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00:02tonight on a special 20th anniversary celebration our most successful past
00:09pictures return to the den big show amazing I think we're officially but
00:15this time as guest dragons for two exclusive episodes our name in lights
00:22this is like the full circle moment sets in Tara Bosch was only 22 when she
00:30entered the den and within three years she sold smart suites for 360 million
00:36dollars this is actually a crazy view right here if you think about it Mark
00:40Lafleur closed a dragon deal for his locally sourced farm-to-door
00:43subscription boxes and went on to sell the company for nearly 17 million dollars
00:48my makeup might get messed up right now Barb Stegman was the first Atlantic
00:53Canadian to land a dragon deal for her social enterprise the seven virtues and
00:58now her cents are sold globally Wow this is great so comfortable
01:04Jay Klein took the pure company from door-to-door sales to the fastest
01:08growing gum business in North America these look real enough for me I'm not
01:12happy with this okay I guess we're doing this and Joanna Griffiths pitched leak
01:18proof underwear and went on to build NYX into a billion-dollar brand now
01:23they're ready to invest their money in the next generation a full circle
01:28moment 20 years in the making
01:37first to face the full circle dragons there we go bro you go wow don't even
01:42look I know it's sick it's hard not to be like beaming when the first one comes
01:46out we're gonna smash this brothers from Toronto hoping to land the expertise and
01:53dough to make their business rise hello dragons my name's Eden and my name is
01:58Don and we are from Toronto Ontario we're the two brothers that started
02:02Dream Crust Pizza we're here today asking for two hundred and twenty five
02:06thousand dollars for fifteen percent of our business our family's been in the
02:12pizza business for over 30 years but we've always dreamt about a pizza that we could actually feel good about
02:17so three years ago we
02:19took our shot at disrupting a billion-dollar market by creating the
02:22world's first healthy frozen pizza with 68 grams of protein and 20 grams of net
02:29carbs this pie was the first of its kind dragons we're here building the
02:33future of pizza our only question can we interest you in a slice of the pie
02:40protein is my love language right now dream press frozen pizza come in four
02:46flavors their top sellers are mozzarella dreams and a plant-based pepperoni
02:50paradise that is really good this is delicious
02:53this is unbelievable I'm gonna eat this delicious pizza so this is a high
02:59protein low-carb pizza that you really can't tell tastes any different than a
03:03normal pizza every single weekend and so to be able to sneak in protein is a big
03:10deal currently they sell online only direct to customers prices range but a
03:16six-pizza bundle sells for around $100 I want to hear this story because to
03:23get pizza this crunchy that you can make at home where does this pizza come
03:26from the whole pizza business that we grew up surrounded by was a retail
03:31kosher pizza business actually eventually got into the family business really tried
03:35to help my family and my father mainly transition from fresh to frozen got to
03:41tell you I did a ton of research when I graduated from school eventually figured
03:46out that there's a way to create a frozen pizza without preserving it I keep
03:49kosher okay and it's hard to find good kosher pizza yeah yeah it's also just
03:54hard to find good pizza but this checks both of those boxes it's made from a
03:58unique magical blend of ingredients designed to mimic what pizza would look
04:01like smell like feel like and taste like so we worked with food nutrition
04:04scientists to develop this crust literally hundreds of formulas and we use
04:08very high quality fiber starches to make sure that you can actually digest it much
04:12easier fiber is my wheelhouse and with so many products in CPG yes like smart
04:18sweets and yours fiber is the key right it's the solution to addressing the carbs
04:23yes the biggest battle that we faced was finding that sweet spot of
04:27tolerability mmm so what is the fiber content of this so in every pizza there's
04:3488 grams of fiber wow this is anecdotally can you eat the whole pizza and you're
04:39comfortable yes and Tara I can also happily taste test the whole pizza I don't know if
04:45you want to have the runs on this pitch so so edit I've got a question about the
04:50bigger pie which is the numbers so let's understand your numbers our one-year
04:53anniversary is coming up so far by that point we will have done just around the
04:59four hundred and thirty thousand dollar mark okay that's a good first year
