To think Debra Meadon is a nasty piece of work?

[iPaid]

She's one of the investors on Dragon's Den. She frequently comes across as hot tempered, mean and vindictive. I was watching a recent episode and cringed at the way she treated the couple seeking investment.

link 15 minutes in.

She reduced the woman to tears.

Horrid.

[Fatmomma99]

I quite like her meself.

[Bearsbeets]

I like her, I really admire her and I'd love to meet her. I also respect her loads and think it must be hard to sit there and have people come in and treat you like an idiot when you're far from it and one of the reasons I respect her so much is that she deals with it well and she dealt with it well.

[AbbeyBartlet]

The woman didn't help herself at all and I could see why she got ripped to pieces.

And it's Deborah nobody spells my name right either so I may be a little sensitive

She's incredibly savvy and doesn't appear to take any shit from people - why exactly is that so awful?

[Topseyt]

I like and admire her. I like that she doesn't suffer fools gladly, or even at all.

She is a successful businesswoman for a reason.

The programme has got to be very heavily edited. There will certainly have been much more to it than was shown.

I think we need a Deborah Meaden fan club.

[ChristineDePisan]

I like her, and I like that she has ethics in her business investments and often pulls out straightaway because the business model goes against them.

I do also like Harry Enfield's Angry Woman send up and she was terrible on Strictly.

[iPaid]

OK, OK I am being unreasonable

[laffymeal]

Lol op, and I'm not DM but wish I had her money

[Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost]

She certainly comes across as such but it's TV there for our entertainment. I guess Dragons Den would be do I dare say a tad boring if she acted all rosy in the garden
I've never actually saw her as herself on a talk show for example, without her business hat on. She might be a lovely women under that hard exterior.
I'll say this though. If I wore as hat, I'd take it off to the dd contestants if that's the right word. It takes courage to put an idea forward as it is. No one wants theif ides to be shot down poo poohed and mocked and to take that risk on National TV when millions are watching. Wow they must be brave

[Reubs15]

She's actually a lovely person, a family friend does business with her. Any tv programme is stages. People are in the den for hours and hours, not just the ten minutes we see.

[Birdsgottafly]

These OPs have got to be connected to a rejected person on DD, this is too much of a coincidence.

I said on the other thread that's relative was on DD and was impressed by her, the Dragons were fighting over his offer. It is heavily edited and any last minute nerves etc are helped with.

I also have relatives (I'm the poor relation), who mix with the Dragons, during charity events/organising, they are honest, but decent, business people.

[Birdsgottafly]

"That my relative"

[Ironfistfunkymum]

She got her businesses by her parents gifting their already successful campsite.

Anyone on dd is just looking for publicly as banks would give them much better offers and contacts aren't that hard these days. I know someone that got into ocado and other stores just by tweeting them then getting invites to visit.

[emotionsecho]

I apologise for spelling her name wrong, my tablet auto-corrected it. I've seen Deborah on other programmes and she comes across very well, with a sense of humour and willing to make fun of herself. I think she is one of the fairest on Dragon's Den, woe betide you if you don't know your figures and rightly so, but I think she is candid without being cruel.

[lorelei9]

is this thread a joke?

I'm going backwards here, but starting with the link, Debra didn't "reduce the woman to tears" - she backtracked, explained her reasons perfectly professionally and calmly and the woman cried because she knew she'd lost out.

Dragons' Den is not a place where you have to suffer fools gladly, they are supposed to be honest and she was, but without being dramatic I thought.

some people don't like a stern, serious business person, but I do. I find it much more professional.

I like Debra (sp?) generally but I'm particularly surprised to see this example come up. I've seen Bannatyne and I think Jones act in ways I found a bit questionable but never Meaden.

[jeronimoh]

DM was the most enthusiastic of all the dragons!
The male dragons were much more negative. It was clear that the rejected lady really wanted the other female dragon over DM. I'm not surprised that she reacted as she did (which wasn't anywhere near as harsh as T Suleyman's reaction!)

[Jux]

From what you've said about the incident.

This is serious business, with people sinking serious sums of money and time into it. If you misjudge a situation that badly - as the woman appears to have done - then she's not a good business partner, she's a liability. If DB gave her a ticking off over it, then she's done her a favour. The woman won't jump the gun like that again for one thing, and with luck is intelligent enough to think about her whole attitude to business and how she presents herself and thinks about it, learns a bit of control. That will make her a better business person all round. She has learnt this on one small short episode, instead of much time of making the same mistake and betraying an unsound business attitude by her behaviour. People pay for that sort of lesson.

[Jux]

I have just watched it now. DB wasn't even nasty! I have heard say much harsher things many, many times. The woman wanting the money wasn't in tears when she left the den (which is when I stopped watching). If she cried in the lift it wasn't because of DB, it was because she herself had lost them the investment.

You've made a huge thing out of nothing at all.

[SoleBizzzz]

Peter Jones can be an arse. I like Debra. I often fantasise about being her friend.

[emotionsecho]

ironfist she may well have taken over her parents' campsite business, but she has proved herself smart and hard working enough to grow her business portfolio exponentially. Many a child has taken over a family business only for it to collapse as the child doesn't know or care enough to put in the hard work required.

Yes I am an unashamed member of the Deborah Meaden Fan Club.

[laffymeal]

Peter Jones is awful and seems to labour under the misapprehension that he's wildly sexy and funny. His tortuous puns make him utterly punchable.

[iPaid]

these OPs have got to be connected to a rejected person on DD, this is too much of a coincidence

Don't be daft, Birds - how often do the same topics come up over and over again on MN? All the time! I happened to watch DD for the first time in ages on I-player last night and thought Deborah was incredibly nasty. I don't know anyone who's a potential entrepreneur and been on DD.

[iPaid]

Agree Peter Jones is awful.

[SweetTeaVodka]

Well, I watched the link and I think Deborah was perfectly reasonable, and civil, about it. I'm not surprised she withdrew her offer, and neither was the other Dragon (Sarah?) by the looks of it.

[Rarity08]

I don't watch DD, I saw it once and cringed inwardly. I find programmes like this and The Apprentice very embarrassing. However, a lot of it is staged and the Dragons are modern day villains.

[Sunnymeg]

DH had dealings with her through work. She pulled the 'Don't you know who I am routine' DH told her no, as he had never seen her on TV. It didn't go very well, and he subsequently complained every week she was voted through on Strictly.