Someone actually brought this up while we were talking about angel investment this week. Dragons’ Den is probably where a lot of people first come across the idea of investing money into a business for equity.

But are the Dragons technically angel investors, or is what happens on the programme different from traditional angel investing?

Would be interested to hear how people would classify them.

I’d class them as angel investors, yes. They’re investing their own money into private businesses in exchange for equity, which is pretty much the core definition.

The TV show just makes the process look a lot more dramatic 😅

Technically yes, but I wouldn't use Dragons' Den as a good example of normal angel investing.

Most angels aren't sitting there waiting for a founder to pitch them in 90 seconds with a camera in their face haha

Yeah, I think the distinction is more about the setting than what they actually are. They’re still taking equity risk with their own money, but the show obviously doesn't show all the due diligence and negotiation that happens around a real investment.

This was actually my first thought when I started learning about angel investing. I assumed every angel investor was basically a Dragon 😂

That's probably the problem with the show. It makes angel investing look like the pitch is the hard bit.

Getting someone interested is one thing. Getting through valuation, terms and due diligence is where things get painful.