05:03revenue coming from all of it is within the GTA so we have not even scratched the
05:08surface yet of the rest of the country and 93% is coming from direct to
05:13consumer the rest of e-commerce e-commerce yes and what was your
05:17acquisition cost yeah our acquisition costs right now historically have got have
05:21been anywhere between 30 to 75 dollars ups and downs all the time what's the
05:25most you've spent on a month in marketing I've sold over a billion
05:29dollars online yeah look right now I would say that that's one of the things
05:34that are holding us back from continuing I think 25,000 was in 25,000 in March if
05:41only there was someone here who shipped frozen food on a subscription I'll tell
05:48you guys about the magic ingredient in this business yeah and it's shipping yeah
05:51this is what's gonna make or break your entire company there's a big jump in
05:56the type of business you're running when you were doing a GTA based customer
06:00base compared to trying to go across Canada so what is your shipping cost so
06:04we're paying between 13 to 17 dollars and that's including with the dry ice and
06:08everything no that's just the shipping cost yeah the dangerous good charge yes
06:12yeah the dry ice is the most expensive piece to it a hundred percent you know the
06:15reason I'm not hung up on the shipping is because you're gonna lower your
06:19shipping costs over time by being more efficient and filling in density yeah at
06:23the pure company we were not efficient when we started we shipped one case of
06:26gum across the country if a customer wants your product you want to get it to
06:30them if I go to a grocery store today I can't find this product there's a huge
06:34freezer section of pizza this 100% belongs in that category well let's ask
06:39that question though what is your guys a strategy are you wanting to scale via e-com
06:44or are you wanting to move into retail we we want to do both my gut says we're
06:52starting the world's first healthy frozen pizza club whether you're buying it at a
06:56retail location whether you're doing a subscription that's dropping at your
06:59door we just have a better way to pizza I can tell you that just last week
07:05alone I was this close to making a private label deal with another local
07:12grocery store chain a month private label deal private label then you're
07:16competing against yourself but why not sell more pizzas because you're competing
07:20against yourself do you want to build a brand
07:34why not sell more pizzas because you're competing against yourself do you want to
07:38build a brand I got offers for so many private label deals and it was really hard
07:43to say no to short-term cash but I'm so glad that I did in the long run because we
07:48got to be the category creators and the category leaders I think that's what you
07:51want what Jay said I believe to be true is you guys have to navigate where the
07:58consumer is and the reality is most consumers when they want pizza they're
08:02not thinking about buying it from e-commerce so I think for that reason I'm
08:06out Eden you know what I'm not from the pizza business but I am your customer I see a
08:13vinyl in one of the freezer windows going no you're not dreaming and I would just
08:17want to open it and find out what's happening I can see so many marketing
08:20opportunities look I'm not in the food business so I can't bring anything to the
08:25table like some of my other dragons here I'm really really impressed by the end
08:29for that reason I'm out we've been able to move fast but we got to go faster and
08:38honestly that's why I'm here there's just so much knowledge and experience here
08:43Eden and Don yes I've got to tell you like it's it's the entrepreneur you know
08:48your passion your product the brand they really stand out thank you Joanna and I
08:54have been talking quietly Mark has been giving me the telepathy but I I'm a little
09:03unsettled with the valuation I will just say this about the valuation this is all
09:08within the GTA 90% with D to C we've just barely scratched the tip of the iceberg so
09:14here's here's here's my offer you have the three of us at 30% for 225 thousand
09:21dollars the valuation that you guys are proposing here is almost cutting the
09:28existing valuation you know close to half would you guys be open to increase the
09:34amount of money that you're putting into the table I think one of the best
09:37things that you guys will get with three of us is that you have access to capital
09:41later on we'd love to make a counter 30% for 375 thousand 125 a pop bringing down
09:48that valuation to the 1.25 look at what's in front of you frozen food delivery
09:54successful exit one of the most successful food brands created in the
09:59health food space in this country one of the biggest e-commerce brands category
