Meeting Dragon's Den's James Caan - just as classy in real life - Daily Newsletter

Hi there,

Not my usual Saturday.

CNBC Africa asked me to pick up an interview offer with James Caan, the British entrepreneur best known as the kindest of five venture capitalists in the BBC hit show Dragon’s Den. He enthuses about business and passionately leverages his high profile to help the UK Government create small companies all over Britain (a £100m grant has created 15 000 companies in two years). It was a privilege to meet Caan, a really classy, civilised man. Watch our half hour interview from 12:30pm on Power Lunch today (DSTV channel 410) and you’ll see what I mean.

Caan was the star attraction of a day long seminar for would-be business owners at the Sandton Convention Centre. Organiser Mubeen Kahn packed out the place with 4 000 in attendance. For that, and bringing in Caan, he deserves credit. But I’m not so sure about the supporting cast. From 8am until 7pm when we left (before Caan’s keynote which was still at least an hour away) one presenter after another spent two hours tantalising the audience with promises of untold riches. All culminated in a Verimark-type sales schpiel where the audience was offered, at a fraction of the “usual price”, a place at a seminar where they would be taught the secrets. It was opportunism at its most base. Maybe those who coughed up did get value. But from what any rational observer saw and heard, that’s doubtful.

Then again, who am I to judge? It was classic fear and greed, little different to a normal day in the stock market. A bit like the Mining Indaba coming to the retail market, except at a fraction of the ticket price. And instead of touting mining ventures, those doing the selling promised keys to fortunes by trading forex/writing best-sellers/ transforming psychology about money/selling through the internet. Perhaps, being the antithesis of all that went before him is what made Caan so appealing.

Best,

Alec