Monetising personal digital data sparks interest in the Den 🐉 Dragons’ Den - BBC
Summary
TLDRSam Jones, founder of Generate, pitches his innovative platform on a TV show, seeking £60,000 for 10% equity. Generate offers users two options: privacy mode to block online tracking or earning mode to share their data for rewards. The business model returns 80% of advertising revenue to users while retaining 20%. Competing with US companies that use cryptocurrency rewards, Generate has seen rapid growth. The pitch impresses multiple investors, leading to offers and a final deal of £60,000 for 10% equity, split between two investors, along with free office space. The successful pitch sets Generate up for future growth and market penetration.
Takeaways
- 😀 Sam Jones is the founder of Generate, seeking £60,000 for 10% equity.
- 🔍 Generate addresses the issue of data exploitation in the advertising industry by giving users control over their data.
- 🛡️ Users can choose 'Privacy Mode' to prevent companies from tracking them online.
- 💸 Alternatively, users can select 'Earning Mode' to share their data and earn points redeemable for rewards, vouchers, or charity donations.
- 📈 The average user earns between £5 and £25 per month in rewards and value.
- 💼 Generate's business model involves receiving revenue from advertisers and giving 80% back to users, retaining a 20% cut.
- 🍪 The platform does not use cookies but instead focuses on user consent for data sharing.
- 🚀 Generate has grown from 10,000 to 30,000 users within a year and aims to reach 1 million users in two years.
- 💼 There is a competitor in the US with a different approach, rewarding users with cryptocurrency, and a significantly larger user base.
- 💼 Investors are interested in Generate's potential for market penetration and its innovative business model, leading to multiple offers of full funding.
- 🏢 The pitch concludes with an agreement to share the deal at 5% each for two investors, including office space for the company.
Q & A
What is the name of the company founded by Sam Jones?
-The company founded by Sam Jones is called 'Generate'.
How much equity is Sam Jones offering in return for the investment?
-Sam Jones is offering 10% equity in return for the investment.
What is the main issue in the advertising industry that Sam Jones addresses?
-Sam Jones addresses the issue of the advertising industry exploiting user data without their consent.
What are the two choices that Generate offers to its users?
-Generate offers two choices to its users: 'Privacy Mode' to stop companies from tracking them online, and 'Earning Mode' where users can earn points by sharing their data.
How does a user earn points with Generate's Earning Mode?
-Users earn points by sharing their interests with Generate, which then uses this information to tailor relevant advertisements for them.
What is the average reward a user can redeem per month according to the script?
-The average user is redeeming between 5 and 25 pounds in rewards and value per month.
What percentage of the revenue does Generate give back to the user?
-Generate gives 80% of the revenue back to the user and takes a 20% cut.
How does Generate differentiate itself from a similar company in the US?
-Generate differentiates itself by not using cryptocurrency to reward users, unlike its US-based competitor.
What is the current market penetration of Generate's closest competitor?
-The closest competitor to Generate has about six million users and is valued at approximately 135 million dollars.
What is Sam Jones's strategy for raising more money for Generate?
-Sam Jones plans to discuss with existing shareholders the possibility of raising additional funds to increase market penetration and valuation.
How does Sam Jones respond to the potential threat of a large company like Google entering the market?
-Sam Jones acknowledges the potential threat but points out that large companies like Google have not always capitalized on similar opportunities in the past, and he views them as a potential acquirer in the future.
Outlines
💡 Introduction to Generate: Empowering Data Ownership
Sam Jones, founder of Generate, introduces his company with a request for £60,000 in exchange for 10% equity. He addresses the secret of the advertising industry's exploitation of user data, tracking online behaviors, and selling this information. Generate offers two modes: 'Privacy Mode' to block companies from tracking users, and 'Earning Mode' where users can share their data to earn points redeemable for products, vouchers, or charity donations. The average user earns between £5 and £25 per month. The business model involves giving 80% of the revenue back to users, with Generate taking a 20% cut. Sam clarifies that their technology does not use cookies but instead allows users to control their data. The platform has been in development for a year and a half, with 10,000 weekly active users at the end of the soft launch year, growing to 30,000 users within the next year.
