I often use short clips from a variety of television programmes; there is no shortage of business and economics shows at the moment. I recently showed a clip of James Seddon, owner of eggxactly, from the 2006 series of Dragons’ Den when discussing research and development. Keen to find out how he was getting on, I dropped him an email. Here is his reply:
Hi Steve
Thank you for your email. I’m afraid things didn’t work out with the Dragons, and I have carried on with the development on my own. We have experienced a major problem in mass-producing the heating elements, which is now resolved. We plan to start production here in the UK in the next few months.
Kind regards
James Seddon
I can only wish him the best of luck.
What I hope your students learn from this is that even if someone has been on the telly, they are not too famous to write to – and expect a reply from.
Eggactly! Sorry. I have found many entrepreneurs to be very willing to share their experiences with students. A cynic might say that this is due to their desire for greater exposure; I prefer to believe their business is their passion and they love to talk about it and help others.