Family, friends and staff have gathered for a celebratory dinner and viewing party at the Zygg West warehouse in Parkdale to watch CEO Kevin McLaughlin face The Dragons on the season premiere of CBC’s Dragons’ Den. Kevin, accompanied by Zygg COO Devin McDonald, entered the studios at the end of May, however, it is only now that we are able to get a frank, insider’s perspective on what went down from Kevin, himself:
“Starting a new venture is hard,” Kevin confides, “and doing it in the middle of a pandemic adds a layer or two of weird. One of the key tasks for a founder / CEO is to make sure that the business has enough cash to grow, which means I am always looking out for new investors, lenders and ways to grow my network. I don’t remember how, but I saw the call for Dragons’ Den last winter, and applied online. It’s a simple application to start, followed, in COVID-protocol-times, by a video interview by a few producers, where they check out your product/service and your pitch - - I guess to make sure it will work on TV and especially in the mix of startups in the Dragons’ Den.
We are looking for investors, so that was goal #1. It’s also a very popular show, so just getting on means great exposure across Canada. Doing well means even more. And of course, it looks like a fun challenge, as an entrepreneur.
I was very nervous, and excited. I am not an over-prepper when it comes to public speaking. I like to have my material - usually a slide deck - and know it, however, I find it hard to memorize exactly. For Dragons’ Den, I had to memorize an intro - and have lots of facts and figures ready for all of the potential “what’s this ratio?” questions. And, trying to manage my nerves, so I could commit things to memory, was the biggest priority.
At the CBC, there were a lot of protocols in place, including the fact that we sat in our own little “green room”. We brought up 6 ebikes, one for me and 5 for the Dragons. We were there almost 3 hours before I pitched, and had plenty of time to get nervous all over again. We watched a little “this is how it will go” video, and spoke to the producer on a 2-way video system. Then waited some more. And, I tried not to get freaked out that we were going to have to follow someone with PUPPIES! Oh no, how will we ever compete?
The idea was that I would ride an ebike into The Den, give my pitch, then invite the Dragons to ride the bikes (which would be revealed behind a special wall across the studio), then answer questions. I practiced my ride in, about an hour before the pitch, (whoa, lower speed, it’s a small slippery room), and set up the 5 ebikes behind the wall. While waiting in the “green room”, I had a wave of panic. We had not remembered to set-up a way to turn the ebikes on with the producers. Devin, who decided he’d rather stay behind the scenes, went to the bikes and turned them on. I then waited until I was called to the on-deck position, within the studio but hidden from view. I watched someone before me get GRILLED by the Dragons. Ouch. I then had another wave of panic as his grilling went on, and on, and I realized all of the ebikes would turn off automatically after 5-10 minutes. I wasn’t allowed to go to the ebikes with the Dragons, because of COVID (we had all been tested and vaxxed, but would be maskless.) So, while I was waiting to ride the ebike out and not crash, remember my 90 second pitch, and all of the facts & figures for the question period, I also had to weigh a decision about what to do with the ebikes. If the Dragons rode them without power, they would be very underwhelmed.
Then it was my turn. I rode an ebike into the studio to their surprise, without crashing. I parked it and gave my 90 second pitch, pausing only a couple of times, but remembering it without really getting mixed up. I then signalled the reveal of the ebikes behind the wall, and invited the Dragons to ride them. As they got up from their seats, put on running shoes as needed, I broke from the script, and ran over to the ebikes to turn them on. As the Dragons approached, I was turning the last ones on and checking, and then, a booming, director’s voice came over the speakers: “Dragons, back to your seats…” or something similar. We all went back to the “reveal” moment and redid the invitation to ride, but now, the ebikes had power and the test-rides were a success. Different abilities and clothing meant different riding results, but I was (and they were) happy and it produced lots of great TV shots, I'm sure.
Next, on to the questions.
I don’t honestly remember many of the actual questions asked. It was a blur. Lots of trying to understand the business. What I do remember is not being prepared for the Dragons talking and shouting over themselves, so that I hadn’t finished answering one, when two more questions would come at me, and this polite Canadian had to figure out who to answer, not just step up and be confident in the answer. And, keep smiling.
I had seen that Arlene had been interested in at least one other bike-based business, and felt like she might be interested. And, she was a decent person to work with, from my research. She said, “I’ll give you the money” from the get go, and I think that surprised some of the Dragons as much as me. This part is also a bit strange, in terms of there not being a specific structure to how it works. It can be unnerving managing the Dragons. From there, Wes Hall & Vincenzo Guzzo made offers of $1 Million but for increasing amounts of the company, trying to sweeten their deal with emphasis on their networks and whatnot. But Manjit won the day with her offer of MORE money for the 15% I was selling. She was, however, skeptical that I really was there for money, and threw a curve ball by attaching a $200,000 “break fee” to her larger offer. (If I didn’t take her money, I would owe her $200k). I almost forgot Michele, who had been quite quiet compared to the others. She felt overlooked and played this as “disrespectful”. She was the only Dragon not making an offer. Manjit triumphed, with a bid of $1.2M for 15% of Zygg.
Throughout this whole process, Devin, backstage, could not see nor hear anything. There was no live-feed to where he was. The first moments we re-united, I started to tell him the story, and wanted to make it as dramatic as it felt. As soon as he heard I had an offer, he jumped up and high-fived me a few hundred times and was sooooo excited. It took him a while to realize there was more. I really enjoyed working him up to the winning offer.
It was a great experience, and worth it for everyone, even if only to push you out of your comfort zone and get feedback on your venture. Definitely do some prep work, not just on your pitch, but what it’s going to be like in The Den, managing questions and offers. Perhaps, have a few curve balls of your own, both for TV fun but also to try to figure out who is really serious and will be a good fit. And try to do some research on what to expect after, if you get an offer.
I am happy to chat about my experiences with anyone out there further.
We’re really excited to grow Zygg into the #1 brand for simple and affordable ebikes in Canada and the Americas. Dragons’ Den has already helped grow our network, and that is a huge benefit.”
You can watch Kevin and Zygg E-Bikes slay The Dragons via streaming on CBC GEM