3/4/2010: UseMyServices Makes Dragons’ Den History

When UseMyServices’s founders, Joseph Iuso and Brian Crozier, appeared on the March 3rd Dragon’s Den show, they did something that no one has done in the history of the enormously popular show: they turned down the Dragons’s offer of $1 million dollars!

But it wasn’t easy and it was not a decision that was made in haste – the pair had discussed the possibility before the show, and come to terms with what they would – and would not – be willing to give up for the Dragons’s investment.

In a rare unanimous vote, the five Dragons quickly agreed to invest the $1 million dollars Iuso and Crozier were seeking – but they upped the equity stake from the offered 5% to 40%, and the offer was rejected.

“It obviously was not an easy decision,” said UseMyServices CEO, Joseph Iuso. ”But we are building payment solutions for companies that are household names – and to give up 40% of the company for a million dollars is really undervaluing what we have in the works right now.”

The company’s flagship product, UseMyBank, lets customers pay for their online purchases directly from their bank account, using the online banking services. It’s cost is dramatically less than traditional payment methods for the merchant, such as credit card processing, and offers far fewer risks for the merchant as well, making it a growing favorite among high risk online merchants, such as travel, telecom and digital products, as well as more traditional web merchants.

“It’s really a shame that we could not disclose to the Dragons some of the contracts we were working on at the time,” stated Crozier, “but it was just bad timing. The Dragons liked the concept enough to offer us a million dollars – but since we could not disclose the projects we were negotiating at the time – it was tough for us to prove the value of the company to them.”

In retrospect, both agreed it was the right decision at the time – they just wish the timing of the show had been more in line with their projects. Since the taping, the company has launched a new website and brand, UseMyServices.com, expanded their services to Mexico & Australia, and is poised to launch a new ‘micro-payment’ platform specifically aimed at the multi-billion dollar “social” gaming niche, made popular by FaceBook and MySpace.

“The bottom line is that both sides wanted to make a deal,” continued Crozier, “but we could not disclose enough information at the time of the taping to bring the two sides together. I think if we were doing the ‘pitch’ today – it would be an easy deal to close! But – the phone has been ringing off the hook since it was announced that we made the show – we’ve had a lot of very interesting meetings in the last few days!”

Update:
Rogers Communications, Canada’s largest wireless provider, salutes UseMyServices Founders as “Business Innovators” -
Features UseMyServices in Rogers/Blackberry commercial -

See the full commercial here!