Peter's Perplexed By Pencils “Dad, I Can Hardly Lift This Pencil!” | Dragons’ Den
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- čas přidán 10. 07. 2020
- Managing Director Ross Williams and Operations Manager Surlender Pendress say their 'Write Size' range will make it easier for children to learn how to write but was it hard in the first place? They're seeking an investment of £50,000 in return for a 12.5% equity stake in their company.
An international sensation, Dragon's Den features entrepreneurs pitching for investment in the Den from our Dragons, five venture capitalists willing to invest their own money in exchange for equity.
#DragonsDen #WriteSize #Scale - Zábava
My man here took "sell me this pen" to a whole new level with maths and logic
🤣🤣🤣
Underrated comment if you ask me 😂😂
supply and demand
Bob Woodward, the pencil salesman
🤣🤣
A pencil sharpener will make any pencil your own custom size.
Thank you
Thank god you said it
Did the dragons just not bring that up? Did I somehow miss them mentioning such an obvious point?
@@Sugarman96 Maybe they did but these videos are heavily edited 😂
or a sharp knife , cut if from middle sharp them, you have 2 of these.
peter's resigned head tilt toward's the celing when he realises where this pitch is going: priceless
2:00.. worth watching back lol
@Karen DeGenerous r
It's almost like the editor hand-picked it
I loved that reaction 😂
Peter: “WHY”??
GUY: “it’s scale”.......
Wtf??? 😂
Just say that kids hands are so much smaller that a regular size pencil is awkwardly long. Lol. But super dumb to go in the den without a study group of children that prefer his length of pencil vs the standard.
That had to be amongst one of the worst pitches ever lol.
To be fair, it’s not shorter pencils that are useful for smaller hands of kids learning to write, it’s girth.
My grandma was an elementary school teacher and she swore by using fatter pencils. I bought them for my son too. They cost a lot more so I only bought them when he started learning to write. Regular pencils are super dirt cheap if you buy them a month before school starts.
@@toniroberts8117 that why question is a trap. haha
Omg. You just know he’s been walking around talking to himself, practising this speech and imagining everyone being amazed by his genius.
I was disappointed when in all of Peter's diatribe, he never just asked for the regular pencil, snapped it in half and said "Now sharpen these and I've got two of your pencils for 10p" because that'd be my argument
He missed the opportunity, I’m surprised he didn’t because that’s a very Peter Jones thing to do lol
Personally, I'd have recommended parents go to IKEA and pick up some of those tiny pencils they give out to customers.
These entrepreneurs and the dragons are so dense -- this product has no merit.
@@s--h1584 yep, pencils and meatballs and arrows that lead in circles.
@Comrade Wolfe Absolutely brilliant! XD
Snap a regular pencil in half and get 2 little ones. One has an eraser and one is sharp on both sides so the kids can pretend to be Darth Maul.
genius idea, now make a pencil breaker product n become a millionaire
@@lynx8437 I'll create a pencil breaker based on two things. The first of those two things is math. The second thing of the aforementioned two things is logic.
Always did this lol
Lol I used to do that. Then I stabbed myself once when I was spinning it around
Damn this brings back elementary school memories
Peter's "Why?" was one of the funniest moments on the entirety of this show.
This dude has it totally backwards.
Kid’s beginners pencils are bigger than “regular” pencils to help them hold on to it.
I had pencils with a triangular cross section to learn with, and that was way back in the 80s.
@@StandardGoose they still use them. I had one in primary school. They are triangular and like double the width
His were technically thicker but either it was cut or never mentioned
More importantly they're thicker. Length doesn't enter into it.
"If I only get half the world's population of parents..." how delusional can you be
Stonks
Pretty sure he was joking
Mind Control I think he was being serious.
Aditya Verma I know! Anyone with a brain knows two things. Anyone can make a pencil shorter by snapping it in half or sharpening it and if it’s profitable and no one has a patent on it there will be a lot of copycats and then it’s just a race to the bottom on price.
@@lozz0dnb He wasn't joking. High maybe.
In a well known furniture store there are hundreds of free small pencils
And the same with biro pens in hundreds of bookies around the country John !