10:03creator this is an all-star lineup I just wouldn't want to devalue the brand as
10:13is from where it is at this moment so we're gonna stick at the 375 for the 30 I
10:17think we're out at this point I mean we've already said what we bring to the
10:23table you know I know what happened when Michelle joined our team and it just
10:26absolutely opened the door for us I think that your value combined outweighs
10:33whatever value that we think we might be losing with the valuation we'd love to
10:38take the deal with all three
10:57you know what they're there the three dragons are
11:03amazing wow you're not dreaming Jay nope not dreaming we got a piece of the pie being a part of
11:12a 20-year legacy that Dragon's Den has brought to Canada is amazing well it's a
11:17great honor and I know that we can continue the legacy and give them the
11:21insights and tidbits on a really really tight level because it feels like I was
11:26just there Jay Klein turned one simple idea into a worldwide sensation and now
11:33he's a full circle Dragon he entered the den in season 9 with one clear mission
11:39kick artificial sweeteners out of gum I'd love to do that deal all right yes that
11:47passion and that million-dollar smile sparked the rise of a global powerhouse oh
11:52my god it's amazing yeah I'm biased last year alone Jay sold more than two
11:58billion pieces of gum across 50 plus countries making pure the fastest growing
12:04gum brand in North America Jay's expanding his empire with bold new
12:08products and a brand new u.s. distribution center fueling pure's next big
12:13chapter I see packages going all across the globe now this father of four is back in
12:19the den ready to chew over some big deals of his own here I get to sit in the
12:24den as a sign to all entrepreneurs that if you work hard and dream big you can
12:29make anything happen
12:42she's back where it all began our next full circle Dragon Barb Stegman with a keen nose for business she
12:50brought her idea to the den 15 years ago it's a beautiful smell thank you Barb made it her mission
12:58to support war-torn communities by sourcing oils directly from local farmers turning purpose into
13:04perfume she was the first Atlantic Canadian to land a deal with a dragon proving passion can turn a
13:10profit the seven virtues brand became the first Canadian perfume in Sephora now sold in more than
13:16two thousand two thousand two thousand two thousand two thousand one hundred stores worldwide
13:19you want to lick it you want to do it
13:21she's a best-selling author inspiring speaker and home shopping icon
13:26these oils are considered some of the best in the world Barb is set to expand
13:30her perfume ateliers to more cities across North America and now this
13:36pitcher turned dragon is back in the den to find her next life-changing opportunity
13:43seven minutes on dragon's den changed my life saved my company and I want to do that for someone else
13:49that's why I'm here
13:53next in the den I have tried to come on the den for about 10 years now driven through snowstorms
14:02every single time that I went to audition I learned something finally I'm strong enough to be here
14:07this entrepreneur from Nova Scotia's east shore is ready to make waves and take her natural products
14:14nationwide hello dragons my name is Lee McFarland I'm founder and CEO of the soap company of Nova Scotia
14:22and I'm here from Sherbrooke asking for four hundred thousand dollars in exchange for twenty percent of my
14:27company when I was six I started to have skin issues and then by the time I was in my
14:3440s I started to
14:36have a real severe reaction to any synthetic scents so I set about to try and find the products that
14:44I
14:44needed to feel safe in my skin and I couldn't find them that's when the soap company of Nova Scotia
14:50was
14:50born our primary mission which is creating safe and allergy friendly allergy sorry my apologies we've all
15:02been there I know every single one of you have been there don't worry about it take your time I
15:08have
15:08focused on my primary mission which is to create products that are safe for people to use and that are
15:15free from allergy reactive ingredients and I would love to invite you to try some of the product the soap
15:26company of Nova Scotia sells a variety of allergen free products for personal home and pet care wow
15:32you have a lot of products oh I love the smell of this it's gorgeous her products are available in
15:38both scented and unscented options with patchouli as the most purchased scent bars of soap retail for
15:45$9.99 while face and body cream are priced at $19.99
15:51you just
15:52oh what did you just do I just ate the whole acadian forest
15:58you're not supposed to eat it oh my god are you okay I know it's gluten free but you're not
