If you’ve got a great startup idea in Seattle, Tom Douglas wants to know about it.
The famous restauranteur is helping host an event on Jan. 15 called The Lion’s Den, which will mimic ABC’s popular Shark Tank show and feature entrepreneurs pitching to a group of local investors.
Douglas, an award-winning chef who owns more than a dozen restaurants in Seattle, teamed up with veteran businesswomen and friend Jeri Andrews to create The Lion’s Den.
“There’s natural mentoring that goes on in my life everyday,” Douglas told GeekWire. “This just seemed to take advantage of something I enjoy and I’m pretty good at.”
Both Douglas and Andrews referred to their forum as “Shark Tank with a soul” and are looking for businesses that operate in a socially-beneficial way.
“Our goal is to mentor in the way we believe in doing business,” Douglas said. “We believe in healthcare, paid time off, paying a living wage. We think you can run a business that way, instead of always trying to do the least for employees. When you watch Shark Tank, everything is about off-shore this, off-shore that. That’s not our goal — we’re more about compassionate capitalism.”
There will be six projects picked to pitch on Jan. 15 at the Palace Ballroom, where investors — or rather, “Lions” — will join Douglas and Andrews on a judging panel. After the five-minute presentations, the Lions will ask questions and potentially negotiate an investment deal. If no Lions are interested, audience members will have a chance to invest in teams, too.
Each startup will have negotiating power in terms of ownership and investment dollars. Teams are also required to provide one percent of their company, in perpetuity, to a non-profit of their choice — this is part of the “Shark Tank with a soul” idea.
“This event was created to build community within our fast-growing city,” Andrews said. “All parties have stock in making the company a success; the company, in turn, helps make our community a success.”
The participating investors that will join Douglas and Andrews on the judging panel will be revealed later this month. Andrews calls them “qualified and wildly successful,” and each has committed to bring strategic assistance, funding and mentoring to the projects they fund.
“We want to take the ideas, discussions and partnerships that happen over dinner throughout Seattle and give them a public forum to help catapult them forward,” Andrews said. “We also believe there is a tremendous opportunity to evangelize and grow the ideas of individuals in the corporate environment.”
The vision is to hold a Lion’s Den event twice a year. Those interested in pitching can send a proposal to thelionsdenseattle@gmail.com by Dec. 15. Here are the guidelines. People who would like to attend as an audience member can buy a $15 ticket here.
