Dragon’s Den – More Mr Nice Guy

There’s an interesting interview in The Guardian today with Richard Farleigh, the rather pleasant (except for the spat in the most recent episode) entrepreneur on BBC2′s Dragon’s Den.

The affable Australian seems to rely more on his gut instinct than the financial analytics of his fellow Dragons.  As he says to The Guardian:

Investing is like a date. Within the first five minutes you kind of know if it’s going to work. And most of the time, your first impression is right.

He’s also a chess master which I didn’t know, competing in the chess Olympiad for Monaco and Bermuda.  OK, neither of those nations is a world chess power, but nevertheless interesting.  I love chess, but only reached county level.  Perhaps there’s a correlation between entrepreneurial success and chess ability.  Maybe that explains why I’ve yet to make my first million.

Are there any other famous chess playing entrepreneurs out there, I wonder – other than Cameron Reilly of The Podcast Network?

Tags: farleigh, VC, investment, SMB

Alex is the founder and editor of SmallBizPod, the UK's first podcast dedicated to small business, start-ups and entrepreneurship. Alex writes about topical small business issues, entrepreneurs and anything else that catches his eye here on the small business blog. http://www.smallbizpod.co.uk