Theo Paphitis famously rejected the Trunki ride-on children's suitcase on Dragon's Den before it became a major success.
Trunki was created by British designer and entrepreneur Rob Law. The children's suitcase was designed so that young travellers could sit on it and be pulled along, combining luggage with a ride-on toy. Law pitched the product on Dragon's Den in 2006, but no deal was completed.
Theo Paphitis's decision is remembered because Trunki subsequently became an internationally recognised product. It won design awards, entered overseas markets and was sold by the company Magmatic. The story is often used as an example of the difference between a television pitch outcome and a business's later performance.
A common mistake is to say that the product was rejected by every Dragon in exactly the same way or that it received no interest at all. The important, verifiable point is that Law left without an investment deal, while Paphitis was the Dragon most closely associated with the rejection.