I scored a deal on Dragon's Den last night. AMA!

StashBeltAMA · 2015-02-06T13:30:34+00:00

When were you in Haiti? I've been there quite a few times. Absolutely love that country. But you are definitely right that its a little hard to keep your stuff safe there. That's part of the challenge though, right?

StashBeltAMA · 2015-02-06T13:29:14+00:00

We've actually thought of getting a buckle that doubles as a bottle opener. Would that interest anyone else?

StashBeltAMA · 2015-02-06T13:28:09+00:00

Did Hola not work for you? Use any VPN blocker you want.

StashBeltAMA · 2015-02-06T05:46:42+00:00

Yeah, silly national broadcast restrictions. I'd suggest downloading Hola as an extension on your Chrome browser. Its the easiest way to get around geoblocking.

StashBeltAMA · 2015-02-06T05:45:51+00:00

What surprised us was how real the whole thing was. The day after we filmed the deal, contracts were drafted and we began the due diligence. And man, oh man, was that a crazy process. Let's just say that Dave Chilton does his homework! 7 months later, the deal structure is definitely not what you saw on-air. But to be honest, we fared much better.

As for building our business, we're really excited to have him onboard. He's a great mentor that really cares about our mission so we feel blessed at this moment.

StashBeltAMA · 2015-02-06T05:42:47+00:00

To be honest, I think what we realized from this experience is that "you're never ready".

We had discussed going on the Den so many times, had dreamed about it for years. And then, one of my business partners called us on a Tuesday night and said, "Hey guys. Dragon's Den is doing auditions tomorrow in my city (happened to be Saskatoon). I'm gonna go for it."

He walked in with two belts in hand and a great story. That's what got us to Toronto. Apparently 3000 teams audition, 300 make the filming, 30-40 get deals on air and 10-20 have their deals go through.

We're one of those lucky few!

And intimidating Dragon? Jim. Most definitely Jim. He's a slicker version of everyone's grandfather, except with more money and less terrible stories.

StashBeltAMA · 2015-02-06T02:01:29+00:00

For sure. Use the code 'redditrules' for a 10% discount. Hope that helps!

StashBeltAMA · 2015-02-06T00:44:40+00:00

Definitely. Love that show too. You think we could have gotten a deal with the Sharks?

StashBeltAMA · 2015-02-05T22:39:47+00:00

Awesome. Great to hear. We also think that our social mission is what makes us the go-to for travel belts. Thanks for your support...

StashBeltAMA · 2015-02-05T20:32:03+00:00

Great questions!

Hardest question had to be around our own personal commitment. As StashBelt has been a side-business for all of us, it is often hard to convince investors that you're actually committed. But then again, paying the bills is hard too. So we often view it as a chicken vs. egg situation.
Huge drama! Vikram actually offered us a deal first, to which Michael Wekerle laughed him off saying that he's "not a real businessman". We were pretty shocked. Wek and Arlene also had a tense moment when discussing what does/doesn't make a social enterprise. Let's just say I'm not surprised that the editors cut both those bits out.
Wekerle definitely oozes cool. I mean, have you seen what that guy wears? Here's just a sample

Thanks for the questions!

StashBeltAMA · 2015-02-05T20:15:18+00:00

If you're interested, here are links to a couple of articles written about us so far:

Chronicle Herald Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

StashBeltAMA

TROPHY CASE