6 replies to this topic

[Arob]

Jim Treliving bought into a sonar fish finder company at end of Season 10 Episode 2 Dragons Den.

The two charismatic inventors of FishHunter pitched the Dragons in April 2015 and the episode aired in Oct 2015; FishHunter CEO Michael Smith, and CTO Chester Yeum dressed up like kayak fishermen and showed the Dragons how hard it is to get a proper fish finder for a kayak before unveiling their nifty little creation - a kayak fishfinder for iphone android devices. .

You can see Michael is holding the fhird version of the device in his hand as her nervously asks for a million dollars to make version number five, which is a 3D side scanner rig that will tell fishermen what the structure at the bottom of the lake looks like beside the boat, and not just directly underneath the vessel. This new device is aimed squarely at kayakers because its been specifically designed to be the very best fish finder for kayaks in the marketplace today, and its only getting better. The explosive growth of this recreational sport is what i believe convinced Jim Treliving, the friendly Dragon, to invest in the company. After a dramatic negotion sequence he agreed to pay a million dollars for one third of the enterprise.

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Read the story,
Kayak Fish Finder Duo Gets A Million Bucks On Dragons' Den on Backbone Magazine. The story has the video republished courtesy of CBC Dragons Den..

[chinooky]

I bought one of those last year but dont use it much. As long as the water is deeper than about 10 feet it works well. Shallower than that, it faults.

[Fishheads]

Cool to hear a success story out of that show, I wonder if they have recovered yet from having to meet Kevin and whatever he would have said to them

[salmotrutta]

Cool to hear a success story out of that show, I wonder if they have recovered yet from having to meet Kevin and whatever he would have said to them

 

Kevin may seem like an A-hole on the big screen, but the fact is, he is NICE compared to what most people would say.

 

Put yourself in his seat - the other investors on both shows (Shark Tank and DD) usually baby the pitchers, he is the only one remotely telling it like it is. Or being the "merchant of truth" as he likes to call himself lol. 

 

I'm not even sure I would continue to watch Shark Tank if Kevin was gone, he makes the show that much better. 

 

Don't want to sound like I'm a huge fan of his because I'm not, but if you really pay attention he is not being mean, he's actually doing the pitchers a favour by speaking the truth. 

 

He's not that wealthy compared to the other investors - some of them are billionaire$ and are much more frivolous with their cash. He can't afford to waste tonnes of cash. There was one pitcher a while back when Brett Wilson was still on DD, and both Kevin and Brett donated money to this pitcher for some "hippy healing method." He's not a grinch. 

[fishfreek]

Net worth 300 million is not that shabby. After all on a $10.000  loan from his mom this guy did really good for him self. 

[salmotrutta]

Net worth 300 million is not that shabby. After all on a $10.000  loan from his mom this guy did really good for him self. 

 

His net worth was probably less than $10M when he started on DD, he has grown his fund considerably. I don't think he's liquid on anything near $300M but still impressive if he has gained that much from being very vocal on TV.  

 

Being on those shows was the best marketing he could ask for - and he gets paid for it too. 

[fishfreek]

Mark is still the MAN at 2.5 billion.....whaaaaaaaaat.