Recently watched the SHARK TANK episode and feeling inspired to start a business? But worried about whether it will yield profits or attract failures? Remember, business is a journey that involves ups and downs. Success does not come overnight. Even the Shark Tank Judges went through this journey to become great successful entrepreneurs and an inspiration for the masses. Be it Vineeta Singh of SUGAR Cosmetics who declined the 1 Crore Job offer or Peyush Bansal who had quit working at a tech- giant, Microsoft, to become a successful entrepreneur. Have a look at the inspiring journey of SHARK TANK JUDGES. Get to know how they went through all the challenges and failures, overcame them and reached where they are today!
Overview of Shark Tank
Shark Tank India is the Indian Franchise of the Shark Tank, which is an American show. It is a business reality show. The various budding and developing entrepreneurs across India make their way to Shark Tank India for making business presentations in front of the shark tank judges known as sharks or the investor. The main motive is to attract the sharks towards their company and make them invest in the company in exchange for some equity. These entrepreneurs are the contestants of the show and are known as Pitchers. So let’s begin with the inspiring journeys of the SHARKS.
The Shark Tank Judges
1. Aman Gupta
Aman Gupta, one of the SHARK TANK JUDGES, is the CMO and Co-founder of boat. He is a Delhi University graduate who also studied at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He worked with a number of companies that helped him to enter the entrepreneurial world.
WORKING AT CITI BANK AND BEGINNING WITH THE TELEMEDIA PVT. LTD.
First, he worked at Citi Bank for 2 years. In 2005, his entrepreneurial spirit kicked and he began Advanced TelemediaPvt. Ltd. that brought a number of famous brands across the world to India. Suddenly, companies like Beats Audio and Telex populated the Indian markets.
WORKING AT KPMG’S STRATEGY SERVICES GROUP AND HARMAN INTERNATIONAL
In 2011, he worked as a senior management consultant at KPMG’s Strategy Services Group. He also acquired an MBA in 2011. Then he began his tenure as a director of sales at HARMAN International where he leads the business development of companies like Nokia, Apple and Micromax.
BOAT
In 2016, he founded boAT along with Sameer Mehta. Their first product became the most sold product at Amazon. After that we have seen the popularity of boAT. Famous personalities like K.L. Rahul and Hardik Pandya served as the brand ambassadors at the company. boAT has achieved huge success. We can now see him as one of the the SHARK TANK JUDGES.
2. Peyush Bansal
Peyush Bansal, one of the SHARK TANK JUDGES, is the Founder and CEO of Lenskart.com. After his schooling he prepared for IIT but didn’t get in. So he went to the McGill University, Canada for studying Electrical Engineering. He worked at Microsoft, USA as a Program Manager for nearly 1 year but then he left that position. Imagine leaving a company like Microsoft where many dream of working.
SEARCHMYCAMPUS- HIS 1ST STARTUP In 2007
Peyush had his 1st Startup called SearchMycampus that helped students with various issues relating to jobs, internships, books and much more. His 1st startup was quite successful.
VISION OF PROVIDING EYEGLASSES AND STARTING WITH LENSKART
Peyush wanted to do something revolutionary and that is when he came up with Lenskart! The idea of providing eyeglasses to a large number of people to improve their eyesight, is truly a great one! Peyush and his friends, namely Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi, founded Lenskart in 2010. It initially dealt with contact lenses but expanded to selling eyewear styles. His family and friends were of constant support to him. He gave up the job at a giant like Microsoft where many people dream of working. But, today he has really built a successful business.
3. Vineeta Singh
VINEETA SINGH, one of the SHARK TANK JUDGES, the CEO and Co- Founder of SUGAR Cosmetics, is an inspiration for all the females in India. After graduating from IIT Madras and after doing her masters from IIM Ahmedabad, at an early age of 23, she declined the 1 crore job offer from a bank to kick start her entrepreneurial journey. Imagine rejecting a job offer worth settling for but it wouldn’t have satisfied her inner quest for business.
FAB-BAG: HER 1ST STARTUP
Her 1st Start-up as a Co-Founder was FAB-BAG, which is a customizable beauty kit based on subscription. It ran for 9 years, but after that the subscription model did not work as it prevented people from trying new products. Taking the drawbacks of it and working over it, she moved on in her journey.
SUGAR COSMETICS: A BRAND IN ITSELF
Vineeta Singh wanted to build something big keeping women in her mind. After her 1st Start-up, she got along with Kaushik Mukherjee and launched a beauty subscription company in 2012 where 200,000 women shared their beauty preferences with her. She had a personal loan of 1 crore. Her own range of Crayon Lipsticks were manufactured in Germany. This was the beginning of SUGAR Cosmetics- the brand as it is known today. The 1st exclusive brand outlet was launched in 2019 in Kolkata. And it kept on going as today. SUGAR Cosmetics accounts for 75% of the women’s workforce. Vineeta Singh is a driving force for women everywhere.
