<h2 class=" eplus-wrapper" id="crosshead">Amazing denizen</h2>

The two men stand in the Dragons' Den¹ room, waiting for the verdict on their cheese business.² They are very nervous. But to their delight the new judge says: "I feel like you're here for me. I also feel like I'm here for you... so I am going to make you an offer."

A moment later Steven Bartlett agrees to invest £85,000 in their company.

On TV, Bartlett comes across as relaxed and friendly. But comments he made last month in his podcast, The Diary of a CEO, have made him less popular.

"I have a fear that Gen ZShort for Generation Z, meaning people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s. are the least resilientTough or able to cope with difficulty. generation that I've ever seen," he said. "I reflect on the storms that my father went through at work and I just know... some of these younger Gen Z people couldn't weather such a storm."

Critics pointed out that Generation Z have had a huge amount to cope with. But Bartlett, who has earned success the hard way, stands by his words.

He was born to an English father and a Nigerian mother. He went to a school in Plymouth where nearly all the other pupils were White and came from richer families. Not having what they did made him determined "to escape that life and fit in".

By 14, he was making money from organising school trips. By 17, he was starting businesses on the internet.

He went to university, but realised it was not for him and dropped out almost immediately. Being "a good quitter", he says, is essential to success.

In 2014 he set up Social Chain, a social-media marketing company; within five years it was worth more than £170m. In 2017 he started The Diary of a CEO. It is now the most downloaded business podcast in Europe.

He is thrilled to be on Dragons' Den, which he has watched since he was 12. He hopes that seeing him as one of the judges will inspire young people from backgrounds like his own.

Yes: Being an entrepreneur means achieving things without getting a job in a big company and take orders from someone else. All you need is some good ideas and the determination to see them through.

No: You need to have a good business brain, which not everybody is blessed with. And you have to be prepared to take risks, which is not easy if you have a family to feed and a mortgage to pay.

Or... It is something everyone can have a go at, but as Bartlett says, you should quit if things do not go your way. Then you can have a go at a different type of work that might suit you better.

Gen Z - Short for Generation Z, meaning people born in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Resilient - Tough or able to cope with difficulty.