History YMMV / DragonsDen

* FaceOfTheBand: On the Canadian ''Dragons' Den'' and ''Shark Tank'', Kevin "Mr. Wonderful" O'Leary, who did both shows simultaneously for five seasons. In ''Shark Tank'', he sits in the middle of the panel, does most of the narration duties, and remains the only investor to be present on every episode of the show. His quirks also fuel most of the show's RunningGags. In Season 9, Kevin is absent on some episodes due to his bid to become leader of Canada's Conservative Party, and replaced by guest Sharks.

* NeverLiveItDown: By its nature, many companies that are rejected by all the sharks/dragons later become successful. However, a notorious example is when the American Sharks were not impressed at all by a pitch from Jamie Siminoff and his company Doorbell, only getting an offer from Kevin that was not good to Jamie. Afterwards, it experienced rapid growth and was acquired by Creator/{{Amazon}} in 2019 for $1 billion. The sharks of the episode (Robert, Lori, Kevin, Damon, Mark) are frequently asked in interviews if they regret not investing in it.

* HappyEndingOverride: Any time a company gets a deal, only to for some reason or another go out of business later. [[https://sharktanktales.com/shark-tank-pitches/shark-tank-out-of-business/ Here’s an (unverified) full list]], including no-deals.

** As in above, any time a company doesn't get a deal, and then doesn't survive.

* ValuesDissonance: The third UK series had a pitch from two women who wanted to set up a pair of all-female construction companies, which quickly fell apart when one of them accused Theo of sexism for saying that he'd "keep it simple" while explaining why their offering 5% of one of their two proposed companies and 15% of another didn't add up to a 20% overall equity share. Nowadays, while their pitch would have still ended in failure due to their poor grasp of their financial figures and obvious NeverMyFault tendencies, there's almost no way that the Dragons would have come across as so casually dismissive of their complaints of sexism -- and Duncan ''certainly'' wouldn't have gotten away with his closing comment that one of the builders was finely balanced because she had "a chip on each shoulder".
** Ironically, Theo has been criticized for saying women have their brains turned to mush after giving birth and taking maternity leave.

* TheScrappy:
** A lot of people find narrator Evan Davis very irritating, and he was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUEemQeInjE mocked thoroughly]] in ''Series/TheITCrowd''. This probably has to do with the fact that most of his narration consists of [[CaptainObvious stating the obvious]] (which is presumably the fault of the producers), though his style hasn't exactly endeared many viewers. This is especially true of viewers of other versions, which typically have very limited narration.
** Barbara Corcoran, for always going out. Always.
** Chris Sacca, about whom one particularly nasty commenter said "Chris Sacca is a sacca shit".

* HarsherInHindsight: The shot of O’Leary on his boat in the opening, after he and his wife were involved in a fatal boat crash in 2019.
** As in above, any time a company doesn’t get a deal, and then doesn’t survive.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** In the 2011 Series/ChildrenInNeed crossover with ''Series/TheApprentice'', Lord Sugar opens his pitch with "Four flights of bleeding stairs in a warehouse! Get a bleeding lift in!" In the 2013 series, the staircase through which entrepreneurs make their entrance was indeed replaced with a lift.

* TheScrappy: A lot of people find narrator Evan Davis very irritating, and he was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUEemQeInjE mocked thoroughly]] in ''Series/TheITCrowd''. This probably has to do with the fact that most of his narration consists of [[CaptainObvious stating the obvious]] (which is presumably the fault of the producers), though his style hasn't exactly endeared many viewers. This is especially true of viewers of other versions, which typically have very limited narration.

* ValuesDissonance: The third UK series had a pitch from two women who wanted to set up a pair of all-female construction companies, which quickly fell apart when one of them accused Theo of sexism for saying that he'd "keep it simple" while explaining why their offering 5% of one of their two proposed companies and 15% of another didn't add up to a 20% overall equity share. Nowadays, while their pitch would have still ended in failure due to their poor grasp of their financial figures and obvious NeverMyFault tendencies, there's almost no way that the Dragons would have come across as so casually dismissive of their complaints of sexism -- and Duncan ''certainly'' wouldn't have gotten away with his closing comment that one of the builders was finely balanced because she had "a chip on each shoulder" -- thanks to the Dragons' male-to-female gender ratio going from 4:1 to 3:2, and increased societal awareness of "mansplaining"[[note]](Though in Theo's defence, he resorted to his "simple explanation" after he tried a more complex explanation only for the women to snap at him and insist that their 20% figure was correct, making it a lot less likely that his actions were motivated by their gender)[[/note]] and other forms of casual sexism.

