Apprentice UK 2015

Also Starring LeVar Burton

I'm glad Joseph got into the finals - I'm rooting for him to win, but just going off the preview it's obvious that he gets landed with the duds of the fired contestants and that Vana has the best of this year's bunch working with her. I have nothing against Vana, she's been one of my favourites this season, but that App sounds stupid. Then again, I think most Apps people have on their phones today sound stupid and I don't use any of them myself (still got a Blackberry and I ain't trading that in until it breaks down completely, so when it comes to phones I'm years behind everyone else and happily so) so what do I know?

Whereas if my toilet, shower, boiler etc. broke, I'm obviously gonna pay good money to get it fixed - so in my eyes he's the safe bet.

Utopia Parkway

Thought it was a fairly underwhelming interviews episode to go along with a pretty underwhelming series overall. Actually seemed like they went easy on them for the most part.

Arbiter of Good Taste

Ally Dick wrote: »

Sugar is greedy. Loves money. A rival to Tinder would be something he would relish. He's too old to go into the DIY business. The girl is a shoo in

So legally investing in a business plan is now "greedy"?

Tarzana2

captainspeed wrote: »

Admittedly none of them had truly awful business plans like in previous years, but still.

Gary's was shockin'! I'd be mortified pitching that. And the rest were no great shakes.

CarrickMcJoe

[QUOTE=
Whereas if my toilet, shower, boiler etc. broke, I'm obviously gonna pay good money to get it fixed - so in my eyes he's the safe bet.[/QUOTE]

No, he'd be too busy flirting with the wives',

Sunny Dayz

I knew Vana and Joseph would be picked for the final.
Vana would be picked because her business plan is current, modern, a dating app. It would show that Sugar is up to date with trends...
Joseph was picked to try and promote people into considering working as a trade.


I hope Joseph wins, he seems like such a hard worker.

Hyzepher

I doubt Sugar has to invest his money on the condition that the business plan is followed 100%.

If he picks Vana then I can see a lot of modifications to made it work. Gamification is a big thing and coupled with Dating and some "big data" element she might be onto something. But the concept needs to be more instant or at least a little more engaging.

sonofenoch

hmmm wrote: »

Joseph kept going on about making 60k profit as if that was going to impress Sugar. The guys a billionaire, what does he care about a business where the owner thinks 60k is impressive?

Varna is thinking big, and you're right it could be a complete money sink. But it could also make an awful lot of money if he gets it right, and he is/was in the IT business.

It depends if Sugar wants to play it safe I guess

A 60k profit is not shabby either, think of the show as a glorified Dragons Den ....someone with that kind of business model and profit would probably get the investment, Sugar won't be expecting to make another billion from any of these investments......one is a sure fire slow burner the other is a crapshoot

Ally Dick

Arbiter of Good Taste wrote: »

So legally investing in a business plan is now "greedy"?

Yes. Wants maximum return. It's what makes him one of the richest men in the UK. Loves computers and internet. That's why he'll go with her dating app. Joseph will get a pat on the back and will go on his merry way

Ally Dick

sonofenoch wrote: »

.one is a sure fire slow burner the other is a crapshoot

i can hear Sugar already "This is really hard for me. Do I go for a punt with massive potential, or a steady surefire investment.....I like a gamble so.....Vana, I'd like to invest in your business"

syklops

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Thought it was a fairly underwhelming interviews episode to go along with a pretty underwhelming series overall. Actually seemed like they went easy on them for the most part.

Yeah I looked at the clock and it was 9.50 and i was like, "Is that it?"

Joseph was picked to try and promote people into considering working as a trade.

No Joseph was picked because he speaks proper, like what Sir Alan speaks. None of your fancy-pants business lingo like what Richard was speaking.

AMS: Whats that ->
Joseph: Thats a spade.
AMS: So you call a spade a spade do you?
Joseph: Yes Lord Vadar, I mean Sugar.
AMS: Richard, whats that?
Richard: Thats an earth removal and dispersal device.
AMS: Richard, f%ck off.

byronbay2

Ally Dick wrote: »

i can hear Sugar already "This is really hard for me. Do I go for a punt with massive potential, or a steady surefire investment.....I like a gamble so.....Vana, I'd like to invest in your business"

Yeah, that's what I thought as well. The possibility (however small) of hitting it HUGE with Vana will appeal more than making a steady profit from a bog-standard business with Joseph. Losing £250K won't make any difference to him so I think he'll take a punt.

