SWIMMING WITH THE SHARKS | SHARK TANK INDIA WITH MAISHA LIFESTYLE

Shark Tank India–'Naam hi Kaafi hai' (Name itself is enough) to intimidate. But as the Japanese found out that when you catch live fishes from far away ocean and you want them to remain healthy and fresh till they arrive at the shore, keep them in the company of sharks and they will always be agile and healthy.

Few takeaways from our journey to shark tank and beyond

👉Elimination rounds and audition–Often, a home-grown brand which is growing rapidly, misses the larger picture. You get into a comfort zone of growth and avoid asking yourself. The registration process and multiple elimination rounds forces you to look inward, answer some tough questions, plan for the future and look into the business with a new perspective. This by itself is rewarding and I am sure that pitchers who could not make it to the final cut also benefited immensely. I hope that a new ecosystem is built, not just for funding but to help entrepreneurs achieve this introspection. Thanks to the entire Shark Tank India team for this.

👉Pitching in front of the sharks–The experience cannot be described in words. Even the most well-prepared pitcher will get rattled by the sharp analysis by the sharks and the questions arising out of that. They go all out to put you in comfort and the next moment they hit you with an obvious question, very critical to your business but not known to you. Suddenly multiple aspects of your business unfold and though it existed all the time, you are faced with it for the first time. Sharks appear like Dolphin (sorry for plagiarizing this, Namita Thapar). But the undercurrent is very hawkish. They have the knack of getting the secret out of you, which you are praying will never come out.

👉Pitchers have 2 choices-1) Live in their own world and at best ignore the advice/criticism that sharks offer, and at worst criticise in revenge. 2)Take this seriously and work on it steadily. We have opted for choice 2 and already working on our vulnerabilities. Thank you, Peyush Bansal, Anupam Mittal, Vineeta Singh, Namita Thapar, Amit Jain and Aman Gupta for the valuable inputs.

👉Getting the Investment-While Amit wanted to join us as a mentor, on the face of it we underestimated his offer to a large extent and were happy for few words of wisdom other than his investment. We were in for a major surprise when he started to interact with us both on macro and micro levels. He opened the doors to his own resources and asked us to make the best use of it. He doesn’t make you feel like he is an investor but a partner who has been with you since start.

All in, #sharktank is not just getting funds. It goes much beyond and if utilized efficiently, helps you steer the business towards new heights, with or without investment.