Win Some, Learn Some: Lessons From Shark Tank India S01 Although business reality television shows often markedly posit the success potential of startups in terms of their 'investability', their founders reveal a more expansive view of entrepreneurship beyond securing funding

A breakout show of 2021, Shark Tank India unleashed itself as a storm of popularity over its first season, turning everyone and everything it touched into gold. Not only the Sharks themselves, but also the featured entrepreneurs and their nascent businesses became household names post their appearance on the show.

While deal winners received audiences' appreciation and consumers' interest, what were the takeaways, both on and beyond the show, for those founders whose startups did not bag funding? As the show's second season nears its launch, here's what participants from season one have to say on the subject.

Reality TV and Non-monetary Gains

Although a reality television show such as Shark Tank India foregrounds the striking of deals between investors and entrepreneurs, in truth, participants report gaining a lot more even if they are denied funds, especially at their desired valuation.

"The Shark Tank India experience was truly a life-changing event. We always had a great product. However, the exposure and sheer fandom and overnight success of the program struck a chord with consumers, who, after the show was aired, finished all the stocks on Amazon and crashed our website. What we have learned from such a special experience is that you have to have a strong marketing plan along with a great product. It opened our eyes to the true power of media when applied correctly," states Madhvi Datwani, CEO, Green Protein. The company's original funding ask of INR 60 lakh for a 2 per cent share in its equity was not accepted by the Sharks.

Rohan Rehani and Nitin Vishwas, founders of Pune-based meadery Moonshine, delivered an intriguing pitch on the show, concluding it with a request for INR 80 lakh for 0.5 per cent equity. When the Sharks countered with an offer of INR 1 crore for a 2.5 per cent stake in their firm, the partners decided to walk away from it.

"We had hoped for a negotiation in line with what we typically see with other alcobev brands in the private equity market. That did not happen but we later received a lot of positive feedback from viewers for holding our ground and not lowering our company's valuation just to accept the Sharks' offer. And overall, our brand awareness has increased a lot thanks to Shark Tank, so we have no complaints," claims Rehani.

The pilot seasons of most reality TV shows are chaotic affairs, with a lot of crucial decisions being taken on the spot. According to Aviotron Aerospace co-founder Vaishnav C, the startup couldn't put its best foot forward on the show as the founders had to travel from Delhi at a short notice to deliver their pitch. "Although we did not get the desired funding offer, the whole set-up and the experience of a live shoot were more exciting than the actual investment pitch. In terms of learning, we didn't receive any out-of-the-world knowledge as none of the Sharks had much knowledge about the edtech industry, but it was still interactive sharing ideas with successful entrepreneurs and receiving their feedback," he says.

New-age streetwear brand Urban Monkey's founder Yash Gangwal, however, was thankful for the insights he took away from the show for expanding his D2C business, a key area of expertise among the Sharks. The company reports having gained a much deeper understanding of the size and needs of its audience.

Sales Cure All

Regardless of whether their pitches were rejected altogether or countered with underwhelming offers, many participants claim that their businesses went on to do rather well post the Shark Tank India affair.

According to digital advertising company Experiential Etc, business has been performing fifteen times better since founder Karan Bhardwaj's appearance on the show. "Experiential activation is a niche sector and it's difficult to find the right talent, but post Shark Tank, we have managed to scale up from a team size of 12 people to 60 people. Also our operational space has gone up to 10,000 sq ft across geographies from 1,600 sq ft originally," he says.

While Datwani claims that Green Protein is acquiring around 3,000-4,000 new customers monthly and is likely to have a customer base of almost 100,000 within the upcoming nine months, Aviotron Aerospace has reportedly grown from 1,000 students to 10,000 students in the last six months and expects to reach around 45 schools and more than 20,000 students by the end of the current academic year. "We have closed some of the biggest names in education such as GD Goenka group, Seth M.R. Jaipuria group, DCM Group etc.," says Vaishnav C.

New Day, New Investors

To be turned down on a national platform by some of the country's most reputed names in the industry can leave entrepreneurs feeling rather downcast. Their happy discovery, however, has been that for every unconvinced, sceptical Shark, there are many more optimistic investors out of the Tank.

"We have raised multiple rounds of revenue-based finance and also raised one small round from Tyke platform. Further, we are looking to close INR 12 crore by March 2023," reports healthy snacks startup Alpino Health Foods a year after its appearance on Shark Tank India.

Urban Monkey claims to have several investment offers in its kitty currently and plans to raise its first round sometime next year. "Thus far, we have only raised equity-free funds from GetVantage. Our approach towards fashion and the way we have been growing consistently even without external funds all these years instilled the funding platform's confidence in us," states Gangwal.

Learning from Disappointment

Rejection is a part of life that makes a more frequent appearance in business. Although business reality television shows often markedly posit the success potential of startups in terms of their 'investability', their founders reveal a more expansive view of entrepreneurship beyond securing funding.

"Any business that is not funded is not a bad business. It's just not an investable business. It can still be scalable and can achieve whatever it has set out to achieve with consistency, spirit and conviction. My advice to anyone struggling to raise funds would be to just keep going. If one is confident in what they are doing and if the consumers have validated it, there is nothing that can stop an entrepreneur," explains Bhardwaj.

According to him, the role of external investment is limited in that it helps businesses scale faster and receive the validation needed to sell equity at a later stage or get listed in the secondary markets. In its absence, debt is also a tool which can be leveraged for scaling up.

Many Shark Tank India participants, including the founders of Aviotron and Green Protein, recommend exercising caution when raising money from angel investors and venture capitalists: Not all businesses may flourish after taking early funding. Equity is the most expensive asset; better to delay raising funds to secure better valuations in the future and keep the promoters' control heavy in the company for the long haul, they say.