Congratulations to my friend Brent Larsen for prying $50,000 from the taut fist of a dragon on Dragons’ Den last night.

Larsen is the President of Bedford-based Steep Hill Solutions, which makes Omega Crunch Flax Products – essentially healthy flax flakes in a condiment shaker, so you can sprinkle them on your yogurt or whatever.

Having garnered revenues of $190,000 last year, Larsen was asking for $50,000 for a quarter of his business, and he drew immediate interest from the dragons. “You’ve taken something people know is good for them and you’ve made it accessible,” said Arlene Dickinson.

She, Kevin O’Leary and Jim Treliving all offered $50,000 bids, but the Dickinson and O’Leary bids included royalty payments, which the entrepreneur didn’t want to surrender. He chose Treliving’s offer of $50,000 for half the company. He surrendered more than he wished but ended up partnering with a leading Canadian food entrepreneur who’s been moving aggressively into health food.

An interesting side note - the Dragons’ Den blog this morning featured a summation of the negotiations by Tony Wanless, a B.C.-based Certified Management Consultant who concentrates on small businesses.

He had the following advice for Larsen: “Continue the innovation. Next, put hemp seed in a condiment shaker. It's nature's perfect food, power packed with protein, and is much loved by vegetarian foodies across the country.”

I’m delighted for Brent. He was an early evangelist for my book Backwater and it’s great to see him doing so well.