Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones are my mentors
iTeddy combines stable play patterns with modern
technology to create interactive techno-toys for the 21st century
child, promoting passive learning through play.
CEO and founder
iTeddy 2007, The Hakim Group 2001
I was at a business to business networking event
with a little piece of paper in my back pocket with a picture of
what iTeddy could look like. I met a girl scouting for Dragons' Den
and told her all about my idea. She told me to get together a
prototype and come back to the show. So I did.
How having them as mentors helped
Having Peter and Theo as mentors and shareholders
in the business meant that straight away I can open up doors which
I wouldn't have expected to open up or that would have been a
little slower in opening up.
It also meant that every time we had to make a
strategic decision, I had the benefit of some great entrepreneurial
input. Whenever they gave me any advice, you could tell that
somewhere along the line it was based on a decision they'd had to
make. I was getting the benefit of all that experience.
Key lesson
Mentors like that bring a hell of a lot of
experience to the table. At the same time, it is a real
pleasure working with them both because there's a great banter
between Peter and Theo as well.
Top tip
As Theo says, "When you're in business, you've got
to make money, but you've got to have fun... but don't forget to
make the money as well!"
I was at a business to business networking event with a little
piece of paper in my back pocket with a picture of what iTeddy
could look like. I met a girl scouting for Dragons' Den and told
her all about my idea. She told me to get together a prototype and
come back to the show. So I did.
How having them as mentors helped
Having Peter and Theo as mentors and shareholders in the
business meant that straight away I can open up doors which I
wouldn't have expected to open up or that would have been a little
slower in opening up.
It also meant that every time we had to make a strategic
decision, I had the benefit of some great entrepreneurial input.
Whenever they gave me any advice, you could tell that
somewhere along the line it was based on a decision they'd had to
make. I was getting the benefit of all that experience.
Key lesson
Mentors like that bring a hell of a lot of experience to the
table. At the same time, it is a real pleasure working with
them both because there's a great banter between Peter and Theo as
well.
Top tip
As Theo says: "When you're in business, you've got to make
money, but you've got to have fun... but don't forget to make the
money as well!"
Find out how Imran won investment on Dragons' Den in
our video interview with
him.
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