RE: BBC does business a dramatic disservice

Dear Luke,

In your article, you mention that BBC does business a dramatic disservice. The fact is, if BBC stops broadcasting a program like Dragon's Den or The Apprentice, then will private channels not JUMP at the same 'trash'? Your argument is muddled up. It is not clear if you are against BBC or you are criticizing BBC, if yes, then on who's behalf? I'm perfectly happy with the ad-free high-quality television and educational content which BBC provides. Your assertion that BBC 'acting as a spending empire that extorts money from taxpayers' is utter non-sense. Just look at the state of television in USA. All trash. 30% of ads and hardly any educational.

Coming to the specific criticisms of Dragon's Den, I agree. But instead of suggesting constructive improvements to the format of Dragon's Den, you are blindly criticizing BBC.

Regards,

Pradeep Kabra

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BBC does business a dramatic disservice
Luke Johnson The entrepreneur
The BBC has always regarded business with suspicion. As an institution funded by a regressive poll tax, it struggles mightily with the whole concept of the profit motive, or indeed the very concept of organisations having to actually generate revenues to pay the bills – rather than just acting as a spending empire that extorts money from taxpayers. For the BBC, the assumption is that business is ruthless, domineering and egotistical. And so the grotesque programme
Dragon’s Den fits their in-house prejudices perfectly.
Dragon’s Den is a cartoon masquerading as factual television. It has more in common with broadcast wrestling than the real world of investing. The very idea that genuine venture capital takes place in such a ludicrous way is a farce. It is obvious that many misguided projects are encouraged to present because they provide a few cheap laughs. Does it serve the cause of enterprise to have multimillionaires humiliate inventors, and cackle like schoolboys while treading on people’s dreams? But the BBC – despite being a public service broadcaster – doesn’t care. It all feeds the ratings monster, even if it does a disservice to innovation and the private sector.
Having chaired a rival broadcaster for six years, I understand well that television is a mass medium that is obliged to use broad brushstrokes. But in the case of Dragon’s Den, entrepreneurship has been dumbed down to the status of staged entertainment. This is a tragedy. Britain needs entrepreneurs who are positive role models, who inspire others, and who help create jobs and accelerate our recovery from the recession. The BBC gives us the bullying of The Apprentice (another idea formatted from elsewhere) and the superficiality of Dragon’s Den.
Perhaps in 2005, when Dragon’s Den was first shown in Britain, there was a degree of novelty and even a modest element of authenticity about it, even if it was a derivative format copied from Japan. But now in its eighth series, the concept has been milked dry and has descended to the level of caricature. The “Dragons” participate for the publicity, the producers want tears and jokes. The amount the investors risk is small change to them, but in return the show buys them plenty of exposure. As Simon Woodroffe, one of the original Dragons, said: “The thing to remember is that when you walk up the stairs [to pitch an idea] it’s not five people thinking ‘How am I going to be able to make an investment here?’ They’re actually thinking ‘Am I going to be the star of this next little piece?’”
Real angel investing is not a game. It is a vital source of funding for early stage companies that may represent the next wave of industry. It succeeds when it involves rigorous due diligence, conscientious research and professionalism. It involves long-term backing and collaboration, not macho bidding contests based on a two-minute pitch. It is a shame such a serious matter is debased by this sort of fake drama, much of it cooked up for the cameras for prime-time consumption.
It takes little imagination to produce shows like The Apprentice and Dragon’s Den, which pander to popular misconceptions about business and entrepreneurs. I suppose the patronising behaviour and casual cruelty are meant to toughen up candidates for the rigours of the market and the workplace. In reality they display a distorted picture closer to slapstick comedy than a genuine 21st century corporation.
As long as the audience and participants realise the programme is an exploitative sham, then I suppose it is merely a missed opportunity. But I do wonder why they bother. The entire purpose of the BBC is to deliver public goods in the form of high quality transmissions that are edifying and uplifting. After all, the BBC does not come cheap. Prosecutions of licence fee evaders undertaken by the British courts on the BBC’s behalf represent at least 10 per cent of all prosecutions of any kind. Meanwhile, law abiding citizens contribute £3.6bn ($5.6bn, €4.3bn) a year – all to deliver misleading confections like Dragon’s Den. When will the BBC adopt a more constructive and grown-up approach to business and free enterprise? lukej@riskcapitalpartners.co.uk   The writer runs Risk Capital Partners, a private equity firm, and is chairman of the Royal Society of Arts