Shark Tank is currently running it’s second season and after the smashing success of it’s first season, the second one was welcomed with open arms. This time it’s not just the show that is being followed closely by the viewers but also by critics. Many are speculating that the founders sitting as sharks on the show are not qualified to guide budding entrepreneurs as their own businesses are running in losses.
A recent Linkedin post by author Ankit Uttam details how the companies run by these sharks are drowning in losses. His post was detailed and well researched. Ankit began by stating that he has never been a fan of Shark Tank India unlike the US version. He wrote, ” In the US version of the show, every judge (Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, and Kevin O’Leary) is running businesses that actually turn a profit instead of riding on VC money or drowning in huge losses.”
This made him look at the businesses of each shark. “Vineeta Singh’s SUGAR Cosmetics reported a loss of INR 75 Cr in FY22 up from INR 21.1 Cr in the fiscal year FY21. Ghazal Alagh’s Mamaearth for the first time since inception had posted a profit for FY22 at INR 14.44 Cr after suffering losses of Rs. 1,332 crore in FY21 and ₹428 crore in FY20. Also the company has reported a 4 crore net profit approx. for the first half of FY23. So the company has just lately begun turning profitable.”
His post went on to talk about Ashneer Grover and the losses the company incurred before he was removed in 2022. The post further elaborated how Anupam Mittal, who is the owner of several internet portals, has only one matchmaking portal that’s profitable.
“Anupam Mittal is the owner of brands like Shaadi. com, Makaan .com, Mauj Mobile. Except for Shaadi, it seems his other brands are either dead or not making enough money, as there is minimal or no news about those in the media. Even Shaadi’s financials are NOT known in public except for one recent report about its future IPO that may or may not arrive since one such attempt was also made in 2009.”
Peyush Bansal’s company also reported losses and so did Amit Jain’s. It was only Aman Gupta’s company that has been profitable since the beginning, the post mentioned. It further read, “Namita Thapar is NOT the founder of her company Emcure Pharma. It’s her father who started it and still is its CEO. So, to some, her credentials may seem similar to that of Ananya Pandey in Bollywood (Did somebody hear nepotism!! 🙄)?”
His post sounds brutal and comes as a shocker for many.