Experienced business commentator and writer Andrew Patterson is set to take on a new challenge later this term, co-ordinating this year’s Dragons’ Den at St Peter’s, Cambridge.
Modelled on the popular television series, the programme allows students, either as individuals or as part of teams, to conceive, plan and then pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges gaining valuable feedback and hopefully sparking an interest in entrepreneurship along the way.
The popularity of entrepreneurship and learning how to establish a business is growing amongst young people, particularly as they see the way technology is fundamentally reshaping the job market.
Patterson says it’s a term that resonates well with students.
“It promotes this idea that a business doesn’t just create itself. The only person that can make it happen is the person running the business.”
St Peter’s alumni include the Mowbray siblings who after leaving school went on to establish ZURU toys, now one of the largest private toy companies in the world. Their entrepreneurship journey started at St Peter’s and they often return to the school to impart their knowledge to current students.
This year’s Dragons’ Den will kick off in the coming weeks when students will be invited to sign up either as individuals or in teams.
At the end of the competition four winners will walk away with $250 in cash to put towards their new business.
“Wouldn’t it be fantastic to see one of these ideas grow into something larger in the future, because as I often remind students every large business started off once as a very small business,”
Patterson says.
St Peter’s, Cambridge Executive Principal Dale Burden says “we actively encourage our students to be creative and to think outside of the box.Entrepreneurship captures this philosophy very well and it is an important ‘takeaway’ from a St Peter’s education. The Dragons’ Den is an example of entrepreneurship
in action.”
