Angels Den Blog

Barack Obama’s success is a fantastic example of the media paving the way for social change. The media created the character of a cool and wise black President in early episodes of “24”. We are reminded of David Palmer when we look at Obama, he looks and moves like him, and has Palmer’s dignity . Without knowing why, we feel good about Obama and project Palmer’s personality onto him.

Previously we may have had internal images of a black leader who was vocal and passionate, clutching a bible and probably didn’t expect him to be able to deal with a national crisis or critical international affairs. Now we unconsciously think of a man with dignity, with great values who is cool and calm under pressure. If he turns out to have half Palmer’s qualities the world will be much better off!

Another example of the media pioneering role models who trigger social change, comes from Dragons Den. People who had never heard of equity funding, or thought it was the domain of accountants and solicitors, could suddenly picture themselves as Dragons or entrepreneurs. This is highly influenced the formation of Angels Den, to help people to make the process happen in the real world. The role models have played an important role in what to (and not to) do and we hear people referring to them all the time. Fortunately personal interviews in numerous publications, such as Real Business, have softened the harsh “dragon” image portrayed on TV.

Angels Den deliberately linked itself with this media interest and has managed to recruit 1800 Angels in the last 18 months, many of whom are new to Angel investing and have been inspired by Dragons Den.

In these tough economic times Angel investments are actually increasing, which is incredibly important to the economy. Obama is clearly going to play a pivotal role in putting the global economy back on track. If we have a TV show to thank for these advances in society, maybe other businesses can learn from this too?

Take a look at new roles currently being carved out by the media and see if you can create a business that builds on this. Marketing a novel business idea can be hugely expensive so linking your business to an existing TV concept can fast forward your business dramatically for very little cost.

Who are your TV heroes and why do they reach out to you? Why are other people drawn to them? They could be the key to your very own recession-busting business.

Don’t just complain about the power of the media, make use of it!