First, I would like to preface our story with - This is not "sour grapes"! Keep reading and I think you will agree.

In April of 2007 I, Randy Paisley, went to Victoria, BC to, what I'll call, a Casting Call. I arrived as they were rapping things up. I gave my hastily prepared pitch to one of the Producers and was told that I was in the top one percentile of all the pitches that they had heard that day. Upon leaving the audition my confidence was high that I would be invited to Toronto for the show.

In early May I received the call stating that I had been selected to go to Toronto for a June 8th taping and that a Pitching Coach would be in touch with me prior to the trip to Toronto. I rehearsed the pitch on a few occasions with the PC and was told that I had it down and was going to do well.

Since, my wife, Brandi (That's her in the picture) and I are partners in our company we decided that the experience should be enjoyed by the two of us. The $500 stipend was only enough for one of us, but we decided that we would pay the additional costs associated with the experience ie: airfare, hotel, meals, transportation and child care.

The local media got wind of our pending trip to Toronto and we appeared on the local TV News and 3 newspapers (www.pullerbear.com/media). It was all quite exciting and we were looking forward to the trip. This is the following time-line

- Thursday, June 7th we arrived in Missaugua with three of our tools.

- Friday, June 8th we hired a car for the 45 minute trip to CBC studios in downtown Toronto.

- Upon arrival at the CBC we were among the other "contestants" waiting for some direction from the Dragons' Den staff. We were escorted to the set of the show and given an area to display our products. The Producers walked through and decided what they were going to allow on the set and what they wouldn't. In our case they wouldn't allow a display with photos of how are Pullerbears worked. Here are some photos of the waiting area the morning we arrived.

The presenters that were there on June 8th that were on the show this year were Printakid(show 7), Blue Water Technologies(7), Island Sports - Wrestling(2), Mrakic Gold Holdings(7), Sap World(3), Bottoms Up(8) and Dumpster Signs(9)

This is where we started feeling a little scuzzy. The Sequester Lounge was on the 5th or 6th floor looking out on Rogers Stadium and the base of the CN Tower with Lake Ontario as the backdrop. In retrospect, we wished we had spent more time enjoying the view and the surroundings instead of honing our pitch. Perhaps the worst part of the Sequester Lounge was the Dragons' Den wanna-be Sean Wise, self proclaimed Venture Capitalist, pimping his book Wise Words to a room full of entrepreneur wanna-bes'. If trying to sell his book to these starry eyed "entres'" wasn't bad enough he would trot in to the lounge every hour and chant like a desperate Amway salesman about how angry the Dragons' were that they weren't making any deals. "C'mon, ask for less cash and give up more of your business! This rah! rah! pep rally occurred at least 7 or 8 times in 8 hours. I may have missed a couple of rallies while being escorted to the bathroom by a "runner". That's right, you were either escorted to the bathroom or you had to ask permission. All of the rallies ended with "Okay! Has everyone got a copy of my book? If not we have some here and I'll even autograph it for you if you buy one now!"

The more fortunate presenters got their numbers drawn early so that they didn't have to endure this two-bit pitchman brow beating everyone in the room. Our time in the Lounge would have been better spent if we had got to know as many of the presenters as possible. If we had done that we would have been able to compare notes on how we were treated at the CBC and after we got back to our respective homes.

Anyway, I digress, when we were mercifly called to do our pitch around 5:30 PM we were escorted to makeup and then behind the raised platform that you see each presenters silouette as they walk to the top of the stairs they ascend into the Den. The production staff had our 3 tools stuffed into the large alluminum box that we had transported the tools in. The tools and the box combined weighed over 70lbs. We had to carry the box up a flight of stairs with risers more like a ladder than a staircase and stand ready for our cue. Once the cue was given we now had to carry the tools and box down the stairs into the Den. The elapsed time from going up the stairs and then back down again was only a couple of minutes. It was then up to us to set up the tools while the Dragons' all looked on. We were winded to start with but perhaps more "breathtaking" was the immaturity of the Dragons'. Their comments, in particular Lawrence, O'leary and Robert, were not only distracting and disconcerting but fairly ignorant. They were bantering back and forth on what it was "Oh! Look, he's invented a steel hockey stick!" I know that doesn't sound that bad but when you are hearing them mocking you like you are a lesser being, really does, speak to their arrogance and ignorance. I found it somewhat therapeutic to witness that same behavior was shared with other presenters.

Now the pitch, Hello Dragons', my name is ..... and before I could even finish introducing myself and my wife Brandi they were interupting. This is where all the time you spend preparing your pitch turns out to be a collosal waste of time. Much like Sean (Wannabe Wise) Wise's Wise Words (whew...say that a few times) book is a collosal waste of money. (The first person to pay the postage can have my copy for free!). The pitch means nothing in Toronto, practice your pitch for the audition so that you get the invite but after that forget it.

Now the exchange between me and the Dragons'....O'Leary asks, "Why wouldn't I go and cut trees down with a chainsaw instead? Robert says, There is no business here, it's a niche business at best and for that reason I'm out!. Lawrence asked, what inspired it's creation and that he was going to buy one (he never did). I can't remember Arlene at all. And Jim Treliving was a deer in the headlights. I can't remember him saying anything specific other than acknowleging that he knew what scotch broom was. The time we spent before the Dragons' was enlightening, in that, we shouldn't have been intimidated by them. They're all fluff, highchairs and makeup with the brighter lights shining on them.

After you leave the set you get a debriefing from Diane Buckner (Yes, she was wearing that same dress) and are unceremoniuosly shown the backdoor. The same door that we entered 10 hours earlier in hopes of striking a deal with the Dragons'. Now that there are two seasons complete and they only finalized two deals, salad dressing in season one and tea in season two, with all of those you saw on TV and just as many that you never saw....we didn't have a chance of making a deal but at least we could look forward to being on the show. Boy were we wrong and the following presenters shared the same fate.

The presenters (I remember from that day) that didn't make it on the show were...

1. The Curbside Caddy - a useful gadget used for transporting your recyclables to the curb and back.

2. Mobile Automatic Teller Machines - ATM's that move to out of the way locations so that campers, concert goers and festival patrons can access their cash without having to travel to the nearest town.

3. Automated Coffee Kiosk - a customer purchases a specially coded coffee mug that enables the customer to get a fresh coffee from an automated kiosk that dispenses the coffee the way the customer prefers and at the same time reads the code imbedded in the mug and then debits your bank account.

4. Sand Safe - this clever invention solves the problem of securing your valuables when you are at the beach. It unfolds as a beach blanket would except that when you want to go swimming you can secure your valuables in a secure pouch sewn into the Sand Safe. When your valuables are zipped into the pouch you and your kids scoop sand on to the blanket, roll it up and then lock the sand into the blanket. If a thief wants your stuff they are going to have to lug the hundreds of pounds of sand with them.

5. Childs Portfolio - this slick system allows a parent to keep all of their kids important documents and other keepsakes together in one place so that when your child is ready to go out on their own you can present them with this gift of organization.

These are five examples of quality business proposals that never saw the light of being on a nationally televised program, instead they remain in the world of obscurity. These five businesses were all in Toronto on June 8th, 2007 and were left on the cutting room floor, but alas, the Dumpster Sign Guy was there the same day and the country was exposed to his insanity.

To summarize our experience....if you are serious about your business, the Den is no place for you. If your a clown and willing to make a complete fool of yourself then the Den awaits you. Good luck and remember don't waste your money on Wise Words you can have my copy for free.