Business Pitches Quotes

Most venture capitalists won't read a business plan unless the entrepreneur is introduced to them by a contact.

When I worked in financial services, as part of a female-led business, I found that pitching to very male-dominated boards created stress.

I look for the entrepreneur to capture my attention. If you don't come out with a great presentation, you're dead. That's a big red flag.

I'm in the mood for 'Shark Tank' sometimes. When I am, my son and I can't stop watching. But I probably watch 'The Bachelor' more, and Scott Foley and I text about it, like, 'Oh my God, did you see that?!' I love it. It's such a train wreck.

Shark Tank's participatory. There's so many people on Twitter for this show, and they all feel like they're in the tank, making calls on this stuff.

I think a lot of people are getting bored of audition-based shows, along the lines of 'Strictly Come Dancing' or 'The X-Factor'. I know I am. But 'Dragons' Den' will have a longer shelf-life than all of them because it's fundamentally real in a way that other shows aren't.

I get a lot of emails from entrepreneurs. The best ones are short, to the point and include some question and/or the product

If I'm filming 'Dragons' Den', we work flat out until 8pm, although I love seeing the weird, wonderful and plain delusional.

I raise money the old fashioned way, I go out and tell people what I think. And I say to them, "If you hire me, I'm a CEO, and I'll listen to you. But at the end of the day, I'm going to make the decision, something I've done throughout my whole career with, frankly, great success."

I think just calling up a VC and saying 'I want to pitch you' is an enormous waste of time.

You can't necessarily tell when watching at home, but those pitches are usually an hour long each, and many are emotional, hilarious, and inspiring.

My biggest television weakness is 'Dragons' Den.'

I take a lot of pitches. Some guys hate to do that.

One of the things that struck me is how authentic 'Shark Tank' is. I don't know how more real it can be. You have no prior knowledge about the entrepreneurs.