🐉 Investor Interest and Potential Partnerships
The investors express interest in Generate's business model, which they find clever and timely, as it aligns with growing consumer concerns about data privacy. They liken the model to individuals becoming their own affiliates, earning a commission from the data they share. The pitch's quality and the size of the market opportunity lead to multiple offers from investors. One investor offers the full £60,000 for 10% equity and additional office space for a year. Another investor is impressed by the potential for Generate to become a household name and offers the same terms. A third investor, acknowledging the company's potential but feeling unqualified to partner, declines to make an offer. The founder, Sam, is excited about the prospect of having influential investors on board, which could help scale the business and make it a well-known entity in the near future.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Advertising Industry
💡Data Exploitation
💡Privacy Mode
💡Earning Mode
💡User Data
💡Cookies
💡Revenue Model
💡Market Penetration
💡Competitor
💡Investment
💡Data Monetization
Highlights
Sam Jones, founder of Generate, seeks £60,000 for 10% equity.
Generate aims to stop data exploitation in the advertising industry.
Users can choose between privacy mode or earning mode to share their data.
In earning mode, users earn points for sharing data, redeemable for products or charity donations.
Average user redeems £5-£25 in rewards per month.
Generate tailors online ads based on user interests when they choose to earn from their data.
80% of ad revenue is given back to users, with Generate taking a 20% cut.
Generate's platform prevents tracking cookies from being added.
The platform took a year and a half to build before soft launch.
Generate has 30,000 users, doubling from the previous year.
A US-based competitor rewards users with cryptocurrency.
Generate plans to reach 311,000 users by next year and 1 million the following year.
Sam is open to raising more capital to accelerate market capture.
Google could be a potential competitor or acquirer.
Investors praise the business model and offer all requested funds for 10% equity.
One investor offers additional office space for a year.
Sam successfully negotiates a shared deal with two investors at 5% each, including office space.
Sam expresses excitement about the potential for Generate to become a household name.
Transcripts
hello dragons my name's sam jones i'm
the founder of generate
and i'm here today to ask for 60 000
pounds in return
for 10 equity the open
secret within the advertising industry
is that it's built on exploiting our
data like when you mention something to
a friend
and the next thing you know you're being
bombarded with adverts for it
everything that we do online is being
tracked
to follow our movements and understand
our behavior
then they collect this information and
sell it
but i believe that people should have a
choice
to stop this from happening or even
better
to earn from it themselves
generate gives people two choices
privacy mode
this is where we stop all companies from
tracking them online
or number two earning mode in return
for sharing their data with us people
earn points
and they can redeem these points for
products vouchers or donations to
charity
and right now the average user is
redeeming between 5
and 25 pounds in rewards and value
per month when a person chooses to earn
from their data
they tell us what they're interested in
we then
use this information in order to tailor
all of the adverts that they see
anywhere online so that they are based
on their interests
generate has started a movement that
empowers people
and i hope that you'll come on the
journey with us very smooth pitch
i just like to understand in terms of
the business what is your revenue model
so everything that we do is about
empowering people to have control
and to be able to earn from their data
so we tell them that companies and
advertisers want to pay to show them
what they're interested in so if you
share your interests with us we'll be
able to target relevant advertising
we're very confident that we will be
able to drive
at least between 5 and 10 pounds per
user per month
our business model is that we give 80 of
the revenue back to the user and we take
a 20
cut and i assume
it's using cookies is that right when
you go on websites and then they track
you from that
no so that's what happens right now so a
cookie is one of
the best tricks in marketing cookie
means tracker so when you go to a
website and you see that annoying pop-up
where it says allow us to drop a cookie
on you if it really said allow us to
drop a tracker you'd say no
but actually what you should do next
time is click on the c vendor list
and you will see all of the companies
that you are allowing to track you
and on many of your favorite websites
the list
is literally hundreds and hundreds of
different companies
right now if you use the world's largest
search engine
and you want to stop them from tracking
you
it will take you 17 clicks to do so
if you know what you're doing if you
know what you're doing yes with your
software installed yeah does it prevent
it from adding a tracker or cookie onto
you
yes
how long has it taken you to build the
platform and how close to
finished is it so we spent
a full year and a half before we even
soft launched it last year
by the end of last year we had about 10