Screwfix
@@nemie240 do you mean Ikea ? 😊
@@ASH.......................1976 I assumed John meant IKEA too Ash...
Wetherspoons as well.
He lost me when he said it can't be tested. Of all things, this can easily be tested.
Facts lol. Like, how can this not be tested? Of all the inventions I've seen on this show this is surely one of the ones that's most easily tested.
Sarah’s research comment is spot on
Also every Ikea has 2-6 year old pencils for free as you walk in through the door
Her comment about it being a "guilt purchase" absolutely summed it up for me.
With no evidence to support that kids need shorter pencils (they don't, by the way. It's a fine motor control issue. At most, they might need *thicker* pencils), this is nothing more than expensive tat to guilt out stressed out parents who don't want to fail their kids.
It's quite twisted, when you put it in those terms.
It’s a genius idea. All they need is £50K donation to the school’s minister and every school must buy those pencils ✏️ easy!
Did not take to that man - thought there was something strange about him .
Colouring pencils are usually smaller .
He seems like someone who would be very strict !
Inventor: We've created something based upon two things: Maths and Logic.
*
Lol. They want to charge more for less pencil. Wont last two sharpenings.
lol
Lmao
@@allosaurusfragilis7782 chop a pencil in half and you have 2 child size pencils !!
JesusJuenger What a superb reply! LOL
"Short pencils for kids. Any questions?" That might have saved us all a few minutes of our time. This is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. We all learned to write with regular sized pencils did we not?
I recall that the pencils we used in the primary grades were about twice the diameter as regular pencils, as they were easier to hold. I wonder why they didn't consider that?
@@KuriusOranj I fully agree with you. All teachers of preschool and grade 1 and 2 actually learn to teach the children how to hold their pencils according to the size of their hands and strength of wrists. My youngest now 27 used special pencil grips on her pencils once a bright involved teacher realised her lack of wrist grip. My youngest, like both my older two have long since graduated from university cum laude and first class. The youngest continues to tutor 2nd and 3rd year university students in her bit of free time but I remember her coming back off the plane, from the end of a 3rd semester struggling to carry her luggage with all her fingers strapped. The right tool for the right job makes a major difference in the long run.
We use smaller pencils at the childcare center I worked at.
And even if the length of regular pencils _was_ an issue, a pair of cutting pliers can fix that very quickly. And you can make the pencil to your *exact* specifications. And it will be a lot cheaper than 1 dollar.
You can learn faster with a shorter pencil this get ahead of your peers
Ross droned on way too much, evidently loving the sound of his own voice in front of a captive audience. In fact I was already bored rigid and very disappointed when he finally revealed his product and so I'm afraid I'm out.
Anybody who can’t start right away with saying what his product is, already knows it’s too ridiculous to be taken seriously, so they have to fluff up the pitch
Well said.
🥱
"In every adult profession (as opposed to child profession) where somebody learns a dexterous skill, we give them the tools to fit their hands."
Really? Where's my custom-fitted impact wrench!? I've been using standard-sized tools all these years, like a FOOL!
Lmao
Do you let kids use impact wrenches? I never even touched one in my entire life, and definitely not while in elementary school...
@@crazymonkeyVII methinks you missed the joke
That must be some pretty good stationery, because this business is going nowhere.
b u r n
Very good 😄
Nice
brilliant. you have high IQ
I looked up and its doing alright
Ross is so smug and condescending. He has missed the bit about when a pencil is sharpened it gets smaller...
That's exactly what I said to myself! Why buy a pencil purposely made smaller when a large one naturally shortens anyway when sharpening...
The whole selling point of this product is its size. Which will change after like 2 sharpens
@@neonwired4978 I'll give you a carrot and a half eaten pack of wotsits for 37%
@@neonwired4978 are give you my goldfish for 18% equaty if you give me my goldfish back alive in two years I will drop down to 10% that's my final deal no negotiating , you can go and have a chat with the wall if you like.
do they become hand me downs as you sharpen them?
As a Teaching Assistant with reception age children, I can tell you we have much smaller pencils and they hate it. They always prefer regular size ones.
Or comically giant ones!
"If I only get half the world's population.." a great sentence to pretty much include in any market estimate for a pitch deck.
