Radhika Gupta, one of the newest judges on Shark Tank India, feels the reality TV show on startups has made her more optimistic about India, and she would take ‘constant hustle’ as a key learning from here to the Edelweiss Asset Management Company, where she’s the MD and CEO.
Gupta is among the first heads of a financial services company to become a judge on the show. Gupta had earlier clarified that all the investments she makes on the show will be in her personal capacity.
What made her join Shark Tank?
Speaking to Moneycontrol, Gupta described her experience at Shark Tank India 3 as “phenomenal," while admitting that she took a lot of time to decide to be on the show, as she represented a very traditional industry.
“In the end, I thought, this is a good thing to do and it will be a great way for me to contribute as a young Indian to the growth of India. I will learn a lot about early-stage businesses, and I'll have some fun in the process,” the head of India’s 13th biggest fund house said.
Also read: Macro proof your SIPs with this MC30 midcap fund by Edelweiss MF
SIPs @Shark Tank
Gupta realised on the Shark Tank sets that a lot of people still didn’t know how to go about investing in mutual funds.
“We opened a lot of SIPs (systematic investment plans) on the sets of Shark Tank. You will see me mentioning the word SIP several times on national television,” she said.
As a tribute to her profession, Gupta would be seen wearing the rupee and stock market symbols when the show starts streaming from January 22.
“You see the energy that comes from tier I, II, III cities in India, what young kids are able to do. They are building businesses that are doing Rs 5 to 40 crore in revenue. Women, especially, are so confident, and overall there’s a lot of aspiration,” she added.
Also read: Why do mutual funds invest in IPOs? Simply Save
Learnings from Shark Tank
Gupta admitted that the reality show has reinforced some of her old learnings, especially that of constant hustle.
“Hustle is something we've always prided ourselves on as a fund house. But the ability to hustle, when you grow big as a business and you have big budgets, sometimes takes a back seat. Another key learning has been the range of consumer businesses and wide variety of consumers that are now present in India, which is incredible,” she said.
Other key learnings included insights on brand-building, marketing, and social media presence from other Sharks.
Not scripted
Over the seasons, Shark Tank has had its share of controversies, as many have accused the show of being scripted.
Refuting such claims, Gupta said, “You don't get any information before you walk into the tank. You don't even know if you're going to be talking to a tech company or a food company, you know nothing until you walk in and see the setup. And then within a minute or two, the pitcher is on stage, and they pitch. Then you have about an hour to have your conversation and ask questions, but nobody tells you what to ask. There is nothing scripted in any of this, contrary to what people may think.”
As per Gupta, after agreeing to invest on the show, the next step is requesting the pitchers for certain information.
“You start the due diligence process, which one would do with any unlisted investment. You start with simple things such as verifying the claims made on the show, and then check what are the risks in the business, whether the company exists or not, whether it has paid its taxes, etc.,” noted Gupta.
The lineup of sharks on Shark Tank India 3 includes Aman Gupta (Co-Founder and CMO, boAt), Amit Jain (CEO and Co-founder, CarDekho , and InsuranceDekho), Anupam Mittal (Founder and CEO, Shaadi.com — People Group), Namita Thapar (ED, Emcure Pharmaceuticals), Vineeta Singh (Co-founder and CEO, SUGAR Cosmetics), Peyush Bansal (Founder and CEO, Lenskart.com), Ritesh Agarwal (Founder and CEO, OYO Rooms), Deepinder Goyal (Founder and CEO, Zomato), Ronnie Screwvala (Co-founder and Chairperson, Upgrad), and Azhar Iqubal (Co-Founder and CEO, Inshorts).
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