Gavin Duffy Dont Go Down With the Ship!

Gavin Duffy “Don’t Go Down With the Ship!” Gavin Duffy: “Don’t Go Down With the Ship!” Image Source: MediaTraining.ieFOR a man with a full business calendar, who has become an Irish national household name for entrepreneurship, thanks to his starring role in all six hugely successful series of the Irish variant of the international Dragon’s Den franchise, Gavin Duffy is a notably generous, down-to-earth and forthcoming interviewee.Some might say this is unsurprising, for someone who heads one of Ireland’s most successful media and management consultancies, MediaTraining, but it’s more likely that the duration  of his conversation with AGENT stems from our mutual interest in the startup phase of business.“I love the startup phase,” Duffy enthuses. “What Ive done with my own businesses is, I start them up, work with them independently for 12, 18, 24 months, and then I look to do something else.”Not only is his love for startups evident in Duffy’s demeanour Dragon’s Denâ€"particularly when inventors are pitching, the ‘Master of the Den’ displays the twinkle-eyed enthusiasm of a child in a candy storeâ€"but also in his continued relationship with companies he has invested in after he has exited those businesses.One subject that particularly engages Duffy throughout his interview with AGENT is the depth of motivation in people who start their own business. However, the veteran investor is thoughtful and chooses his words carefully, so readers of AGENT will understand clearly what he believes is the ideal ingredient in a successful startup recipe. And it’s not just about passion, but common sense.While passion is important, he admits it leaves him with mixed feelings: “In the beginning, yes, they need to demonstrate that, sadly, they are so committed to this idea that they cant help it. I always come across people who have a good steady job, but they want to try something else, and I often feel very sorry for them, because I have to say to them that if they don’t  do it now, they’re probably not going to do it.”While he does encourage people to embrace changeâ€"and he admits this has caused him some  strife when nieces and nephews have been sent to “Uncle Gavin” for advice on careersâ€"he urges startups to consider carefully whether they are expending their energy and skills in the best area.“I always worry about thisâ€"you see it a lot on Twitter, where people tweet quotes, like, Walt Disney failed 110 times, and Henry Ford failed 42 times, but stuck at it. Now, Im convinced that Disney and Ford, whatever number of times they failed, each time they tried it again, they tweaked it and reiterated it, and improved it.“But sometimes you give it the best shot, and you  see this on Dragon’s Den all the time, where there’s national TV exposure, a Dragon mentoring you, the investment, but the market just doesnt go for it. What I advise there is to learn from this, and use your skills for something else. Dont go down with the ship!”“I think people sometimes mix up resilience for stubbornnes s and staying with something, so in  Dragons Den  this is why I never ask questions like, ‘What are you projecting over the next three years?’. It does my head in, watching people trying to guess the figures and remember what the accountant told them. The reality is that you know after three months whether this has potential.”Sometimes the success of a product can take Gavin and his fellow Dragons by surprise. One of his successful investments was Tan Organic, the world’s first and only ECO-certified 100 percent natural, organic sunless tan: “In that case, Noelle O’Connor came into the Den and  projected a  Year Three turnover of €780,000. But within 16 weeks of launch, we had a million euro in sales.”“However,” he adds, “I worry that I come across so many people who have businesses and stick with them, even though its not paying them enough for the effort that theyre putting in. And they really need to lean their ladder against a different wall.A good, and ul timately  positive, example, is provided by husband and wife couple Graham and Cassandra Kelly, who secured investment from Duffy  for their business First Steps Forever. “I thought their idea, where they would frame people’s first baby shoes, was great,” recalled Gavin, who invested €30,000 in the business.“But no matter what we did, people just wouldnt buy them in the numbers they needed to buy them in. But I was up and down to their place, and they had this amazing farm and they were doing some stuff in farm tourism, and I said to them, “This could be the mountain biker’s paradise,” and it has become the country’s number one venue for mountain bike events. Its a phenomenal business, so once Graham and Cassandra applied their effort and diligence to something there was a market for and a demand for, they made a good living without ever having to leave their beautiful farm.”Read more about Gavin Duffy’s life and career in our  extended interview feature here.G avin Duffy is the senior Dragon on RTÉ’s Dragon’s Den, produced by ShinAwil Productions. Previous episodes of Dragon’s Den season six are available on RTÉ Player. Gavin Duffy “Don’t Go Down With the Ship!” Gavin Duffy: “Don’t Go Down With the Ship!” Image Source: MediaTraining.ieFOR a man with a full business calendar, who has become an Irish national household name for entrepreneurship, thanks to his starring role in all six hugely successful series of the Irish variant of the international Dragon’s Den franchise, Gavin Duffy is a notably generous, down-to-earth and forthcoming interviewee.Some might say this is unsurprising, for someone who heads one of Ireland’s most successful media and management consultancies, MediaTraining, but it’s more likely that the duration  of his conversation with AGENT stems from our mutual interest in the startup phase of business.