I'm tempted to take a punt on Vana myself - Joseph is overwhelming favourite with the bookies:

http://www.oddschecker.com/tv/the-apprentice/winner?selectionName=joseph-valente

Jamie2k9

I knew Vana would get to the final, she will win it I think.

Richard Hillman

I wouldnt be too fast to count Josephs idea out. Even if it is generally smaller scale to what Sugar is used to, for Joseph to be earning a high 6 figure sum per year would be a massive success of the process.

The programme isnt necessarily about turning people into massive multi-millionaires, it is about helping people succeed. I wouldnt be surprised if he invested in both of them.

Heat_Wave

Sorry if this has been asked already but where can I watch last nights episode? They're usually on YouTube but not this time.

Paully D

Bookmakers odds were spot on from day 1 regarding the finalists.

4068ac1elhodqr

Paully D wrote: »

Bookmakers odds were spot on from day 1 regarding the finalists.

Agree, was tracking this since the series previews and Joe was suspiciously always the joint fav, along with the natural selection (Vana).

Whereas the likes of Gary was available at a massive price just a few days ago.

Barna77

Richard crushed like that was a shocker

Muahahaha

hmmm wrote: »

Varna is thinking big, and you're right it could be a complete money sink. But it could also make an awful lot of money if he gets it right, and he is/was in the IT business.

It depends if Sugar wants to play it safe I guess

Sugar has always liked a gamble. Back in his Tottenham days he used to spend millions on footballers and they were all gambles. £250k is a small gamble compared to what he's spent gambling in football in the past. Plus he's much richer today than he was back then.

Ally Dick wrote: »

Sugar is greedy. Loves money. A rival to Tinder would be something he would relish. He's too old to go into the DIY business. The girl is a shoo in

I agree Vana should be the favourite just on the business plans alone. But in her interviews on her business plan she never promised a competitor to Tinder - she only used Tinder as an example of exponential growth in the dating sector ("50 million members in two years") Vana instead talked about how many people are already well used to paying for dating services and her dating app would be targeted at "successful men, get the men in and the women will follow".

Ally Dick wrote: »

i can hear Sugar already "This is really hard for me. Do I go for a punt with massive potential, or a steady surefire investment.....I like a gamble so.....Vana, I'd like to invest in your business"

Lol, nail on the head I reckon I can hear the words leaving the Lords mouth already :pac:

Arbiter of Good Taste

Muahahaha wrote: »

Sugar has always liked a gamble. Back in his Tottenham days he used to spend millions on footballers and they were all gambles. £250k is a small gamble compared to what he's spent gambling in football in the past. Plus he's much richer today than he was back then.



I agree Vana should be the favourite just on the business plans alone. But in her interviews on her business plan she never promised a competitor to Tinder - she only used Tinder as an example of exponential growth in the dating sector ("50 million members in two years") Vana instead talked about how many people are already well used to paying for dating services and her dating app would be targeted at "successful men, get the men in and the women will follow".




Lol, nail on the head I reckon I can hear the words leaving the Lords mouth already :pac:

I just can't see how Vana's plan will work. Successful men and women don't spend half the day playing video games, and that's what seems to be the premise behind her app.

What Sugar might do is choose her, but make her change her plan - similar to Tom Pellereau where he ended up selling the nailfiles which weren't in his business plan

syklops

Arbiter of Good Taste wrote: »

I just can't see how Vana's plan will work. Successful men and women don't spend half the day playing video games, and that's what seems to be the premise behind her app.

Not enirely sure I'd agree that successful people dont play video games. My partner is an avid gamer, she's also a Sys Admin in a financial company.

My problem with the idea is co-ordinating between the two parties and how that will work.

get the men in and the women will follow

To be hnest I think it should be the other way round.