When the pitch goes from 60-0 mph in 0.4 seconds....
More like 5-0 mph as it never got any traction in the first place!
Alix The Professional Cat Herder I’d be wary of such dismissive notions if I were you; word has it that his Pencil Empire has amassed enough wealth to fund a formidable army, at least three million strong. Our scouts report that they’re advancing from the east, no more than twenty leagues or so from here, and have made sure to pillage, plunder and burn every settlement along the way.
That's called crashing into a wall lmao.
When I was at school, we had one of those hand-crank pencil sharpeners, which was able to sharpen the entire length of a pencil into shavings in maybe 10 seconds .... ahhh those were the days.
Yes. I remember those back in the 90s
I remember kids putting their fingers in it and getting a cut and crying 😂
When people were oblivious to wastage
One time I had just sharpened a pencil and I broke it in half. I turned around and awkwardly got a new one. I was in like second grade.
@@HidingInMyRoom1989 I have a very vivid memory of doing that to my pinky as a child and getting sent home because of it
The last sentence ...must surely be a line from David Brent, The Office
The Statement the MD made at the end was so David Brent....
Spot on. The "ish" part is what really cements it.
MD? You mean the narrator?
2:02 That expression on Peter's face🤣
That last bit at the end where he talks about selling a billion-ish....that was pure Alan Partridge 😆😅😁
His voice even sounds similar
Haha, yes, very!
I thought he was quite accidental Alan when he first spoke
That's the voice I was trying to match it to!!! Thank you :D
not once in 100 years of pencil invention has any child ever once uttered the immportal words "mummy this pencil is way too big for me which leads me to believe there is a gap in the market for a smaller product aimed at my dempographic".
Never has the phrase "a soluton for a prblem that doesnt exist" been more relevant.
I adore how, for the beginning of almost every single pitch, Peter makes sure he already looks like he just got a wiff of some milk that's one day from being curdled.
I get that its his thinking face, but its still great. Gotta love him.
🤣🤣🤣
He's a king melt
He even sounds like Alan Partridge. Amazing.
"Peter's Perplexed By Poignant Pitch For Precious Priceless Pointy Pencils"
Precisely!
Pish Posh!
Alliteration at its finest.
Pointless
Clever 😂😂😂😂👏👏👏👏👏
Meet the arch nemesis: The pencil sharpener
When someone comes in with a cheesy rehearsed line about ferrari's you naturally want to punch that person in his throat LOL
I snapped three pencils just watching this
And he complains he only has a vintage minicooper
I can't believe nobody mentioned the fact that they are selling half a pencil, for double the price?! AND a pencil gets shorter the more you use and sharpen it!! WTAF 🤯
It's not a very sharp idea
@@phreak761 Bit of a blunt comment if you ask me.
This guy is weighing her down with his lead
Great point. The whole idea is that it's the right size for kids, but the moment they sharpen it, it will no longer be that size anymore, lol
So he waffled on for what seemed like an hour at the start just to say smaller hands need smaller pencils? Worst intro I've ever seen, yikes.
why didn't he scale down the thickness? Math and Logic tell me he didn't think of that
MathS.
Thicker pencils are actually better for kids generally.
@@ChrisMelville glad that grammar and spelling aren't part of math and logics
@@MrTyler0815 maths is the British abbreviation of mathematics, math is the American version of the abbreviation.
Exactly my first thought. So many flaws with this re- invention of the wheel. Eg, kids get used to using the standard sized pencil,because that is the universal size they will encounter for the rest of their lives....
"it can't be tested" - if they can test golf clubs, tennis rackets, hockey sticks, baseball bats, etc...I'm sure they can test a pencil. Problem is, unlike a golf club, I really don't give a f*ck that pencil size improves my writing game by 1 extra word a minute.
yes but that's an extra 0.3% writing advantage over those Ferraris! all you have to do is pay an extortionate price!