“I love the startup phase,” Duffy enthuses. “What Ive done with my own businesses is, I start them up, work with them independently for 12, 18, 24 months, and then I look to do something else.”Not only is his love for startups evident in Duffy’s demeanour Dragon’s Denâ€"particularly when inventors are pitching, the ‘Master of the Den’ displays the twinkle-eyed enthusiasm of a child in a candy storeâ€"but also in his continued relationship with companies he has invested in after he has exited those businesses.One subject that particularly engages Duffy throughout his interview with AGENT is the depth of motivation in people who start their own business. However, the veteran investor is thoughtful and chooses his words carefully, so readers of AGENT will understand clearly what he believes is the ideal ingredient in a successful startup recipe. And it’s not just about passion, but common sense.While passion is important, he admits it leaves him with mixed feelings: “In the beginning, yes, they need to demonstrate that, sadly, they are so committed to this idea that they cant help it. I always come across people who have a good steady job, but they want to try something else, and I often feel very sorry for them, because I have to say to them that if they don’t  do it now, they’re probably not going to do it.”While he does encourage people to embrace changeâ€"and he admits this has caused him some  strife when nieces and nephews have been sent to “Uncle Gavin” for advice on careersâ€"he urges startups to consider carefully whether they are expending their energy and skills in the best area.“I always worry about thisâ€"you see it a lot on Twitter, where people tweet quotes, like, Walt Disney failed 110 times, and Henry Ford failed 42 times, but stuck at it. Now, Im convinced that Disney and Ford, whatever number of times they failed, each time they tried it again, they tweaked it and reiterated it, and improved it.“But sometimes you give it the best shot, and you  see this on Dragon’s Den all the time, where there’s national TV exposure, a Dragon mentoring you, the investment, but the market just doesnt go for it. What I advise there is to learn from this, and use your skills for something else. Dont go down with the ship!”“I think people sometimes mix up resilience for stubbornnes s and staying with something, so in  Dragons Den  this is why I never ask questions like, ‘What are you projecting over the next three years?’. It does my head in, watching people trying to guess the figures and remember what the accountant told them. The reality is that you know after three months whether this has potential.”Sometimes the success of a product can take Gavin and his fellow Dragons by surprise. One of his successful investments was Tan Organic, the world’s first and only ECO-certified 100 percent natural, organic sunless tan: “In that case, Noelle O’Connor came into the Den and  projected a  Year Three turnover of €780,000. But within 16 weeks of launch, we had a million euro in sales.”“However,” he adds, “I worry that I come across so many people who have businesses and stick with them, even though its not paying them enough for the effort that theyre putting in. And they really need to lean their ladder against a different wall.A good, and ul timately  positive, example, is provided by husband and wife couple Graham and Cassandra Kelly, who secured investment from Duffy  for their business First Steps Forever. “I thought their idea, where they would frame people’s first baby shoes, was great,” recalled Gavin, who invested €30,000 in the business.“But no matter what we did, people just wouldnt buy them in the numbers they needed to buy them in. But I was up and down to their place, and they had this amazing farm and they were doing some stuff in farm tourism, and I said to them, “This could be the mountain biker’s paradise,” and it has become the country’s number one venue for mountain bike events. Its a phenomenal business, so once Graham and Cassandra applied their effort and diligence to something there was a market for and a demand for, they made a good living without ever having to leave their beautiful farm.”Read more about Gavin Duffy’s life and career in our  extended interview feature here.G avin Duffy is the senior Dragon on RTÉ’s Dragon’s Den, produced by ShinAwil Productions. Previous episodes of Dragon’s Den season six are available on RTÉ Player.