Shark Tank India 2’s Amit Jain says he went bankrupt, lost money in share market: ‘But I had my brains and hands…’

When asked if he had followed the first season, the businessman said, “Absolutely I watched the first season. Usually, the idea is that only people from an IIT and IIM background can do successful businesses. I was amazed at the kind of pitches that we saw last year. Also, there were so many emotions involved in their companies. I remember how this bhabhi-nanad jodi started an aachar company (Jha Ji) right from their home. The innovation and the passion were something never-seen-before. Also, they actually found some problems at the root and solved them. The hustling is so inspiring. I must say if you liked season one, you will definitely love season 2.”

When we quizzed if he found any differences between the two seasons, Jain said he watched the first season as a viewer, so it had a different perspective. “This time I am on the show, so I look at it differently. I remember watching the episodes again before I came in to get an understanding of the category segments. I come from a tech background and ace digital marketing but there’s so much more that can add value to businesses. For me, my prime goal is to add value to the brand that I invest in,” he shared, adding that while the ‘numbers of a company are important’, one also has to focus on ‘good founders’.

Being the new addition, did he manage to form a friendship with the other sharks and fit in easily? He said, “We are not here to make friends, we are all sharks on this show. However, I never felt different. It was quite a normal experience, and we all had good fun.”

 

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While these businesspeople have been popular in their industry, Shark Tank India has given them a new identity and a different kind of fandom. However, for Jain, ‘popularity’ was never the objective for him to be on the reality show. “I come from a very small town and have never run after fame. Now that I am on the show, I have started using social media. Otherwise, for me, spending time with my family and friends, and my team is what gives me happiness. I have always believed that life is a journey, and one needs to enjoy every moment,” he said.

 

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Talking about himself, Jain says, “I come from a small town with a joint family system. This is why I have a strong value system. I live a very simple life. And while I have my feet on the ground, my eyes are on the sky. I may come across as flamboyant but I have no arrogance.”

“Secondly, I am a very number-oriented person. With a background in economics, I really believe in the depth of numbers. My knowledge of products and technology is quite strong. And lastly, I love cars and have quite a lot of them. I also like to speed up my cars on good roads.”

 

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Talking about how he started CarDekho, and built the first unicorn from Jaipur, the shark said, “In 2006, after my father’s death, my brother and I shifted  to Jaipur. We had the option to get our grandparents to Bangalore but that would have been unfair to them. Back then, no one even knew about the term ‘start-ups’. In 2008, we started teaching young people, because we didn’t have too many trained people. They were all freshers from local colleges, and today, they are the ones who head our teams at CarDekho. They have been with us throughout. I think experiences and people are what you need to run a business.”

A quick search on Google, and one will get to know about how Amit Jain and his brother Anurag Jain had lost money in the share market. Delving more on that, Jain said, “So we lost more than Rs 1.5 crore on shares and were bankrupt. Of course, it was a big loss but we knew that we have hands and brains, so we will build it up again.”

Shark Tank India 2 airs on Sony TV and streams on SonyLIV.