16:02supposed
16:02to eat it I'm good I'm I'm good I think I have essential and then some
16:08the hat picks it feels it feels rich but not greasy there is so much in this one kid and
16:16tell
16:16us more about your SKUs why so many how many SKUs do you have 298
16:25where are you distributing and selling are you we're at 86 Sobe stores throughout Atlanta Canada
16:30also last April we launched into 26 Lawton stores tell us about your velocity in
16:37Sobeys and I ask that because they don't give shelf space lightly so I look at Sobeys as being on
16:45average per store 300 wholesale per month so $300 wholesale per month on average as a brand guy
16:52with pure what we want to make sure is that each spot that we have in the store the product
16:57is
16:57turning faster and faster right so we have a limited SKU assortment I think pure has 15 different items
17:04and you're talking about hundreds but the discipline of an entrepreneur is saying I've got to make my
17:12best SKUs my big winners and then go from there just need your heroes you're absolutely right like
17:18when I look at going outside of Atlantic Canada I look at it being a lot tighter let's get into
17:23the
17:23numbers right now what were your numbers last year so last year we did just over 500 1000 in sales
17:29so
17:30last year was the first year that we broke through after having quite a big disaster in 2021 we burnt
17:35down so it was my home it was the business physically burnt down yeah but no it's okay because we
17:43wouldn't look like we do right now I love your attitude that's a great it's a great it's a great
17:47I mean what else are you going to do right you're sitting there watching a lot of people would have
17:49buckled you rebuilt plus it happened in November so we lost 60,000 in sales but you picked back up
17:57you got back out there within three weeks you're incredible so the resilience is such a maritime thing
18:03look at us Atlantic Canadians nothing stops us bring it on yeah what do you think you'll do this
18:07year without your help 1 million with your help 1.5 million 1 million where's the growth coming from
18:14last year we were over 500 yeah uh this year so far our sales in the online store are up
18:1957 percent over
18:21the same what's your total revenue that's good total revenue hundred and oh gee isn't that terrible
18:28no I don't remember just so far it's just gone and you guys did 500,000 last year
18:33yeah and then this year so far what have you done this year total that's where my brain just
18:38emptied out sorry I just want to know how are you telling consumers that you're different than what
18:46you're sitting next to on shelf so at home in the Atlantic provinces is with our display and then we
18:52put
18:52the soap lady story on the sides in French and English but that's not what we're going to have
18:56exactly so that's actually part of what I is a challenge that I need to come up with a solution
19:02for are you willing to go to war to take this from a business that is starting to really get
19:09some strides
19:09in Atlantic Canada and go through the minefield and the battle that it will take to get this
19:15across Canada compared to the hundreds of other companies doing the exact same thing the exact
19:20same thing I love you said that yeah so what they're not okay so they're not so what is the
19:24so what's our difference give it to us I want with the enthusiasm I want to hear what this is
19:28yeah I have not yet been able to find another company that does what we do
19:33what is it that you do what we do is we make products that are nut-free gluten-free no
19:42latex
19:43allergy reactive ingredients we have got a single brand that provides you with all of the things
19:49that you need so the next step is to really get out there and take this and the soap lady
19:58story and
19:59start explaining about these products it feels like you're getting emotional can you tell us
20:03why I say I started this because I needed unscented products okay and the people who need unscented
20:09products really need unscented products I guess it matters it's such a privilege it is it is it's an
20:17honor a privilege and a mission and a purpose right for me as an investor it feels a little bit
20:23it's a lot it's scattered and I think there's a few things for you to work on and figure out
20:28but
20:29I wish you the best of luck thank you so much and I'm going to be out I think that
20:32you're going to
20:33struggle to try to find a way to differentiate when you start going outside of Canada so I'm
20:37going to be out you know I think that the easy part is getting on shelves that's when you're on
20:44the shelf and you have to drive you have to stay there and keep the space I think that coming
20:49here
20:49today and not knowing your revenue number and not being able to clearly share why you're different
