This guy was offered £1million to straight up sell his entire business on Dragons’ Den

A clip has been circulating online of when a guy was given the offer of a million pounds straight up on Dragons’ Den to sell his entire business and idea to Peter Jones.

The pitch in question is from nine years ago, but has been reposted on TikTok recently, and shows entrepreneur Ryan Donaghy pitching his electric toothbrush idea to the Dragons. He was initially seeking an investment of £150k in return for an 11 per cent equity in his business, but ended up having Peter Jones ask him if he could have the entire idea for £1million.

Ryan started his pitch by telling the Dragons he’s aware there are already electric toothbrushes on the market, but none of them “match people’s style” or offer any personality or look nice. Ryan hadn’t started trading yet, so had no sales numbers to offer the Dragons, but told them he had secured “listing in the UK’s largest high street retailer”. He said he needed the cash to create a prototype and fulfil his orders.

At first the Dragons laughed at the idea of the public wanting a “fashionable toothbrush” but when Ryan revealed his high street retailer as a big deal with Boots, they suddenly perked up.

via BBC

Duncan Bannatyne admitted he had no idea how a battery in an electric toothbrush worked (there’s hope we could all be millionaires one day) and was the first to declare he was out. The final Dragon to share their opinion was Peter Jones, who held all the cards.

Peter then straight up said: “If I said I’ve got roots to market and I think it’s great, I’ll give you a million pounds but I want 100 per cent of it, you’d sell it, wouldn’t you?” For a few seconds, Ryan looked at Peter in disbelief before telling him no.

Peter replied: “You wouldn’t take a million pounds off me for your idea right now?” Ryan replied no, before Peter asked him *again* and Ryan rejected *again*. So, Peter was out.

Posting about his Dragons’ Den experience, six years later on LinkedIn, Ryan said: “I could have persevered with T.Brush and raised investment, but I felt it wasn’t my time, and actually, I wouldn’t change the decision to move to Brazil for the world, or £1 million from Peter Jones!”

Since then, Ryan has stated another oral health company, and it’s been reported he has a net worth of £1million – no Peter Jones cash necessary.

Watch the full video of the Dragons’ Den million pound offer here:

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