse mean that I should not provide products for children who are not currently served by traditional literature? We are thinking of making books with handicapped children. Should we not provide services for this needy segment? I have parents who have begged us to put their child’s specific disability in our stories. Should I not ask our customers about this information because it might be badly used?
My answer to these questions, is to go ahead but hold myself to high standards. I expect my customers to do the same. I am happy you started this dialogue. Do you have any suggestions? Is there anything we are doing wrong now?
Tuesday, 13 November, 2007 at 8:26 AM
Your privacy is important
Hi Kempton,
Very thoughtful post as usual. I have to say I admire the work you have done and the comments that you write . I love http://www.startup-review.com/ . It is quite insightful. I appreciate the work you have put in to help entrepreneurs.
I agree …
Tuesday, 13 November, 2007 at 8:51 AM
Dear Noemi,
Thanks a lot for leaving a detailed comment. I will take some time to read it in full and reply to it.
Regards,
Kempton
P.S. I am glad you enjoy startup-review.com .
Tuesday, 13 November, 2007 at 9:40 AM
Dear Noemi,
Thanks for your kind words about my work and I do try to help entrepreneurs whenever I can. Which is why I and other volunteers help founded the Demo Camp and Bar Camp meetings (totally free) in Calgary for tech entrepreneurs. (pardon the ad :)
Thanks for acknowledging the potential for abuse on the privacy side of things and your interest in my feedback and suggestions.
You have a very detailed reply and I will response briefly to you comments.
re #1, it is important that the adults are the one that decide what information is provided. (more on the info entered later)
re #2, I wish marketing to children is illegal but well known sites like Barbie Girls prove that is not the case. If I were you, I would be very careful in dealing with third-party company and lending your reputation by being their information gathering agent.
re #3, you are right that many privacy policies are so long that people don’t want to spend the time to read. On the other hand, a privacy policy that simply states something like, “We respect your privacy. We will only use your personal data for this transaction. And the following actions specifically authorized by you, (a) Please click here to authorize us to tell you about our new products. Please click here to authorize us to …” The above is just something I cooked up quickly, but my main point is that a good privacy policy doesn’t have to long and unreadable. And Quebec, as my limited understanding goes, has a pretty good privacy commissioner office. Learn from them.
re #4. thanks for your kind words about my effort. But privacy protection of children should be a concern that parents really need to get themselves more aware of.
re #5, great.
re 6, You are right that tracking the companies and keeping them accountable is the key. Ha ha, when Barbie is flagged as the bad girl in marketing to kids in privacy conference, I won’t be surprise you may indeed be able to teach Barbie a thing or two. (smile) Working with your loyal customers (especially those that can and will disagree with you) to develop your privacy policy is a step in the right direction.
re 7, I think it is noble for you to want to serve kids and family with diverse needs. My problem with your interesting product is how the collected data will be kept, used, or transfered.
I hope my feedback help to clarify a few of my concerns and also suggested some possible solution to consider. Again, these are just my 2 cents and I do make mistakes quite often.
Regards,
Kempton
Tuesday, 13 November, 2007 at 10:23 AM
Thanks again for the comments Kempton.
I agree with everything you say above. I agree that there is a potential for abuse. People will have to decide whether they would like to forgo the use of the product or not because of this risk. There is no other way for me to make a personalized book than by asking this information. All I can tell you is what are my policies and what I plan to do with my company to minimize that potential.
I will not compromise my principals for money. Third-parties will have to do right by their customers to use my service. I believe customers don’t mind getting personalized offers as long as they have the control over how their information is used and they receive respectful (even hopefully useful) information because of it.
I agree that privacy policies can be simplified. We will do so if ever we change ours. Right now, it is that we WILL NOT SHARE OR SELL the information to ANYONE except those required to fulfill the customer’s particular order (credit card, post office, etc.) So I don’t think customers need to opt into anything.
I currently do stats on what personalization options are the most commonly requested for product development purposes. That’s the only way the information is used so again, not much to be concerned about. Right now, information collected before 2007 is archived. I don’t even have the ready ability to consult that information. If a customer calls regarding an order made before 2007, we consult the paper printouts of their orders.
I hope this answers your questions about how the information is used. I know this does not address the overarching concern you have about these kinds of practices.
You should be concerned.
I can’t speak to what other people will do and I join you in urging your readers to get informed before giving information to anyone about their children. If after careful research, you feel you are comfortable sharing this type of information and you decide you still want to order a quality personalized story that will reflect your child’s reality, then I will be happy to help serve you at http://www.Printakid.com … sorry Kempton for the ad :)
If any of you have further comments, suggestions or concerns, keep them coming. I’ll be as transparent as I can.
Tuesday, 13 November, 2007 at 10:32 AM
Hi Noemi,
“… we WILL NOT SHARE OR SELL the information to ANYONE except those required to fulfill the customer’s particular order (credit card, post office, etc.)” sounds good to me.
Good luck,
Kempton
P.S. Ha ha, no problem for the small ad. I even fixed the hyper link for you by adding a space after the “.com” and before the “…”
P.P.S. I hope you are getting some sales and traffic as a result of Dragons’ Den.
Tuesday, 13 November, 2007 at 7:37 PM
Yup, we got sales and our traffic quadrupled compared to the previous day. Not bad considering that the show doesn’t have the same target market we do.