000 weekly active users
at this point this year we've got about
30 000 so we added 20 000 more
is there a competitor out there there's
a company in the us
who would be the closest to us the key
point of differentiation is that they
reward users with cryptocurrency
so what kind of market penetration have
they got
um they're valued at about 135 million
dollars
they have about six million users so
there's a hell of an opportunity there
will be a billion dollar business built
in this space
and it may be that the first one who
gets there wins it
sam i've been in the den for six years
this is one of the best pitches that
i've ever heard thank you
now tell me about your plans to raise
more money
because what i don't want is to invest
now
and find out in two weeks time i'm
diluted
so where we are right now with no more
um raising of capital
i believe we can end next year with 311
000 users and the following year with a
million however i think there could be a
good discussion to have with existing
shareholders
to say guys if we can add another zero
on the valuation
should we raise a couple of million quid
and go out and capture the market
what about someone like google coming
into this because
it's pretty much their technology they
could quite easily develop
a system whereby they monetize people by
allowing data to be shared
could that happen any startup that said
they weren't
slightly worried about google would
probably be lying they're a ten ton
gorilla that's for sure
but the refuge that i take is there was
a browser extension last year that was
acquired for four billion dollars from
paypal and what they did was they added
discount codes at checkout google could
have built that but they never did
similarly we see that there is an
enormous opportunity for us here
and i wouldn't rule out google as a
potential acquirer in the future
sam i think the business model is really
clever and
it kind of feels like individuals become
ultimately their own affiliate
and receive the line share of a
commission
that your business is ultimately going
to pay them so
i think it's really really interesting
and the timing of this is now
i actually think that generate could be
a movement
which is really saying something in the
market because that's when you get real
penetration
so i don't think you're going to be
surprised that the quality of your pitch
the size of the opportunity and the
excitement
has generated my interest
so much so that i'm going to offer you
all of the money all sixty thousand
pounds
for exactly what you've asked for for 10
of the business
thank you very much peter look i think
what you've created
is truly the one solution for the issue
that we have
you know i think i could help you with
raising money for this
with access to a huge number of tech
investors
so i'm going to make you the same offer
all of the money for 10
wow thank you very much
so sam this is about getting a message
out
this is about being trusted and i think
your timings
absolutely bang on in terms of
plugging into that concern that's
beginning to register in the back of
people's minds
and you add on top of that actually even
better than that i can earn some money
out of my data
so i i absolutely love it
and i'm going to offer you all of the
money the 10 of the business
thank you very much
[Music]
outstanding is the word i would use to
describe everything about
this pitch we've just seen and i knew
that you would be walking out of here
with an offer
i don't sit in this chair and pretend to
be the techie expert
and i'm sure i am not the best dragon to
partner with you on this venture
and it is only for that reason that i'm
not going to make you an offer
and i'm out sam
have you got offices
uh rental offices
how about pre-offices for you for a year
in my office
i'm gonna give you all the money sixty
thousand for ten percent
and offer you free accommodation up to
six
eight people per year okay
thank you very much
before um i think i'll definitely take a
moment if that's okay please take your
time
to the wall thank you very much
um thank you all so much this is
absolutely amazing to be in this
position
tsuka i love the enthusiasm and the
energy
that you clearly have for generate
and peter i know that you have
incredible expertise
in this space particularly when it comes
to scaling
would the two of you be willing to share
the deal at five percent each
with the offices included
i i would yeah yeah i think so
[Music]
it's a deal thank you very much
brilliant well done
really looking forward to working with
you an exquisite pit
brilliant business thank you
wow this is such a game changer to have
two
massive dragons on board just helps to
make sure that my business is a
household name in the near future
i've always been brought up by my
parents and i even teach my kids you've
got to have humility
not gloat but it's so difficult not to
gloat after that decision
who says free office space doesn't work
absolutely
関連動画をさらに表示
Bear Minimum Are Holding SOMETHING Back From the Sharks | Shark Tank US | Shark Tank Global
The Dragons Fight Over Proper.com | Dragons' Den | Shark Tank Global
Dragons' Den - Magic Wand Remote - Part 1
Shark Tank US | Fling Golf Is 'The Future Of Golf'
Nui Is STUCK Between The Deals Offered By The Sharks | Shark Tank US | Shark Tank Global
Dragons fight over jaw-dropping multi-million pound business | Dragons' Den - BBC
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)