The problem is that to prove writing is improved in children using these pens they would have to do a study over a number of years, testing a baseball bat could be done by someone just swinging it 10000 times in a matter of days. Not the same. Just like any vaccine to Covid 19 wont really be tested properly when we start injecting it, it will take years to find out for sure about any adverse effects
Ah, speaking of golf, I'm pretty sure a lot of clubhouses give you a writing utensil to keep track of your score on your card while playing.....Yep, nope. They definitely give you a wooden mini pencil that they have a bucket full of at their disposal.
@@KungKokkos Are you telling me easton just sends 'joe schmoe' into the back room and goes "hey swing this 10000 times and let us know how it goes?"...If you wanna market a product that is advertising an improvement, you HAVE to test that theory. Sorry they don't believe in their product enough to fund a multi-year study on it's effectiveness. It's called business, you think anyone is shelling out the cash they are to buy taylormade gold clubs because some guy just went out and swung it 10000 times in a couple days? Do you know how many millions these companies pump into r&d to prove their claims? you can't just invent something, claim it does something, and then claim "it can't be tested" if you want people to believe in it...If you can't prove improvements over a few months, it's clearly not very effective. Comparing the ability to test a child's ability to improve writing using a specific pencil when the totality of elementary school is 6 years with no hard timeline is a lot different than rushing a vaccine to market in the middle of a pandemic that can have side effects in people for the next 100 years.
@@truecrimejungle Im telling you that looking at 10 childrena development using this, over 10 years, would take 10 years. Because it's not mechanics like a robot swinging 3 000 000 swings over night
They probably applied for the den thinking Theo would still be there; he could have stocked them immediately in Ryman's.
And sold one pack per month.
I think they explain in the presentation that Ryman had taken some stock Thomas, but only on a sale or return basis.
Come on Peter stock them in Jessops, you may save your own business...my question is why did Peter think he could save a photography business which is now split between phone cameras and professional cameras purchased online...so he is hardly an expert
@Carping 992 Bit ironic you'd choose an angle like that for criticism given that you yourself don't even seem to know the difference between their and there 🤣🤣
Be careful throwing stones inside that glass house of yours.
@Jackson Lowe Nice burn
I love rewatching the tragic pitches
How did this get past the auditions?
The guy is talking about Ferraris putting on tyres at the start to come after them ... what’s this guy smoking?
It was so bad it was good.
Yeah... as soon as I heard that, I knew we were in for a whole lot of waffling.
...Then the dragons took the wheels off their mini.
The only criteria is entertainment value
This is why it got through lol
The last line killed me hahaha a very confident man I see.
This pitching style was unique in that they refused to stop talking until an investment was secured. The man was almost about to start talking about why he wears an onion on his belt.
It was the fashion at the time..
I didn't get that perception at all Michal, I just saw a pleasant exchange of views and they listened to the feedback.
an onion? i watched it again to see it omg
@@Eyeball1975 😂😂
He should have compared it to Crayons, which are short for use by children.
And how a lot of kids prefer the mega crayons or the funny shaped ones (square and triangle) ones to the normal crayons. Also, as an adult, "normal sized" crayons feel tiny. WHY HASN'T ANYONE MADE ADULT SIZED CRAYONS YET!!!??? I base this on ideals and imagination. Common Dragons, you know you'd love to sign your next contract in a glow-in-the-dark, 'neon pink', glitter crayon that fit your hands.
When I was a kid we used to have a pencil sharpener and within a couple of weeks the pencil was like 2 inches long so these won't last 5 mins
This all seemed a bit... sketchy. I think we've been... lead on. The writing is on the wall for them, does anyone see the point in this? They really tried to draw attention to themselves however. They need to sharpen up a bit.
@@Andre80962 clever 👏👏😂😂😂
Very clever 😂😂😂😂😂👏👏👏👏
You explained that very graphitely
Very good 👏👏👏
You should audition:D
I used to chew the end of my pencils until they were smaller. I was quite a hungry child 😔
🤣🤣🤣🤣 the emoji like you're ashamed of it!!!
I think most , if not all kids chewed their pencils, pens , crayons etc at some time or another, but I've only chewed the ends, never as much as you did though. 😂😂😂
I remember doing handwriting practice in nursery... The pencils they give out are actually much thicker than normal ones, due to the fact that small movement make less of an impact on the line these are better for someone unskilled at writing. Logic... We'll leave the maths for another lesson. XD
The maths lesson is that half-sized pencil for twice the price means four times the profit.
