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Twin sisters Jasmijn and Lyla Kok participated in the Dragons’ Den television show with their nanny platform Nanny Nina.
Participation seemed good for brand awareness, but during recordings it seemed that the company name should not be mentioned in the broadcast.
They managed to convince investors Pieter Schoen and Shawn Harris with their speech. Negotiations on the exact terms of the deal continued for months.
“We think: we make that launch and we have money. But it turned out not to be that simple. Negotiations take a lot of time and energy, “says Jasmijn Kok.
There is a loud bang through the television studio in Hoofddorp. Just moments later, the 7,000-euro carpet with Polynesian patterns is dotted with colorful pieces of paper.
The creators of the television show Dragons’ Den had kindly asked twin sisters Jasmijn and Lyla Kok to fire their confetti cannon next to the expensive rented carpet. But that is impossible without being offstage. Oops!
It is a minor blot on a successful pitch. Three investors want to put money into the 28-year-old sisters’ company, nanny rig Nanny Nina, during the shootings in December. However, it still takes months to negotiate the terms.
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“We think: we make that launch and we have money. But it turned out not to be that simple. Negotiations take a lot of time and energy, “says Jasmijn Kok in a conversation with Business Insider.
Why did it take so long? “The first deal we received contained things that we really couldn’t endorse. We have to pay attention to these kinds of agreements with many legal terms. “
Business: Nanny Nina
Than: Babysitting service, au pair agency and childcare
WhoJasmine and Lyla Kok (28)
Settled down: Haarlem
Turnover: 400,000 euros in 2019
From a secondary job that got out of control to an international childcare platform
Babysitting Nina is a side job that got out of control for the twin sisters. At high school in Delft, they earn extra money babysitting. First, as is often the case, with friends of his parents. Later, after hanging notes in stores in Delft, also in other directions.
They soon perish at work and have to call girlfriends to fulfill all requests. With the help of their father, they create a simple website where parents can reserve a babysitter.
During the student years, they decide to take a more professional approach. They register with the Chamber of Commerce in 2010 under the name Babysitter Madelief and have their own system built by a programmer, paid for with earnings from previous years.
Read more: These twins conquer the Netherlands with their childcare service, now it’s Germany’s turn
Ten years later, the company combines selected babysitters and parents in 22 cities in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Norway. Due to the passage across the border, the name has been changed to Nanny Nina. A cool farm platform has been built with € 100,000 in crowdfunding, including a professional app. The twin sisters want to build the “Uber among childcare centers” and expand their services with an au pair and childcare agency.
However, something is missing: financing.
“It looks like we have a sports car, but there is no gas to drive it,” says Jasmijn Kok. “We can accelerate, but we need more funds to grow.”
Confetti Cannon is a resounding success during the selection round
The email from the creators of Dragons’ Den late last year comes at the right time. Then the sisters have the first conversations with investors, so there is already a speech. Participating in a television show is also a great opportunity to introduce the child care company to a large audience.
A form, an audition video, and a list of instructions later (don’t wear black or white clothing!). The sisters will be in an industrial area in Hoofddorp for the selection round in early December. Participants were asked to bring something to show because it works well on television. A difficult task for an internet platform.
Source: Nanny Nina / YouTube
The sisters choose a confetti cannon because they want to “exploit” their company, as they put it in their crowdfunding video. They are the last launch of the day and it is already around seven in the afternoon.
“The jury was so surprised that they fell out of their seats. They were immediately awake, ”Jasmijn Kok laughs.
€ 500,000 for 14%: how realistic is that?
Then we have to wait. And wait And wait An exciting period, because the sisters have no idea if their proposal is realistic. They ask for half a million euros for 14 percent of their company’s shares, without knowing who the investors participating in the program are.
“If you look back at the episodes, you see that some participants are being completed. Like: who do you think you are? Do you think you are collecting that amount here? Says Kok.
They don’t get much guidance from the television production company. “They are television manufacturers. They give advice on the lighting, your clothes and the presentation, but not on the content of the field. “
Two weeks later they get the results: they are done. Another week later, they are in the waiting room with another company, this time for real.
Jasmijn Kok calls the admission day “a greased machine”. They are called an hour in advance, given makeup and channels, do a brief interview with presenter Sander Schimmelpenninck, and then wait in a hallway for the green light to come on. Now it must be done.
Problems with dishes during launch
When they enter the “dragon’s den”, the sisters know which of the five investors they want to convince. Pieter Schoen, founder of Nederlandse Energie Maatschappij, is at the top of the list. “The energy market has changed. We try to do the same, but then with the children’s sector, “says Jasmijn Kok.
They are a little nervous, but they still do well. “Lyla and I always like this kind of thing.”
However, the pitch is not perfect. The sisters carry A3 posters with information about their company, but they are printed on both sides. That is complicated during the presentation, they discover during the last practice in the room just before the recordings.
“We were playing with those dishes, although I think it has turned into a funny effect,” said Kok.
And that is not the only setback. Company name Nanny Nina has been recorded and cannot be mentioned during transmission. Advertising is prohibited in public service broadcasting. That was one of the reasons for participating in the program. “Very good bullets,” he recalls.
Negotiations on terms take months
After launch, the sisters are not ready yet. The “dragons” shoot at them for forty-five minutes. Three finally want to invest: avocado queen Shawn Harris, Trust founder Michel Perridon and yes! – Pieter Schoen.
But the deal they offer, 30 percent interest for half a million euros, doesn’t appeal to Jasmijn and Lyla Kok. However, they don’t mean no right away. They agree with the idea of leaving later.
Negotiations continue for months, also because the crown crisis suddenly breaks out. Perridon leaves after a consultation, after which the sisters with Harris and Ronald van der Heide, the managing director of the investment company Pieter Schoens, discuss the conditions, with the help of their accountant and a friend who worked for a investment company.
Different interests arise during negotiations. Kok: “We know the company well. We look at the vision and what we believe we can achieve in the future. Investors really think differently, more in terms of certainty and whether the forecasts are realistic. “
Kok thanks the people who helped read all the documents, “because it contains a lot of legal gossip.” The first deal he sees, for example, states that Nanny Nina will have a supervisory board where the sisters will retain a third of the voting rights and will have to ask permission to make many decisions in the business. Kok: “That was really a point for us. We want to maintain control over our own company. “
Participating in Dragons Den is a crazy process
The parties will come out in early April. The twin sisters sell 20 percent of the shares for € 333,333. “Actually, I think they should add another 33 cents to finish it,” Kok laughs.
The deal values Nanny Nina at 1.67 million euros, the same amount as the original motion picture proposal. But the sisters have a greater interest. “Later, we can always sell more shares at a price that we support more.”
Finding financiers through a television show is a crazy process, says Kok. “It is very difficult to form an image of someone beforehand. They hardly know each other, but they immediately enter into intense cooperation. That’s exciting “.
Fortunately that worked well. By participating in Dragons’ Den, Nanny Nina has attracted “two super cool investors,” says Kok. Shawn Harris is “smart, warm, and reasonable,” while Pieter Schoen is “business and action oriented,” “somewhat what we can still learn from. ”
Kok: “I really want to work with them.”
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