* HappyEndingOverride: Any time a company gets a deal, only to for some reason or another go out of business later. [[https://sharktanktales.com/shark-tank-pitches/shark-tank-out-of-business/ Here’s an (unverified) full list]]

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* FaceOfTheBand: On the Canadian Dragons Den and ''Shark Tank'', Kevin O'Leary, who did both shows simultaneously for five seasons. In ''Shark Tank,'' he sits in the middle of the panel, does most of the narration duties, and remains the only investor to be present on every episode of the show. His quirks also fuel most of the show's RunningGags. In Season 9, Kevin is absent on some episodes due to his bid to become leader of Canada's Conservative Party, and replaced by guest Sharks.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: While looking at a bike helmet with integrated lights, Duncan Bannatyne asked whether cyclists would really want such a product since bike lights are typically powered off a dynamo attached to the wheel. The other dragons had to tell him that such lights had become outdated decades ago.

* MemeticMutation: [Insert phrase here], and for that reason I'm out.

* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: Regardless of whether or not they get a deal, many companies that appear on the program get a boost in their sales simply from people hearing about the company on the show. This is lampshaded regularly on Shark Tank when the Sharks believe someone is acting strange just to get publicity.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Any time a pitch convinces the Dragons to go into a bidding war over the business in question.

* GrowingTheBeard: Season 1 of the Canadian version was generally seen as a disaster, 2 an improvement with the addition of Arlene Dickinson and better pitches, with 3-5 generally seen as the best, due to the presence of [[NiceGuy Brett Wilson]] completing the fan-favourite group of Dragons.

* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: Regardless of whether or not they get a deal, many companies that appear on the program get a boost in their sales simply from people hearing about the company on the show.

* TheScrappy: A lot of people find narrator Evan Davis very irritating, and he was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUEemQeInjE mocked thoroughly]] in ''Series/TheITCrowd''. This probably has to do with the fact that most of his narration consists of [[CaptainObvious stating the obvious]] (which is presumably the fault of the producers), though his style hasn't exactly endeared many viewers.

* FaceOfTheBand: On ''Shark Tank'', Kevin O'Leary, not only is he the only Shark who was also on Dragon's Den (Canadian version), but he also sits in the middle of the panel, doing most of the mediating and remains the only investor to be present on every episode of the show. His quirks also fuel most of the show's RunningGags. Despite this, beginning in Season 9, Kevin is simply absent on some episodes, most likely busy with other affairs, and replaced by guest Sharks.
* GrowingTheBeard: Seasons 3-5 of the Canadian version are viewed as the best, due to the presence of [[NiceGuy Brett Wilson]] completing the fan-favourite group of Dragons.

* ManipulativeEditing: Two unsuccessful entrepreneurs claimed that the UK version did this to make them look like fools during their pitches. To be fair, Deborah Meaden has stated that pitches can take between 15 minutes to an hour to finish, but the fact that both of them made a lot of money with their rejected ideas doesn't help the Dragons.

* FaceOfTheBand: On ''Shark Tank'', Kevin O'Leary, not only is he the only Shark who was also on Dragon's Den (Canadian version), but he also sits in the middle of the panel, doing most of the mediating and remains the only investor to be present on every episode of the show. His quirks also fuel most of the show's RunningGags.

* FaceOfTheBand: On ''Shark Tank'', Kevin O'Leary not only sits in the middle of the panel and does most of the mediating, but he also remains the only investor to be present on every episode of the show. His quirks also fuel most of the show's RunningGags.

* HilariousInHindsight: In the 2011 Series/ChildrenInNeed crossover with ''Series/TheApprentice'', Lord Sugar opens his pitch with "Four flights of bleeding stairs in a warehouse! Get a bleeding lift in!" In the 2013 series, the staircase through which entrepreneurs make their entrance was indeed replaced with a lift.

* TheScrappy: A lot of people find narrator Evan Davis very irritating, and he was mocked thoroughly in ''Series/TheITCrowd''. This probably has to do with the fact that most of his narration consists of [[CaptainObvious stating the obvious]] (which is presumably the fault of the producers), though his style hasn't exactly endeared many viewers.