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PASTA LA VISTA
I was called ‘delusional’ by Dragons’ Den judges but now my idea is worth £40m – they were too busy being comedians
IT was 'pasta la vista' for these two budding entrepreneurs in the Den - but now they're laughing all the way to the bank after making millions.
Finn Lagun, then 24, was “shaking like a leaf” before presenting his premium pasta brand to investors on the BBC show in 2018, and was left devastated by their "vicious” comments.
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He entered the Dragons' Den alongside co-founder Alessandro Savelli, asking for £75,000 for a 2.5 per cent cut of the business, but walked out empty-handed.
Five years on is the UK’s biggest fresh pasta company, celebrated by Gordon Ramsay, and set to make £40million in revenue this year alone.
Newcastle-born Finn, now 29, tells The Sun: “I never would have expected to be called a 'disaster' or 'delusional' on national TV - they were vicious things to say to a young entrepreneur.
“To use that kind of language against a young, passionate person was dismaying. I would never talk to any young entrepreneur like that."
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Finn adds that some of the Dragons behaved more like “aspiring comedians” than potential investors.
Pasta Evangelists was founded in a West London basement by Finn, Alessandro and Chris Rennoldson back in 2016.
They were looking for a major capital investment, so when the Dragons’ Den team approached them suggesting they'd be a “great fit”, they thought it serendipitous timing and accepted.
Finn, a long-term fan of the show, says the vetting process was “exhaustive” as they were required to provide evidence for every claim made before in their application and pitch.
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“If you say you have £100million in sales, you need to show that. We even needed to prove small things like us saying we sold fresh pasta and Sicilian sausage,” he recalled.
“You have to prove any claim you make in the Den too, so producers get in touch after to ask for evidence.
"It’s absolutely methodical, which is why it’s so good.”
Blunder nearly derailed pitch
Finn says he was “extremely nervous” when he reached the TV studios - made worse by one feature on the set.
“If you’ve ever been on a waterpark ride they have a traffic light system where you sit with trepidation and wait for the red light to turn green,” he recalls.
“They have one of those on Dragons’ Den and when it turns green the doors open and you see the stony faces of the Dragons.”
I never would have expected to be called a 'disaster' or 'delusional' on national TV - they were vicious things to say to a young entrepreneur
Finn Lagun
That wasn’t the only obstacle; Finn recalls a blunder by the production team that nearly derailed their pitch.
“The one thing I asked the BBC to do was to ensure the water, which I was going to cook the pasta in, was at a rolling boil," he says.
“The water was lukewarm at best, so I was trying to get the bloody hob working while maintaining eye contact. Needless to say the pasta was extremely al dente.
“They put the induction hobs at too low a heat, so I had a split-second decision to blurt out ‘the water isn’t boiling’ or try to cook it in a warm puddle, which is what I did.”
Despite the food being not up to its usual standard, Finn says the Dragons were understanding.
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'Felt like an idiot'
While Pasta Evangelists has gone on to huge success, Finn says he’s still scarred by his experience in the Den.
"We received an extremely strong, negative, visceral reaction," he says.
“I was 24 years old when I went on Dragons’ Den, so for a seasoned entrepreneur like Jenny Campbell to call me ‘delusional’ and a ‘disaster’ was so vicious... Jenny was savage.
“At one point she said, ‘I like it’ and I replied, ‘Thank you’, only for her to say, ‘I like it because it’s a brilliant business lesson in how now to set up and run a business'.
“I was mortified, I felt like an idiot having grinned at her and thanked her. She was deliberately trying to take me for a ride for entertainment.”
Finn adds: “I don’t want to sound like the Virgin Mary but if the tables were turned and I was Jenny Campbell, I would have apologised.
“If I saw the business had turned into the UK’s biggest pasta company in a few years I’d say, ‘Well done, you defied expectations’ and maybe even offer a little contrition or an apology.”
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‘Aspiring comedians’
As for Deborah Meaden, Finn was surprised by how “warm and friendly" she was "despite appearing to be one of the colder Dragons”.
He describes Touker Suleyman as “unpleasant” and felt the fashion retailer was laughing at them throughout their pitch.
“Touker used his quip about ‘not getting out of bed for less than…’, which was cheesy, and was playing up to television more than established Dragons like Deborah, Peter and Tej Lalvani," Finn says.
“I feel the Dragons that have been there longer don’t feel the need to prove themselves and entertain, unlike Touker and Jenny, who were aspiring comedians.”
He recalls Tej “being very quiet” and noticed he “didn’t say much” before offering £75,000 for 50 per cent of the company - 20 times the equity they intended to give away.
Amusingly, Finn points out that if one of the Dragons had invested they would have made £1million back on that investment already.
It follows them selling their Pasta Evangelists to the world’s biggest pasta-making company, Barilla, for a reported £40million in 2021.
'Missed opportunity'
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Despite walking away empty-handed after facing “a deep frying rather than a roasting”, Finn walked out in a surprisingly good mood.
That soon faded as he feared the public’s response when it aired to millions, believing they could “look like clowns”.
To his surprise, Finn claims many felt the Dragons “missed a massive opportunity”.
On the day it aired, he says Pasta Evangelists' website went from 70 viewers up to 30,000 - and 20,000 people shopped there that evening alone.
Finn feels edits on the show, including condensing their hour-long pitch to a little over 11 minutes, can lead viewers to think entrepreneurs are “less qualified than they are”.
He said: “They want sizzle and excitement, so they edit out the boring business chat and financials.
“They keep bits where the Dragons take a chunk out of you."
£40m revenue
After the Den, Pasta Evangelists began a partnership with Harrods - where they have a pasta counter and pasta bar.
During the pandemic they saw “a massive boom” as people began to “panic buy fresh pasta”, and they launched a delivery service.
Finn says: “The only way we could have been better positioned was if we were selling toilet rolls.
“Sales exploded from February to March 2020 and in just a week the business grew four-fold. In 2020, we did £10million's worth of sales.”
Pasta Evangelists has continued to grow, launching a takeaway business in most major cities, a pasta school that teaches 1,000 people a week, and a cookbook.
Another surprise was receiving aplomb from celebrity chefs including Prue Leith, who branded their business "unashamedly top-end".
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Last year they were invited to be guest judges for the semi-finals of Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food Stars.
“It was a nice watershed moment,” Finn says. “A few years on from being called ‘delusional’ and a ‘disaster’, a three Michelin star chef was inviting us to be the authority on his TV show.
“We went from being downtrodden and ridiculed to being celebrated by Gordon Ramsay, which was a real moment of vindication.
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“This year we’re on track to do £40million in revenue, so we’ve grown four-fold from 2020 and became the UK’s biggest company in a few years.”
The BBC and Jenny Campbell's representative chose not to comment after being contacted by The Sun.
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