Shaun practically lived in a library after dragons den rejected him

Tangle Teezer just sold to Bic for $200 million!

Back in 2007, Shaun Pulfrey walked into Dragons' Den with a new kind of hairbrush.

He asked for £80,000 for 15% of his company.

Peter Jones called it "hair-brained." James Caan declared it "a waste of time."

Instead of trying to prove the Dragons wrong immediately, Pulfrey played a completely different game.

He remortgaged his flat in Brixton and practically lived in the British Library, studying everything from plastic injection molding to polymers.

The first break came unexpectedly.

A Boots buyer spotted the brush at The Clothes Show.

Around the same time, a Chinese influencer discovered it in London and shared it with her followers.

But instead of chasing quick expansion, Pulfrey did something smart.

He focused on getting three things right:

• The product had to work perfectly

• The message had to be clear

• The community had to build naturally

This patience paid off in ways nobody could have predicted.

When TikTok emerged, Tangle Teezer didn't have to rebuild their brand for a new platform.

They already had a community of genuine advocates.

Their turnover doubled.

In four years, they went from solid business to global phenomenon:

• £60M in annual revenue

• Nearly £5M in pre-tax profit

• Distribution in 75 countries

But here's what everyone's missing in this story:

While there are absolutely lessons in persistence after rejection and social media success.

For me, the biggest lesson is that cultural embedding takes time.

But more importantly, it takes restraint.

When a product is solving a real problem, the best strategy is often to:

• Perfect the solution

• Let early adopters find you

• Support organic growth

• Stay consistent as platforms change

• Build systems that scale naturally

This is what separates brands that get acquired from brands that fade away.

Not their growth speed, but their growth foundation.

Seventeen years after getting laughed out of Dragons' Den, Tangle Teezer exits for $200 million.

Not because they played the hype game, but because they understood something deeper about modern brand building:

The best marketing strategy is patience combined with excellence.

Not growth hacks or viral trends.

1. Build something real

2. Let it grow naturally

3. Stay consistent

4. Play the long game

The exits follow.

Chat soon,

Jordan

P.S. I hope you all have an amazing New Year! January's going to be a big month for us - lots of exciting things in the works that I can't wait to share. Stay tuned 👀

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