4. Anupam Mittal
Anupam Mittal, the bull shark among the Shark Tank Judges, is the Founder and CEO of the People Group and Shaadi.com. He completed his MBA degree from the Boston College, U.S. Anupam worked with Micro Strategy as a Product Manager. He used to come to India once a year and sat at his father’s office to take up web development work. At some point, he came across traditional matchmakers who were trying to set up Anupam with some of their clients. At this point, an idea changed his entire life. He executed the idea by uploading information that the matchmakers had on to the internet so that people searching for partners can find their best match.
SAGAAI.COM-AN EXPERIMENT THAT TURNED INTO A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS
He launched it in 1997 and called it Sagaai.com. It was just an experiment he did as his main focus was on the job. Around 2000-2001, many businesses crashed. So was the case with the company that he worked for. At this time, he invested a lot of energy on his site. After deep calculations, he quit his job in 2001 and came back to India.
From SAGAAI.COM TO SHAADI.COM
He changed the name from Sagaai.com to Shaadi.com and focused completely on it. He understood that the NRIs or the expats of the UK, US and Canada had a bigger need for services like Shaadi.com, as, although they were far away from their places they wanted to marry within their communities. So he set up at his office in the US and UK. He even started television campaigns in India. He also launched Mauj.com and Makaan.com. It was just an idea that he started with. His continuous efforts resulted in the Shaadi.com being touching the lives of 20 million people. It was just an experiment he did that changed his entire life.
5. Namita Thapar
NamitaThapar, one of the SHARK TANK JUDGES, is the Executive Director at Emcure Pharmaceuticals. Namita has done her MBA from Duke University’s Faqua School of Business. She worked as a Chartered Accountant at ICAI & also worked at the Guidant Corporation, US for 6 years.
JOINING EMCURE IN 2007 AND CONTRIBUTING 1000 CRORE SALES
Namita joined Emcure in 2007 where she managed multifunctional portfolios of HR, finance and domestic marketing. Today, she manages over 3000 medical representatives of pan-India operations, contributing to over 1000 crore sales. Namita is also the CEO and Co-founder of Incredible Ventures Ltd., that teaches entrepreneurship to people aged 11 to 18 years.
PERFECTLY BALANCED HOME AND WORK ENVIRONMENT
Namita has perfectly balanced her personal and professional life. Her family has always supported her in her entrepreneurial journey. Namita is an inspiration for many budding female entrepreneurs in India.
6. Amit Jain
Amit Jain, a new face at Shark tank, is another shark tank judge. He is the CEO and Co-founder of CarDekho.com. Amit is an, IIT Delhi graduate. He first worked as a Software Engineer at Tata Consultancy Services. He also worked with Triology for 6 years and 11 months. His journey of entrepreneurship is of 15 years, and he has also gone through a number of ups and downs in order to reach to his goals. He says that he had more failures than success. Failures help you gain experience, so don’t be sad if you face one, keep the spirit high and move forward. Try to change your ways and see if you gain desirable results.
STARTING FROM THE HOME GARAGE TO THE CAR DEKHO.COM
Amit Jain and his brother Anurag Jain started the business of GirnarSoft by turning their home garage into the office in 2007. In 2008, they founded CarDekho.com, which is a flagship portal of GirnarSoft. So, from starting his business from home garage to making huge gross profits, Amit came a long way. Car Dekho is a web app that allows you to go through a number of cars and choose among them which is your best fit. One can go through numerous views posted by the users of different automobiles. Car Dekho had made it easier for people to compare features of different cars.
Amit Jain’s efforts yield fruitful results as his Car Dekho gained huge profits. Here it shows that the support of family is also a significant factor for businesses to grow many folds. It was the collective efforts of Amit Jain and his brother Anurag Jain that Car Dekho has reached heights of success. It all started with just a dream that was manifested through the home garage to reach where it is today.
CONCLUSION
As you’ve come across the inspiring journeys of the SHARK TANK JUDGES, it might have inspired you a bit. It’s great how it can be seen that success comes from failures. Our Sharks have shown how to run business effectively. Vineeta Singh proved that risks are worth taking by declining the 1 crore job offer. Piyush Bansal left his job at a tech-giant, Microsoft, where many dream of working. NamitaThapar is a perfect example of how well can women balance their personal and professional life if they wish to. Anupam Mittal projects how constant work and research can build and grow a business successfully. Aman Gupta showed how to extract experience by working with different companies. He is an inspiration for many as he showed how to start a business in a home garage and then turn it into a successful one as well.
Many startups have seen massive growth in sales and profits after the airing of Shark Tank India, as the Shark tank judges invested a fairly good amount in these start-ups. They have seen a tremendous growth. Shark Tank is a perfect platform for entrepreneurs to showcase their business and get a fair opportunity of being funded. Grab this opportunity and promote entrepreneurship in India!
Written By: Daman Deep Kaur
