Shark Tank India Season 2 has gotten a decent response but has been controversial for various reasons. While many are watching the show regularly, others are calling out the sharks, not just for their companies that are in debt but also for their rude and unwanted comments to pitches. Earlier, the sharks were focused on investment and were quite supportive, but this time they seemed more focused on promoting themselves and their businesses. Lines like 'I am the Raja (King) of Amazon and Flipkart' or 'I am the Goonda Don of the industry' are a simple proof of this.
The viewers were not very happy with this and asked the sharks to stay humble by giving the example of Jamie Siminoff, the Chief Inventor and Founder of Ring, who was rejected in the original Shark Tank in 2013, but he later came back as a shark on the show.
Journey of Jamie Siminoff
Siminoff was the founder of a Wi-Fi enabled video doorbell company, which he had started in his garage in Los Angeles. When he presented his pitch for Doorbot, the maker of a doorbell with a camera that sends the video directly to a user's smartphone, he was broke. The sharks loved the idea but refused to invest. Mark Cuban said that he thought the business was great and would be successful, but he would not want to invest in something that would not be worth $70 million someday.
But Siminoff did not give up and worked on his products. Additionally, his company got the required visibility, and it also grabbed the attention of Richard Branson, who went on to invest in the company. Within a year, Siminoff rebranded his company and named it Ring, which was then acquired by Amazon for more than $1 billion.
Cut to 2018 when he was asked to appear on the Shark Tank and he said yes. He said it was because of the exposure on the show that his company turned out to be a success.
This is in contrast with the character being shown on the Indian version of the show claimed by the viewers.
Sharks business in losses
This is not the only point that is in contrast with the show as viewers point out that the judges on the US version of the show run business that actually makes them profit instead of running companies that are drowning in huge losses.
Going deeper into this, viewers reported the numbers only to realize that Aman Gupta's Boat has been profitable since its inception.
Vineeta Singh's Sugar Cosmetics in the financial year 2022 reported a loss of Rs 75 crore, higher than Rs 21.1 crore in the financial year 2021.
Anupam Mittal the owner of brands like Shaadi.com, Makaan.com, Mauj Mobile only earns through Shaadi, whose numbers are not revealed in public. Other brands are either not making enough money or are dead , claimed a viewer.
Peyush Bansal's Lenskart posted a consolidated loss of Rs 102.3 crore in financial year 2022 and Namita Thapar is not the founder of Emcure nor is it a start up.
Amit Jain's CarDekho is also in loss with Rs 246.5 crore loss reported in the financial year 2021-2022.
In the end, the viewers claimed that Shark Tank India is more like an entertainment show.