11:15 She's dying on the inside.
That was like watching Alan Partridge with Lynn silently cringing.
It's quite sad, because she obviously believed in him, and he obviously likes her. I think she probably left after this, knowing there'll be no money left soon
I don’t remember thinking my pencil was too heavy for me ? And despite ikea, I am sure we can already buy these small pencils in shops (cute one)
Wh- what the hell have I just watched. They “created” a sharpened pencil. I’m absolutely astounded that this been made the show what the absolute hell. I did the same eye roll as Peter.
It’s just a short pencil, you an pick them up from screwfix or Halfords just laying on the side to fill in cataloy
@@PoultnavSOPs argos
Just get free golf pencils for the kiddies
how can they be so serious, i would cry from laughting
And... the company when bust (dissolved) just 2-years after starting with over £100,000 of debt.
On a separate note; he seemed like the type of guy that drives you frickin' nuts by giving you a long convoluted answer to even the most simple of questions. A guy that somehow takes 4-minutes to tell a knock-knock joke.
He thought he will sell billion of these pencils🤣
The dragons’ reactions during the pitch seemed like 6-10 year olds in a normal classroom. 😂
I just woke up, nice too see another upload.
What time is it for you? Is it 8:09a? (My guess)
@@Lauren72382 1:40pm
COMBO I too am in the British time zone
COMBO days almost over bud
Emile Bichelberger do you also wear pants?
2:02 Peter waiting for the end of school bell.
YouMustBeFibbing if only they sold a pencil that was long enough for him to vault home
@@jaysee5397 It'll be easier to find a teacher who will make class so fun and addictive no one wants to go home.
@@youmustbefibbing7376 maybe Peter can use those 6 foot plus legs to run him out of that dreary explanation on how to use a pencil
Imagine instead of being made fun of for being on the short bus, you were the special pencil kid
Thanks for downloading these.
And the award for the most drawn out and ridiculous time analogy goes to...
This guy!
What the hell was all that about start?
I know! When I saw the pitch I really thought it was going to be some incredibly innovative feat of engineering. Then I realised it was just a small pencil. Talk about an anti-climax! lol
the man is an absolute bumbling fool
"Only get half" is still thinking way too hopefully, maybe half a percent of a percent.
Juicy Blue Will he truly is delusional, I feel sorry for their kids, who are losing their inheritance
Yes :D And the website is not active... so I guess i did not work... In Dollar Tree (USA) you get 16 pensils for 1 $. Cut it in half, 32 for 1 $
not even just that..... "1billion" he says
I actually work in a stationery shop and when these came out we stocked them for a good few years. some of our stores still sell. them but not all. we defiantly sold plenty and I'm sure the company is still going strong. but being all the way in NZ the prices whwre tripped and some peole jist couldn't afford it... they are amazing pencils so don't hate it till ya try it!
Someone commented the businesses net worth in 2017 was -220 thousand something
The company is dissolved as of 3rd March 2020
@@tacenth Ah, too many people found their product pointless.
The company is bot going string actually. As Peter said once... "there will always be a few people that will buy complete rubbish"
They do have a point, I can remember when I was a LOT younger I would pick the smaller pencils as they where easier to hold and control. But I wouldn't buy this, I'd just break a pencil to the size I wanted and sharpen both ends.
For Pens this may work, but there is a fundamental problem with pencils. Each time you sharpen them they get smaller anyway.
Entrepreneur: makes a pitch
Me: that sounds like a good idea
The dragons: this is a horrible idea, I’m out
Me: horrible idea, should never invest
I laughed so much at your comment. Thank you
I hope you didn't think this was a good idea 🤣🤣
Alakayyy this comment is under about a dozen other dragons den videos. #yawn #copypaste
Can you continue to add the aired date in the description. A commentor asked it on a recent video and you did but seem to have forgot since then.
If only there was some way to snap a pencil in half to make them shorter
Also when I was a kid, there were thicker pencils for younger students called primary printers because they were easier to control... that was 30+ years ago
Ross Williams speech about 'horsepower' is pure Partridge.
