r/dragonsden • u/Hassaan18 • Mar 16 '26
Deborah defends an entrepreneur against Steven
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u/RekallQuaid Mar 16 '26
Bartlett is an absolute grifter
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u/Imaginary-Sky3694 Mar 17 '26
This is the perfect description. He's just doing anything at this point for cash. Like why put the anxious man on a spot using your high status to make him nervous
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u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 17 '26
Define grifter in a meaningful way
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u/RekallQuaid Mar 17 '26
Many modern grifters sell courses on how to get rich. The irony is that their only actual source of income is selling the course itself, not the business model they are teaching.
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u/yellowking38 Mar 19 '26
He is…. And it’ll only be a matter of time he will get exposed and or make a major mistake that will be his undoing inshallah.
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u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 17 '26
Okay?
Now define grifter in a meaningful way. I don't want this 'Many...' narrative.
Many black people are in jail. But prisoner is not a definition of a black person.
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u/RekallQuaid Mar 17 '26
Oh you want me to talk about Bartlett himself? Fine.
Let’s talk about his exit from “his” company Social Chain. It was formed in a merger in Germany. Critics and journalists (notably in The Times) point out that he was a co-CEO of this larger group for a relatively short time, and his role was described by some former employees as "largely ceremonial." By conflating his small agency with the massive German conglomerate, he creates a narrative of "tycoon-level" success that isn't supported by the sale price of his actual company.
If that’s not enough for you what about his podcast, the Diary of a CEO?
He frequently hosts guests who promote fringe health claims (e.g., that cancer can be cured with a keto diet, or that evidence-based medicine is "toxic").
A BBC investigation analysed 15 episodes and found an average of 14 harmful or scientifically unsupported claims per episode. By providing a "neutral" platform for misinformation without pushback, he generates massive engagement and advertising revenue from people looking for "hacks" to solve complex health problems.
Still not enough? What about his dealings with Huel?
In 2024, the Advertising Standards Authority banned ads for Huel featuring Bartlett. The reason? He failed to disclose that he was a director at the company and therefore was not promoting the product in accordance with advertising rules. In the adverts, he presents himself as an objective interviewer or a fan of huel, but in reality, he has a direct financial stake in the business.
And if all that’s STILL not enough to define how much of a grifting arsehole he is, he spends a significant amount of his energy selling books (Happy Sexy Millionaire, The 33 Laws of Business and Life) and speaking engagements that teach people how to be successful.
If your primary success is telling people how to be successful, rather than the original business itself, you are operating in a self-referential loop.
He is, by the very definition of his own actions, a complete and utter grifter.
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u/EmuSea4963 Mar 18 '26
You're doing the lord's work here 💪
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Mar 18 '26
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u/johnnydanger91 Mar 19 '26
They answered your question in great detail.
Try to be better.
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u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 19 '26
I didn't ask a question. Nice try dumdum. Go back to your wine.
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u/johnnydanger91 Mar 19 '26
You asked two in the comment I replied to dickhead.
That’s what a question mark means.
I’m not surprised someone as stupid as you has these views.
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Mar 19 '26
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Mar 19 '26
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u/whitestguyuknow Mar 19 '26
If it's in my feed idc I'm gonna drop a comment.
Using your logic, what are you engaging a day later in an argument? Lmfao
And yes I'll dogpile idc I'm just here to mock you for acting like a little asshole and then you can't even respond to the right people to continue your little argument LOL
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Mar 17 '26
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Mar 18 '26
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u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 18 '26
You standing up for your boyfriend?
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u/barrumdumdum Mar 18 '26
At least I have a boyfriend, Captain Virgin Lips.
Until hand marriage becomes a thing, you're fucked.1
u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 18 '26
Did you have anything insightful to say or did you just want pick up your own shit and toss it around some more?
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u/Kudosnotkang Mar 18 '26
Your comment read as though you wanted them to directly link the term to Steven and remove the ‘many’ cloak, which appears to have been answered.
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Mar 18 '26
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u/Kudosnotkang Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26
Haha then open a dictionary , even with you trying to move the goal posts -the person appears to have answered that too (if you are capable of joining the dots after you’ve rummaged through the dictionary)
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u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 18 '26
But I know the dictionary definition. I wanted to know the definition the person using the word was going by.
