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Dragon’s Den Reject to Make £200 Million From ‘Hair-brained’ Invention

Hairdresser-turned-inventor Shaun Pulfrey is set to make a fortune from the sale of his Tangle Teezer invention...

After being unceremoniously laughed out of The Den back in 2007, ex-hair colourist Shaun Pulfrey emerged even more determined to make his mane-taming hairbrush a success. At the time, he offered 15 percent of his company for £80,000 and the notoriously intimidating panel, which then featured Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne, James Caan and Deborah Meaden mocked Pulfrey, calling his invention ‘hair-brained’ and ‘a waste of time’.



Undeterred, the Grimsby-born entrepreneur re-mortgaged his flat and the Tangle Teezer went on to become a global phenomenon now sold in over 70 countries. Stars such as Emma Watson and Victoria Beckham have come out as fans of the brush, and Pulfrey has travelled the world becoming a celebrity colourist along the way.

He still credits his appearance on the BBC show with helping his success to some extent, telling the Grimsby Telegraph in 2014: "I came out that day knowing more about my business than when I went in. The secret was to not look at them as the last hope. No investment didn't mean I didn't have a product. There wasn't even a determination to show them they were wrong, it was just a determination to succeed.

"The global coverage I got out of it was good, too, though that was never planned. That programme was translated into 15 different languages!"

Though the sale is yet to be confirmed, it is rumoured that a deal is in its final stages and were Pulfrey to get the full £200 million he would be five times wealthier than Debra Meadem, estimated to be worth around £40 million, making it ‘knot’ such a bad idea after all.

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Images: Instagram @ChicCanadian 


 

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