New Dragons join Den for Season 10
Manjit Minhas has a general tip for Canadian entrepreneurs looking to pitch ideas on future seasons of Dragons’ Den. Enough already with the toilets. “I’ve discovered through the show that a lot of Canadians want to fix the toilet, which I don’t think has a problem,” Minhas says. “A lot of people come to the Den, and I’ve heard this has happened in the past too, that want to fix the toilet. They think Canadian toilets need help. I really ended up telling a lot of people the toilets are fine the way they work.”
When it comes to specifics about her first season as a CBC Dragon, this revelation is the closest we’ll get to a spoiler from the 35-year-old co-founder of Calgary’s Minhas Breweries and Distillery. Shooting has wrapped on Season 10 of the series.
Minhas is one of three new Dragons who have joined the show this year. Internet entrepreneur Michele Romanow, another Calgary native who now lives in Chicago, is a fellow newbie, as is former Club Monaco fashion retailer Joe Mimran. They join original Dragon Jim Treliving, co-owner of Boston Pizza, and banker Michael Wekerle, who joined last year.
For five weeks this summer, the five Dragons heard at least 200 pitches from entrepreneurs, carefully chosen by producers for TV friendliness, that came to CBC’s Toronto studio from across Canada looking for advice and, more importantly, money from this fresh panel of investors.
At 30, Romanow is the youngest Dragon in the history of the show. She is also a part of Next Gen Den, CBC’s online series designed specifically for young entrepreneurs.
“The earlier you start in business the easier it is in life,” she says. “It hard to start a business (later) because there’s more responsibilities. There’s mortgage and children and all these things that make it very difficult to take a risk.”