Despite times being tough, our criteria for choosing who we work with has got even tougher. In the good old days, before bank balances took a bashing, investors used to look for big ideas to back. Today, we see venture capitalists investing in the people behind the ideas, in addition to the ideas themselves.  Dragon’s Den entrepreneur Sharon Wright, creator of Magnamole is a classic example – the only applicant to have been able to negotiate successfully on percentage equity with the notorious dragons by wowing them with her own business acumen and personality.