A recent episode of Shark Tank India saw Aman Gupta, Amit Jain and Anupam Mittal get into an argument after Aman declared he was ‘out’ of the deal. The episode saw a family of entrepreneurs from Uttarakhand with a business named ‘Namakwali’, where they sell organic food products with artisanal salt being the main product. The founders came in asking for Rs 50 lakh for 5% of their company, valuing it at Rs 10 crore.
Soon after the founders finished their pitch, Amit Jain praised their packaging but Aman immediately interrupted and expressed his dislike towards the packaging. While Amit found it “ethnic”, Aman felt it lacked brand identity. The founders revealed that all the illustrations on their packing were handmade, which impressed the other sharks. Soon after, Aman bowed out of the deal and suggested the founders to not take in any investment. He said that getting investors onboard might increase their problems and this led to an argument between him and Anupam.
“What is this? Jahan invest nahi karna, tum kyu kehte ho ki investment mat lo? Shark Tank mein kaise baithe hain hum? Matlab yeh investment lene aaye hain, tabhi toh yahan aaye hain (The business where you don’t want to invest, why do you say don’t take an investment? Why are we in Shark Tank? They have come here for investment, that’s why they are here),” Anupam said.
Aman said that investors start pushing the entrepreneurs for higher returns and this could create some pressure on the business. Amit interjects and said, “Aap karte hoge push, hum toh nahi karte (You must be pushing people, we don’t).” Aman responded by telling Amit, “Aapka toh bahut naam kharab hai market mein. (You don’t have a good name in the market).” As the other sharks started laughing, Amit ended the argument by saying, “Mera toh bahut hi acha hai, pucho founders se (I have a good name, ask the founders.)”
When the other sharks said that they don’t put any of their investments under pressure, it caused some back and forth between all of them. Anupam ended this argument with a laugh and told the founders, “Aapka namak kha ke ladayi ho gayi (We got in a fight after eating your salt).”
Namita Thapar also got out of the deal and suggested the founders to bring another co-founder on board who can help them with business, operations and marketing. Even Anupam got out, and Vineeta bowed out by saying that their “team was incomplete.”
Amit was the only founder left on the panel and he presented them with a deal of Rs 10 lakh for 5% of the company, valuing them at Rs 2 crore. He also offered them Rs 40 lakh in debt. As the founders stepped out of the tank to think about the deal, Anupam slowly told Vineeta and Amit that the product isn’t unique, and is commonly sold in Uttarakhand. Amit was interested in the deal anyway and founders accepted it.
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