424: How Dragons' Den Star Michele Romanow is Removing Funding Barriers

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Michele Romanow joined the cast of CBC's</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dragons' Den</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">in 2014 after successfully selling her digital coupon business SnapSaves to Groupon. At 28 years old, she was the youngest "dragon" on the show, but that didn't stop her from innovating. During her second episode, Michele decided to flip the traditional</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dragons' Den</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">pitch from equity to revenue. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The decision led to the creation of the investment company Clearco and the invention of the revenue-based financing category. The model helps fund ecommerce companies fast and affordable, where founders pay a set percentage only when they make revenue. To date, Clearco has invested $4B in 10,000 founders in 11 countries across the world. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Listen to Nathan and Michele discuss: </span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Why her first business was a caviar fishery </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Acquiring customers through sidewalk chalk </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Creating the Clearco model by shifting the</span> <em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dragons' Den</span></em> <span style="font-weight: 400;">model</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Accepting rejection as part of the job</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Taking advice from people that you want to be</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">How to build the relentless muscle </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">How