Shark Tank India is currently the top trending topic on conversation and has become a fodder for memes as well. The judges, albeit well-established in their respective careers and industries, are also enjoying their new-found fame, which is also good for their brands.
But the show has its fair share of critics who highlight how judges insult aspiring entrepreneurs and sceptics who doubt the show’s legitimacy. In fact, one of my closest friends refuses to watch the show because she is certain that she is scripted and is just a fancy version of daily soaps.
Judge Anupam Mittal, CEO and Founder of People Group and Founder of shaadi.com, has taken to LinkedIn to bust such myths about Shark Tank India.
Anupam Mittal Busts Shark Tank Myths
1. The Show Is Scripted
Anupam writes how surprised he was to know that the first time that he and other judges would hear an entrepreneur’s pitch is when they walk through the door. “The emotions are real, the drama is real, and the funding is real,” he pens.
In an interview with RJ Siddharth Kannan, he mentioned that show is unscripted.
This concern has been addressed by other sharks as well. Namita shared a post on Instagram describing how her own myth was busted when she found out that the team was very professional and competent.
Namita Thapar’s Post
2. Judges Don’t Invest Their Own Money
Anupam clarifies that the money invested in startups is their own money, and not of SonyTV or any other third party, as skeptics claim. In the interview with Siddharth Kannan also, he jokes about this saying,
“Dekho, aisa kaise ho sakta hai? Aisa toh ho hi nahi sakta hai. Channel ke paas jitne paise the, aadhe Bachchan saab le gaye, aadhe Kapil Sharma le gaye.
Channel ke paas toh kuch bacha hi nahi, toh humko kya denge?”
(How is it possible? It is not possible. Whatever money the channel had, half of it Mr. Bachchan has taken and the other half Kapil Sharma has taken. Channel has nothing left. What will they give us?”)
He said that the sharks are passionate, not rude. When a great idea is pitched with an impractical ask, they may react more strongly to it than intended.
4. The Sharks are here only to flaunt themselves
He didn’t outright deny it. He admitted that the fame from the show would eventually help their brands, but that was not the purpose with which they joined. The purpose was to contribute to the evolving entrepreneurial landscape of the country.
5. Sharks don’t fund deserving companies
Many a time this may have happened with you too that you thought that an idea was worthy of investment but it didn’t get any deal or their desirable deal from the sharks. (Recall the famous Jugaadu Kamlesh pitch here). To this, Anupam writes that the sharks invest in companies based on their prior experience and expertise.
Moreover, the start-ups get recognition when they come on the stage of Shark Tank. So even if they don’t get funding from the sharks themselves, it is not like they are going back home empty-handed.
Scripted or not, the one thing that the show has done is that it has started the conversation around entrepreneurship in Indian households, and that’s a great start.