20:56on shelf it's so important for consumers to be able to see that I'm rooting for you but for now
21:02I am out oh I did a poor job on that you have all the makings of tenacity and a
21:09founder and the will to
21:11win and never quit thank you what I'd love to see is for you to focus on a few winning
21:17skews because we
21:18could plug you into the pure infrastructure across the country we can get you in front of all these
21:22retailers but it's a little early I'm gonna be out for right now thank you Lee I'm gonna I'm gonna
21:28jump in on there to being your neighbor because we don't have the advantages of Toronto no we don't
21:34have that network in New York so we've got to work twice as hard as anyone else focus on your
21:42heroes
21:42get some PR press release out to the to the community I'm happy to help you with that you're
21:48gonna knock it out of the park but today I'm going to be out I'm really grateful for your time
21:55and your
21:55wisdom enjoy this experience thank you thank you so much here for this special full circle episode
22:04is Toronto's own Joanna Griffiths 11 years ago she braved the den with a bold new category an
22:12innovative line of leak-proof underwear and wire-free bras Nix wears high-tech underwear are
22:18every woman's new secret weapon today the Nix brand is a global powerhouse with more than a billion
22:24dollars in sales I pinch myself almost every day Joanna made history when she sold 80 percent of
22:31Nix for a staggering 410 million dollars but this trailblazer isn't done building I love this color
22:39it's gorgeous she still leads Nix as president and continues to innovate by launching minted
22:44reinventing men's basics and recently opened a flagship store in Soho New York now she's back
22:51in the den as a dragon ready to invest her hard-earned dollars into the next big success story it
22:58feels so
22:58great to sit in this seat showing Canadians and female founders everywhere what is possible when you
23:04believe in yourselves and you don't give up
23:18joining us for this special full circle episode Cornwall Ontario's Marc Lafleur eight years ago he
23:25stepped into the den with true local a bold new way to deliver locally sourced frozen meat right to
23:30your door our plans come with no commitment and you can pause or skip anytime a partnership with
23:36dragon Michelle Romano ultimately led to an almost 17 million dollar dream exit are you prepared to
23:43close we are prepared to close Marc's kept busy racing cars conquering epic ultra marathons and writing a
23:51best-selling book inspiring other founders what is up everybody now he leads DB8 building custom AI solutions to
24:03help small businesses grow from competitor to entrepreneur and now pitcher to dragon Marc proves
24:11his drive vision and hustle never stop I was always counted out and somehow I'm sitting on here today trying
24:18to convince
24:19kids like myself to come and pitch
24:32next up a Quebec founder hoping to prove there's money in mindfulness
24:40hello dragons my name is Marc-Olivier Lafleur and I'm the founder of inner tune the first AI build to
24:46reprogram your mind
24:47I'm here today asking for one million dollar for eight percent equity in my business okay
24:5510 years ago my life was falling apart I had lost my business lost my girlfriend and I was working
25:02at a
25:03door-to-door job which I hated and one night decided to record myself saying affirmation on an old recorder
25:10I've listened to those while driving sleeping before going to work and three months later my life
25:17completely changed that's why we created inner tune an app that can help you rewire your mind and feel better
25:24so dragons who wants to see my app yes I'm still shaking right now is your name Marc Lafleur yep
25:33my name is
25:34Marc Lafleur and you're building an AI okay
25:36yeah
25:38simulation right now let's see what we got okay gonna get in the meditative state here yeah yeah
25:44yeah you can just sit I'm just laying down I think you're ready for a nap our AI is trained
25:51with over
25:5140,000 affirmation across 700 topics so whether you have a fear of spider whether you want to build
25:57self-confidence you can just prompt our AI and then say exactly what you need so Tara what will be
26:05something that you would like to improve in your life today I work on my self-love every day so
26:13let's
26:13do self-love so better self-love and Jay I do think that pushing yourself harder challenging yourself
26:21to do better myself harder and Barb I want to stop trying to jump into people's lives control control
26:30it feels like a therapy session I love it so the AI just delivered a bunch of affirmation
26:41that can help you feel better in the app users can change which voice reads the affirmations as
