For their business ‘confession’, Marisa admitted that she dropped out of the chance to appear three times before going on the show with Teddie. She explained that she was worried that if the Dragons didn’t like the drink and said so on air, it could be damaging for the brand.

Teddie’s motivation for being on the show was that he’d grown up watching it at university with his best friend Jack. He said: “I was going on that show with or without Marisa, whether it was good for the brand or not, just because I wanted to do that for Jack. But I had never communicated that to Marissa, so when she came upstairs and she said, I don't think we should do the show, it could be reckless for the business. I just broke down crying and I don't cry often. So, I shared my motivation and I think that that brought us together.”

Marisa’s reaction was: “Jack was an incredible person. And I realised I had to do it for Teddie because I owed it to him as my co-founder. I did realise at the end of the day; you have to shoot your shot. And if it doesn't go well, at least you tried.”

Marisa and Teddie met at university in the USA and came up with the idea for an alternative caffeine drink after Marisa started to suffer anxiety and jitters from drinking coffee. Their research led them to Japanese green tea, rich in oxidants, amino acids and a different kind of caffeine. And from that research PerfectTed was born, a different kind of energy drink for health-conscious millennials.

• They both agreed that it’s hard to start your own business but Marisa said she thinks everyone has it in them to be an entrepreneur and to develop the resilience to deal with mistakes.
• As one of their investors Steven Bartlett told them he always believed he should have a ‘seat at the table’. Teddie went further: “I think that's the same thing for us. We, if you didn't give us a seat at this table, we would've built the table. We genuinely believe that we should be here.”
• On seeking investors Marisa also had some good advice: “It's about taking smart money. If you have a really compelling offer, but they're not bringing anything other than that capital, is it really the best alignment? People who can bring something that you may not have, a different level of expertise than you, it's important to think about as a small business.
• Marisa also said that the best piece of business advice she’s ever received was about the ‘Four Ps’: “Proper planning prevents problems.”

Watch the episode to find out more about PerfectTed’s inspirational business journey.

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Please note that the views and information have not been endorsed, issued or approved by NatWest. Any views expressed in this podcast are not necessarily those of NatWest.