Side Door founders Dan Mangan and Laura Simpson attack Dragon’s Den for exposure, leave with $500,000 deal

Dragon’s Den Fans may have spotted Vancouver’s Dan Mangan and Halifax-based Laura Simpson not only spotlighting the show this weekend, but walking away with a $500,000 deal.

The two are business partners at music business startup Side Door, which dates back to 2017, but got off to a serious start via a live stream when the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The platform connects musicians and fans on many levels. The big one is that anyone can reach out to the musicians (or vice versa) and perform concerts in any space they happen to have: their living room, their backyard, their man cave, or their homemade Swedish sauna. to be able to offer to host .

seven minutes Dragon’s Den The segment began with a pitch from Simpson, then expanded to Mangan starting singing on his guitar.
Most of the entrepreneurs praised Side Door’s two business partners for their ingenuity and Mangan’s achievements, but chose to pass. The only dragon who did not was Arlene Dickinson, whose offer of $500,000 convertible bonds was quickly accepted.

reached by straightMangan described the whole experience as nerve-wracking but enjoyable.

“Some of the dragons didn’t really understand what we did, but some of them were asking great questions,” Mangan said. I wanted the world to know that I could sign up as a host and curate a show for the community, but Arlene was on my side. She quickly saw the need and possible business case for what we were doing.”

Along with Simpson, Mangan entered the show with a sharpened enthusiasm.

“Many people who continue Dragon’s Den I’ve never pitched to an investor before,” he said. “Fortunately, Laura and I had pitched to literally hundreds of investors over the past few years, so we were pretty prepared. I knew how to do it.”

In total, the side door segment took 45 minutes to shoot and what fans saw on TV was edited down to 7 minutes.

“Let me add, it was hilarious how they chopped up my song,” Mangan said. Chipmunk style up to speed, we knew we were winning but we weren’t sure how they were going to edit that segment, in the end I think the cut was pretty kind to us Reality TV can be split in any way to make people look bad.”

Simpson and Mangan looked completely different. Touring is more difficult than ever for small bands as they continue to return to normal. During the pitch, Mangan said he had his star perform in living rooms and backyards by people kind enough to host him.

“The challenge for artists today is incredible,” he told Dragons. There’s a way: Imagine being able to attend a show in your neighbor’s backyard a block away or in your local bookstore.”

After praising the side door for clarifying priorities, Dickinson made her offer.

“I love that you have an artist’s perspective,” she said. I think this is very important because a lot of the time great business she has an idea but can’t really represent the people she’s trying to do business with. ”

You can watch the entire clip here.

Video of Side Door Dragons’ Denpitch

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