26:48well as select the music style now the only thing we need to do is click play I consistently push
26:54myself to become the best I can become I push limits and achieve the app is free to use with
27:05basic features
27:06while the premium subscription costs $99 per year and includes additional voice and music options
27:12you can also record your voice I recorded a special playlist just for you I'm sure you'll like it
27:19I am rich wise and a dragon boy a dragon yes and it happens look we're here flattery will get
27:28you everywhere
27:29sometimes just a little extra push can change your whole reality let's do it thank you soul feels fill
27:39I am such a big mindset person actually in this book the first thing I wrote down was you got
27:45this
27:46but I've never heard affirmations combined with music before is there a benefit to the two of course when
27:54there's a melody it's a different part of your brain
27:58but I do gotta cut to the chase on one thing so in November of 2022 chat GPT came out
28:04they released
28:05the ability for anybody to build AI products we are seeing high-flying valuations on products that
28:12don't have any revenue I went through the same thing I invested a ton of money trying to create
28:16an AI startup and then the the most recent feature set just made it completely null and irrelevant and
28:22we had to walk away so what are your current revenues at right now this year so far we did
28:271.25 million gotcha good for you really good that's great yeah why are you guys raising money if
28:34you're generating this much are you guys profitable um right now we're reinvesting everything into the
28:39business so we're bootstrapping we're improving the product we've rebuilt in our tune over 2000 times since
28:45the beginning it's easy to launch an app finding a product market fit is a completely different thing
28:52it's clear that you've come a long way in such a short amount of time and the why behind what
28:57you're building is so emotional and so powerful I remember with my company smart suites I was just
29:02about to launch and then my manufacturer stole my recipe and it just felt like you know where do I
29:08go
29:08from here and so what's been the hardest day for you well in 2023 we hit rock bottom we looked
29:16at our
29:16bank account it was written zero on it and I'm just looking at my business partner and we're like
29:22what could we do but we were chatting with this guy which is the person in charge of our media
29:27and
29:27he was having a page which with over 700 000 followers on it the page was called mindset vibration
29:35it was so aligned and then we've been able to start making money off promoting our app inside this
29:44page and it didn't took long that with our strategy and our tune has 1.2 million followers right now
29:50with two million followers on on instagram or tiktok on instagram in total we have 6.7 million followers
29:59mark we have a saying at the pure company that we convert curiosity to consumption and i also think
30:06as an entrepreneur what you've done is when you found rock bottom you battled through that you learn
30:11more from your failures you actually think very clear when you're at a breaking point but ai just
30:16isn't in my space i'm gonna be out for today mark i i know that you went through a really
30:23hard time
30:24and you flipped that not just for your own life but for the good of others but i'm an old
30:30school
30:32marcus aurelius meditations book and i'm not an ai affirmation person for that reason i'm out
30:41if i didn't just take such a huge loss on an ai company that i spent two years building i
30:47would
30:47be really interested but for that reason i'm out um i think we're on a massive opportunity right now
30:56we sold over 40 000 subscription if we have just a little push we're going to be able to fly
31:02even more
31:03mark i know the power of affirmations i know the role that they've played in my life in helping me
31:08to
31:08build my own self-confidence i don't have the technical expertise here but i have the passion for what
31:15you're creating in the world my friend mark here does have the technical expertise and we would
31:23like to offer you a million dollars for 15 of your company what are you gonna do mark
31:37i'd like to ask you if you can do one million dollar for 10 percent
31:45it's rich you know like i stood right there right and we were building true local we were doing two
31:51hundred and ninety thousand dollars at the time and any founder knows that speed is everything
31:55so getting the deal with michelle gave us a competitive advantage to move faster
32:03i don't know i have two exits what are those exits really quickly yeah um the first one was five
32:10years ago it was 300k mark i want to tell you there's no better bet an entrepreneur can take