As of 2017 their networth was -£120k guess they were *not a surprise* right to not invest
where do you see that?
@@Gumden Research the brand name on Google and find their information on Companies House, then view the accounts.. not rocket science
In Dollar Tree (USA) you get 16 pensils for 1 $. Cut it in half, 32 for 1 $
@@spaceman_3194 I didn't have the write tools.
@@spaceman_3194 alright mardy bum.
2:03 Peter looking just like I did during an extremely uncomfortable one-night stand where I was sadly unable to 'perform'.
Inventor: We've created something based upon two things: Maths and Logic. ...So we've made a shorter pencil.
- i thought he would come out with something BIG revolutionary. What the hell.
I sharpened my pencil down to 55% of its original length once. Turns out, that wasn't enough to pass my math and logic class
I've never laughed my head off so much after a pitch! lol this blokes a classic!!
Peter's reaction at 2:03 pretty much sums up this pitch
I love the build up to the reveal, he talks about it like hes solved world hunger, Its just a expensive pencil with loads of branding on the box
Why are the dragons even giving this any time?, Id just ask : Is this a normal pencil but shorter? Yes. Ok bye
4;40 "I'm unable to read my own writing and I realize the reason is probably because I had started with pencil that was too long" 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Pencils are perfectly sensible the way they are - and children easily become accustomed to the size pencil they'll be using THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.
Should expand their business with left hand and right hand pencils, then they can capture a wider market too
Why is it that every time someone appeals to "maths and logic" it's to lend credence to some silly idea and not because the argument truly stems from maths and logic. People who are fanatic about hard logic and mathematics have hardly ever studied them formally, beyond a high school level. It's cringe-worthy.
The only returning customer might only be John Wick.
JW: I need a pencil that can kill a 6"5 man.
Love it when people idea's are a solution with no problem
As an American, this proves that British people only sound more intelligent -- it doesn't automatically mean that they are more intelligent.
So what happens in a couple weeks after sharpening the pencil regularly? The "perfect" pencil all of a sudden is too short and has a fraction of a life of a regular one
11:41 to listen to this pitch... 😳
oh well, at least I got to see Sarah Willingham again... she’s gorgeous 😊
anyone know where the business is today?
That was a excellent parable at the beginning
My dad used to cut my pencils into 2, easy done
Same lol
Pointless product, really. (Pun not intended).
Stan Laurel: 'You can take a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead.'
@@RockyDave 😂😂👏👏
When I was young in school, often small kids used BIGGER pencils. This was due to the larger ones being easier for small young hands to grip
I feel like I missed out on the dragons grilling them on their numbers. That's always my favorite bit.
Wow the pun writers went absolutely mental with this one
You are write.
Anyone: names any price
Dragons: Thats quiet expensive
@Orion what product has doubled in price after dragon investment please?
Yes, or 'your business is not quite as far along to be at an investable stage, yet'.
"Ladies and gentleman. I present to you my genius invention. (dramatic pause) The golf pencil. And coming soon a pencil made specifically for lefthanded use. Only the best from First World Problems Incorporated."
There's an obvious flaw here: in order to point out which end of the pen to use they should have implemented a flow signal.
Steve on the Australian shark tank would've shut him down in two minutes!
I agree 💯
“Dragons DESTROYED by Maths and Logic”
That car metaphor at the start was the most confusingly up your own ass thing I've ever heard
What an introduction!!
They used to give us small golfing pencils in kindergarten, so he kind of has a point.
Except the golf pencils are cheaper. Any regular pencil can be cut down to a custom size.
Or those mini pens you get at the bookies.
Haha, "point"
A classic example of the worst kind of pitch:
A solution for something where there was no problem to begin with
I’m really pleased with the level of this comment section (compared to other youtube video’s).
It's the kind of idea that Alan Partridge would come up with.
It also gets smaller as you use it and sharpen it, total wallies. x
"Dad, my shoes are blunt. Can you sharpen my shoes and feet?"
What a ridiculous idea. Buy a long pencil and cut it in half.
Peter's facial expression: hurry the f*** up dude and get to the point.
Super convoluted complicated analogy ... like it 🤣