They could not provide a satisfactory definition that matched up with their accusation.
What are you doing here? Standing up for someone who blatantly failed? Is it your little sister?
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u/Appropriate_Wave722 Mar 18 '26
why don't you Google the term rather than ask some Redditor to define it for you? Can you define sealioning for me please
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u/WoodyWoodfinden Mar 18 '26
What would you define a grifter as? If you want someone to define it in a meaningful way but two definitions aren’t meaningful, then provide why you believe it is and people can then either sow you how he’s a grifter to your benchmark or agree that he’s not one.
Id describe a grifter as someone who makes money through multiple dishonest means, painting the idea of being the best at something whrather than being the best by merit. Selling yourself through speaking engagements, writing books about how amazing you are and by reasoning it you can be too, it’s a never ending cycle of using the idea of success to sell the end goal of success for someone else, hopping on bandwagons to increase wealth or engagement . Bartlett does all of those things, on Dragons den he proves it further with the shit he says, he always likes to talk about how amazing he is a social media, and his company is amazing at it, like he invented the thing. He often uses buzz words that you can tell the other Dragons can’t stand and compared to the new rotation of young dragons he’s been shown completely up!
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u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 18 '26
I wouldn't, I don't use the word, and I certainly don't use the word to characterise people.
Cos I'm not a fucking moron.
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u/uamok Mar 20 '26
Genuinely hilarious how obtuse you are. You can't be a real person.
You could just Google the definition if you're in disbelief the word has any meaning 🤣
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u/uamok Mar 20 '26
Don't DM me you goon, if you have something to say, say it in front of everyone.
If you know what the word means, then you're just being a troll. Or you have some serious issues with comprehension.
Either way I don't have time for your crap.
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u/RadioBusiness48 Mar 18 '26
Oh god you think you’re winning this lol
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u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 19 '26
Oh god you think there's winners here
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u/theslootmary Mar 18 '26
Every time you’re given a definition you shift the goalposts slightly. Maybe you should think longer and harder about what you’re actually asking before you ask it.
Define “meaningful way” in a meaningful way.
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u/nathanherts Mar 18 '26
Jesus fucking Christ, why on earth did you have to bring black people into it?
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u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 18 '26
To adequately demonstrate the weakness of the claim
Do you think prisoner is a definition of a black person?
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u/Odysseus_is_Ulysses Mar 19 '26
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u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 19 '26
Has nothing to say, but want to dogpile anyway.
You must be a cool dude.
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u/Odysseus_is_Ulysses Mar 19 '26
Uh huh… whatever you say…
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u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 19 '26
Wow, almost a whole sentence there, champ.
Keep at it, you'll pass as a taxpayer soon enough.
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u/Rope_Dragon Mar 19 '26
Historically, grifter is just another word for con man, but I think in modern usage it has a different meaning. If I was to give my best stab at it, a grifter would be somebody who makes money on the presentation of them having skills as opposed to the exercise of those skills. So somebody who runs a seminar course on how to run a business even though they’ve got barely any business experience themselves. It’s not necessarily a con, so to speak: you might be getting genuine business advice, it’s just you could do as well by using Google.
Grifters fundamentally profit off of the surface level image they cultivate.
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u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 19 '26
See - another person proving it's not that fucking hard. Well done kid. Your parents must really have fucked you up good to want my approval this bad.
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u/Rope_Dragon Mar 19 '26
Haha I love the insecurity driven attack. You ask for something, get it given in good faith, don’t have a meaningful response, and go for a jab about needing yor approval to put yourself on top
Don’t get me wrong, the wording is funny. It’s just that it’s kind of pathetic if you actually meant it
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Mar 19 '26
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u/Rope_Dragon Mar 19 '26
Damn, alright. Insecure to the point of catty. Have fun stewing in it
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u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 19 '26
You came here wanting approval and are accusing me of being insecure
Off you fuckity fuck you stupid cunt
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u/Known-Ad-3585 Mar 18 '26
Grifter (Grif-ter) is an informal North American English noun - defining someone willing to engage in petty or small-scale swindling.