32:17than on themselves yeah and you have a great deal with two dragons and it's a tough deal
32:23but if you believe in yourself you're taking a one million dollar bet and you're going to tell them no
32:29and you know what mark we learned something new about you that you have been through the journey and
32:34exited and there's power to that that's made mark and i comfortable going up to
32:42one million for 12 percent and that is our final offer
32:49we need a yes or no from you
33:00yes
33:06dude great job amazing
33:10congratulations thank you yay that's a really big deal let's blow this up
33:14now what's the affirmation that that brings to mind that's right winning
33:23people are drawn to the show because it's it's hope like we didn't have a whole lot growing up
33:27my parents gave me everything they could and i would watch dragon's den all the time because i was
33:31seeing how like wow i can be out there and then to be able to come through now with the
33:35confidence
33:36of being like wow like throughout eight years that's really all it was eight years you can go
33:40from pitching on the den to actually sitting in the chair and being able to help other entrepreneurs come through
33:55our next full circle dragon hails from vancouver tara bosch she was only 22 when she braved
34:02the den with her sweet concept to kick sugar and upend the candy aisle smart sweets was a kitchen
34:09experiment turned gobsmacked success someone's going to win the race of naturally addressing
34:14sugar and confectionery and smart sweets can be that player just three years after her den debut
34:20tara sold smart sweets for a jaw-dropping 360 million dollars since then she's launched bold beginnings
34:29a mentorship program for female founders under 40. oh my god
34:34and now at 31 years young she's dipping into a new startup snackish conquering another grocery category
34:44here in her full circle moment this innovator returns to the den to invest in the next
34:50generation and prove sweet dreams can come true for anyone who's ever asked themselves the question
34:56why me i'm here to say why not you
35:06and finally i'm happy to be here whatever happened i've made it and i want to hope my story can
35:17inspire
35:21others this quebec salsa dancer turned entrepreneur is putting a new rhythm in your morning routine
35:29hello dragons my name is kamlavi dodro from gachino quebec founder and ceo of dojv today i'm taking
35:37150 000 for 10 of my business dragons we all know coffee is a deeply emotional habit did you know
35:46that
35:46eight percent of people are saying they're rather give up sex than coffee people love coffee but
35:53sometimes it does not always love them back this is where doji v comes in through the power of
35:59functional mushrooms our blends are designed to support focus immunity gut health without the stomach
36:06upset jitters and crush dragons who wants to join the mushroom revolution with this fungi
36:15doji v comes in two distinct blends one crafted for immunity and focus the other for vitality and
36:22sustained energy it blends very nice yeah actually smells nice too it smells like coffee they're available
36:29online and in specialty health and wellness stores priced at about 50 for a 45 serving bag
36:37i would not know that this has mushrooms in it i taste the mushrooms i taste something different i i
36:42think
36:42for me like it's more of an acquired taste i will say one thing the the mushroom movement's definitely
36:49gaining in popularity though so i personally take lion's mane as a powder and it's disgusting yeah
36:53so for me this is something how do we make it fun for people not to hate mushroom that's what
36:59we're doing
36:59and i think you're not going for the hardcore coffee lover you're going for the person who likes
37:05coffee but doesn't want the jitters and wants an alternative alternative healthy alternative but
37:11what do your numbers say so a three years revenue at 22 we did 91 000 the year after 165
37:21000
37:22last year we did 304 000. of the 300k were you profitable last year we yeah 22 000. i'd like
37:31to hear a
37:32little bit more about your competitive journey because coffee is a very competitive space it's
37:37not easy to blend a mushroom with other ingredients it doesn't taste good so we did 14 r d and
37:43that's
37:43what we landed we've done 13 trade show every single year we hired a contract brand ambassador they
37:50blow it they wear mushroom hat oh yeah i would like the hat like when we go to trade show
37:56we can keep up
37:57tasting is believing i also think it's the brand ambassador i i think it's you i remember standing
38:03where you were not that long ago and feeling the exact same passion that i feel from you what got
38:10you started on this journey it's been a journey i am originally from togo west africa so i grew up