Loughc

syklops wrote: »

To be hnest I think it should be the other way round.

Nope defo not. On other dating sites/apps Men outnumber women almost 10 to 1. Most of them looking for one thing which turns women off using the site/app, resulting in them not using the site and saying things like ah that site is full of weirdos,creeps,etc.

If she can get a good selection of male members (pardon the pun) more female users will be inclined to hang around and use the site more.

Muahahaha

Arbiter of Good Taste wrote: »

I just can't see how Vana's plan will work. Successful men and women don't spend half the day playing video games, and that's what seems to be the premise behind her app.

What Sugar might do is choose her, but make her change her plan - similar to Tom Pellereau where he ended up selling the nailfiles which weren't in his business plan

Yeah I agree with this. The premise of her business plan is sound, but the execution needs some tweaking. She spoke of playing a game against a potential date and the more you progress the more of their photo you get to see. That idea is just nuts, playing someone all day to finally find out you're not attracted to them.

But the idea of matching people not only through their interests but also by psychometric testing and puzzels based on IQ etc is sound enough for a segment of the dating market. Which in fairness is huge, I think she said 25% of married couples in the last year met online and that figure is only going to rise further.

syklops

Loughc wrote: »

Nope defo not. On other dating sites/apps Men outnumber women almost 10 to 1.

100% agree. Thats why I don't understand the logic of going after men first.

Loughc wrote: »

If she can get a good selection of male members (pardon the pun) more female users will be inclined to hang around and use the site more.

I get your logic, but finding and keeping a good selection of male members would be quite dillicult. As difficult as finding a good selection of female members. Getting men to sign up to a dating site or app is not difficult, but keeping them if theres few women on it will be very hard.

Tarzana2

Arbiter of Good Taste wrote: »

I just can't see how Vana's plan will work. Successful men and women don't spend half the day playing video games, and that's what seems to be the premise behind her app.

Yeah, the appeal of a Tinder is that it is so quick and easy to use, with a simple but effective USP and you can dip in and out of it as you please.

Another reason I think it won't work. Time and again, when the subject of online dating is discussed anywhere, people espouse the importance of photos on a profile. People are far more reluctant to start up a chat with someone on dating sites there are no photos on their profile, as physical attraction is one of the first things that sparks off interest. So I just cannot see anyone being happy to spend all day playing a game, only for the photo of the person to be revealed at the end. People want to see what the person looks like at the very beginning before they invest any time and effort.

I think Vana has overlooked a very obvious, key component of online dating and I'm amazed that none of the business "experts" on the show picked up on it. I'm sure business experts in the area of online dating who were watching the show were shaking their heads!

syklops wrote: »

Not enirely sure I'd agree that successful people dont play video games. My partner is an avid gamer, she's also a Sys Admin in a financial company.

I don't think people are saying successful people don't game. Nothing at all wrong with gaming, lots of successful people do it. But IMO, Vana is clumsily trying to marry two very popular areas but they don't mix, IMO, at least not in the way she is envisaging. I think AoGT probably means that people don't have all day to be playing games to reveal someone they not even be interested in.

Chain Smoker

Muahahaha wrote: »

"get the [quality] men in and the women will follow".

Surely it's more "keep the men who'll send abusive messages and dick pics out, and the women won't run away"?

Poochie05

Just bumping as a reminder for the Final on tonight at 9pm!

syklops

Poochie05 wrote: »

Just bumping as a reminder for the Final on tonight at 9pm!

Was the final always on a Sunday?

Go Harvey Go

syklops wrote: »

Was the final always on a Sunday?

It has been on a Sunday every year bar one since 2009.

The exception was 2013, when it aired on a Wednesday - as it did for each of the first four years.

4068ac1elhodqr

The Twitterati has been saying the winner is already indicated,
as the Sugarman pointed to the left (where Joe was) of the boardroom desk
- when proclaiming 'you hired' (or something along those lines).
Could also just be clever editing from the VT editors.

Saying that the Applestore provides around 70% revenue
from global app sales, so Vana has the easiest hi-yield market skimming potential.
Sugarman acknowledged the Appstore as a great business model in the previous year.