Entrepreneur and Shark Tank India judge Aman Gupta doesn’t think too highly of the new sharks who’ve joined the latest seasons of the popular business reality TV show. He claimed that while the judges who have remained on the show since season one didn’t have any hidden agendas, a lot of entrepreneurs are now eyeing the show as a means to whitewash their images.
“I like those whose companies are performing well. They’re original and aren’t in the show to fix their character. My character has been clean right from the start. I don’t want to take names otherwise it’d lead to controversy. There were people who had initially rejected Shark Tank, but once they saw Anupam (Mittal) and me become heroes, they had FOMO. So they kept chasing the makers asking them to make them sharks. And now, they’re sharks,” said Aman.
On Prakhar Gupta’s YouTube channel, he added, “Aman Gupta may have evolved from season 1 to 4, but his character has been the same. We don’t do any useless stuff. Love us or hate us, this is who we are. Namita (Thapar) always been honest about where her expertise lies. I had a way of life, I’d do it, I’m not scared. That’s why I sometimes don’t like these new sharks, otherwise it’s okay.”
Shark Tank India, the Indian version of the American business reality show, premiered on Sony Entertainment Television and SonyLIV in 2021. boAt founder Aman Gupta, Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal, Emcure Pharmaceuticals executive director Namita Thapar, Lenskart co-founder Peyush Bansal, and Sugar Cosmetics co-founder Vineeta Singh have served as sharks since season 1.
“A lot of people get god complex once they start doing well, the media starts writing about them, and the family starts congratulating you via messages. That’s where the downfall of everybody starts. We need to understand that. My mom says, ‘Even Ravana couldn’t keep his pride.’ I also believe that. You don’t need to have ego that you can’t do no wrong. There’s always someone out there doing better than you. You can’t think you’re the best. You should be able to accept you suck,” Gupta said. The sharks who have joined the latest, fourth season of the show are tech investor Kunal Bahl, Veeba founder Viraj Bahl, and Rayazon Solar director Chirag Nakrani.
Aman also underlined how he’s been chasing happiness, and not money, ever since he began his journey as an entrepreneur. “Money is never-ending. I think a little differently. You should just be happy with what you’re doing, and money would follow. I wasn’t happy with what I was doing. When I quit my job at JBL, I was sitting at home jobless for four to five years. I didn’t earn anything then, but I was happy because I was doing what I wanted to, and eventually, money came in,” said Aman, who co-founded his electronics company in 2016 with Sameer Mehta.
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“I was working on boAt then, was having fun, was making good products keeping the consumer in mind. I didn’t realize it’d become such a big company today and I’d earn so much money. Like Krishna told Arjuna in the Mahabharata, ‘Karma karo, fal ki chinta mat karo’ (Just work, don’t think about the result). That’s what it is. Like they say, if you chase your shadow, the shadow would run away. Just like that, if you chase money, money would just run away,” he added.