38:18in
38:18a small village uh raised by my mom i worked in the farm when one day my my grandmother leaves
38:25me
38:25a land and i decided to harvest the land and plant cotton which i sold on the market that was
38:32my
38:32first entrepreneur journey maybe 10. i came to canada at the age of 15 with my younger sister
38:39i didn't know the culture didn't speak english i was discriminated wow i studied culinary art and hotel
38:45and restaurant management and my passion for dance led me to meet my spouse that's how we started when
38:51she was having a health issue and i wanted to help we worked with the best scientists and herbalists to
38:55put the most unique recipe on the market so that's my story i love this the name means doji doji
39:04means
39:04perseverance and patience that is you and the v stands for take a small step towards greatness
39:12and the hipo represent my culture beautiful you're so lucky right now because this is the era of
39:19people wanting to see behind the scenes of the business you've been an entrepreneur since you
39:22were 10 years old your story is incredible i don't know if you need a strategy i just think you
39:27need
39:27you you should be getting the pro this product into the hands of every possible ugc content creator
39:32on tiktok that's what we're here for you we need what's your cost per acquisition right now so we don't
39:39have that because we don't do online marketing this is the bootstrapping um the only person in the
39:45business so your packaging is outstanding if i didn't know i mean when you said you did 300 000
39:50in sales this to me looks like a multi-million dollar company but help me wrap my head around
39:55your big valuation the evaluation is that i'm going to take you back so we incorporated the business in
40:012017. in 2020 cover hit we lost everything we lost our co-packer you wake up the next morning you
40:08don't
40:08have a business it's tough so in 2021 to summarize we rebranded completely we were out of stock about
40:17one month and couldn't sleep but kept pushing kept pushing i grew up poor i've always known that i want
40:24to be part of something big it's been a hard you know hard journey and i want to inspire the
40:30next
40:30generation that no matter where you come from me can make it you are so inspiring and i think the
40:38biggest
40:38risk that you can take is betting on yourself and you've shown that time and time again and i would
40:44be honored to support you in bringing your vision to life thank you tara my offer is 150k for 20
40:53percent
40:56i'm crying i promise i will not cry but you're doing great you're doing amazing do you want to
41:02sit do you want do you want some coffee do you want oh my god i think you have an
41:07incredible brand
41:08and i don't think i want to compete with that offer but i will gladly trade you consulting time if
41:16you
41:16give me salsa lessons i love it sold so dear listen you know this is obviously a full circle moment
41:25for
41:25a lot of people here you say you want to inspire people i truly also agree with jay i think
41:30that you have
41:30an amazing offer here from tara um and i think that i will be a big fan and a big
41:36user but i'm going
41:37to sit out on this one i'm i'm so inspired by you i think you've had such an incredible journey
41:43and um
41:44really appreciate you showing up as your full self today terry feeling greedy or you want to share
41:51i would love to do it with you yeah yeah so i would split with tara 150k for 20 percent
41:5810 and 10. 10 and 10.
42:00oof you are sitting in front of a billion dollars in value willing to do a deal with you so
42:05okay and
42:06i might as well just add in here i think you've got the best deal here seven minutes on cbc
42:12changed
42:12my life and i can tell you looking at these two women and their passion and what they've done successfully
42:16joanna and tara are your people i accept to your offer thank you so much oh my gosh amazing
42:32oh my gosh now we have to do a south side dancing so before we go go forward and back
42:41go forward and
42:43back get back yay oh yeah you're gonna have to pick those up
43:02next time on dragon stand our full circle dragons return for a second and final episode
43:08let's go let's go packed with more innovation can't wait to try at least 20 million dollar pancakes
43:15i scoot my chair over here i'm interrupting something homegrown success stories i've never
43:20actually been this close to a cow we truly believe we're sitting on a gold mine and life-changing
43:26deals i thought i was gonna get through this without crying today but i do really connect with you
43:32the suspense is killing me i've never been so invested emotionally in a deal don't miss it
43:49you
43:54you
44:09You
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