Deal Or No Deal, As A Shark Tank India Participant, Here’s My ‘Steal’!

Yes, you guessed it right, Milind Datar and I, the Founders of Canebot were one of the 198 finalists out of 62000 Applicants at a 0.3% success rate. A matter of great pride indeed, a reaffirmation that we are taking our venture on the right track.

There have been lot of speculations about Shark Tank India, whether it is scripted, manipulated and if it it worth participating in. Here’s are our take. 

From the show, it’s pretty evident that the investment ticket size of the Sharks was nowhere close to the original Shark Tank USA Show. But hang on…you get to know that only after you reach their Mumbai Studio for the final shoot round.

Now what do you do, go back home or go with the flow?

That’s the dilemma almost every Founder went through, so did we. But that’s when the Real Game begins!

If you succumb to the pressure or glamour or fear of not getting telecast, you end up giving a lot more equity for much lesser investment to the Sharks than you had ever imagined. On the show, we have seen a lot of the Founders giving almost 60-80% discounts on their desired Valuation. For Founders, it’s a Deal, but for the sharks, it’s a Steal! Whether you are buying a pair of branded jeans, or a Brand itself; if you manage to get a discount of over 50%, its surely a Steal.

Another option is that you decide not to undervalue your Company. If you don’t bring the valuation down, you don’t get a deal. If you don’t get a deal, the chances of your getting telecast are extremely slim (unless you were strongly criticised by the Sharks, leading to higher TRP).

But wait… all is not lost. You still get an opportunity to discuss your Business Model with 5 Super Successful Entrepreneurs for almost 60 minutes. Yes, that’s the average time spent by each venture inside the Tank.
Our Sharks were Anupam Mittal, Vineeta Singh, Piyush Bansal, Ghazal Alagh and Namita Thapar. We certainly missed the expert advice from Ashneer Grover and Aman Gupta.

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We got some really invaluable feedback and that helped us refine our Business Model, which otherwise would have taken us few years and few lakhs of cash burn to realise and realign ourselves. These insights leading to an accelerated growth…that’s surely a Steal for us as Founders. 

In a few cases, the Founders got the deal at close-to-desired valuation, along with the expertise of sharks and the visibility on National Television, that’s a real Steal for Founders; though rare to find on this Show, but certainly, such possibilities too exist.

So guys, Deal or No Deal, it’s still a Steal!

I’ll end this piece on our Shark Tank experience with a note to all the female entrepreneurs (or aspiring entrepreneurs reading this): Every women has entrepreneurial abilities. Managing a home is no different from managing an enterprise. But what most of us lack is that awareness and confidence. It’s important to take that leap of faith towards your calling!

Top image is a screen grab from the show, provided by the author

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