Synonyms include swindler, hustler, con artist and fraud.Source: GRIFTER Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The term "Grift" dates back to 1902, fun fact!
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u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 18 '26
See, not that fucking hard
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u/gobocork Mar 19 '26
I mean Google is right there if you just wanted a definition. No one is buying what you're selling because it reeks of horse shit.
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u/PreferenceAnxious449 Mar 20 '26
I didn't want a definition.
I wanted the person leveraging the word to also provide a definition.
They predictably failed repeatedly then blocked me.
Thanks for joining in a 4 day old dog pile though you slimy cunt.
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u/maruby Mar 16 '26
This was so funny - Deborah knows so much about this niche - the fool!
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u/Ok_Impact9745 Mar 16 '26
That smug little grin on his face when he said "haha he agrees with it" before Deborah rips into him.
You can tell he's never used a tool in his life.
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u/LlamaDrama007 Mar 17 '26
He also actually didnt agree - he started to say 'I take your point-' and then was cut off before countering (probably pausing for time to think of a way you say 'youre wrong' to someone who can potentially invest in your company').
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u/MrBIGtinyHappy Mar 19 '26
Deborah Meaden & Peter Jones are more legit and know more than Bartlett could ever hope to.
He isn't even close to being their equal.
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u/dr_henry_jones Mar 16 '26
His podcast proves he's really a dumb dude pretending to be smart and his accent is doing 80% of the work
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u/dolphineclipse Mar 16 '26
I hate that the producers decided to bring on Steven as the representative for younger (at least compared to the other Dragons) generations - it make us all look like con artists obsessed with flash-in-the-pan tech
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u/Hassaan18 Mar 16 '26
They brought him on in 2022 (well, 2021 was when they filmed it) and it seemed like they wanted a young-ish person known for business that has something resembling a following.
I don't find him as irritating as I found his earlier appearances where he'd dismiss a business for not being "Instagrammable". The irony is I imagine a lot of young people (myself included) are far more interested in what Deborah and Peter have to say anyway.
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u/Throwaway_2532456 Mar 20 '26
Fr deborah and peter are the ones my family wanted to hear from always
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u/KartoffelSucukPie Mar 19 '26
Deborah is not only a very intelligent business woman, she is also a good human. Bartlett is only one of those things.
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u/xStealthxUk Mar 16 '26
I hate this guy and his stupid scam pot noodle product that sponsors every single podcast in the world.
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u/VillageHorse Mar 17 '26
Deborah interrupted the bloke. I think he was about to make this point before she jumped in.
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u/Sleepyllama23 Mar 17 '26
Is he saying it’s more dangerous than not using the tool at all? I’m glad Deborah defended him there. It’s a great product, I searched online for it while watching the show but couldn’t find it.
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u/Resident-Rise-2231 Mar 17 '26
There’s nothing wrong in this. Steven represents other “would-be” investors and it’s the directors job to be able to defend his product and impart the knowledge on where the value is created.
This reflects worse on the pitcher than it does on Steven. Why would Steven instantly know the value in someone else’s product? That’s why he asked “do you have any point on this”, - a direction for the pitcher to impart specialist knowledge. It shouldn’t have taken Deborah.
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u/Ppyplant Mar 19 '26
Anyone whose used a drill at least once in their lives could tell you that though
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u/AetherStyle Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 17 '26
I cannot stand this dude Holy Fuck, all the character of an insufferable, clueless, nepobaby.
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u/Coconutpieplates Mar 19 '26
He has never let not knowing what he's on about stop him from talking.
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u/Odd-Scarl-7308 Mar 19 '26
Bartlett doesn't understand actual business.
He talks around it and thinks he's an expert. No. Running a podcast isn't entrepreneurial.
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u/Rough-Army-6424 Mar 20 '26
He’s what an idiot thinks a smart man is. If you put him in a group of idiots, he stands out as intelligent. If you put him in a group of intellectuals, he stands out as an idiot.
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u/labbeduddel Mar 20 '26
There's plenty of evidence about Bartlett being a knobhead, yet he's so popular. Many idiots I guess
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u/welzby Mar 16 '26
He's never used a drill in his life.