2. Richard Reed
Richard Reed is an embodiment of the entrepreneurial spirit of Dragons' Den, so much so that he could well have found himself seeking investment for his product on the show himself. His rise to success in business is a romantic one. Along with fellow Cambridge University graduates Adam Balon and Jon Wright, the trio founded Innocent Smoothies, and quit their day jobs to run the business full-time in 1999 after spending £500 on fruit and selling their smoothies from a modest stall at a London music festival. Revellers were asked to put their empty bottles in a 'yes' or 'no' bin depending on whether they thought the three should quit their jobs to sell smoothies full time, and to cut a long story short, the 'yes' bin was full by the end of the day. Eventually the trio secured investment (sound familiar?) from Maurice Pinto, a wealthy American businessman and the business grew from there. Today, the company sells over two million smoothies per week but courted controversy in 2009 when they sold part of their business to Coca-Cola. Still, having Reed on the panel of Dragons' Den would remind contestants that small businesses can indeed grow into a successful brand.