Shark Tank India: Retired Army officer takes offence at Aman Gupta’s low valuation, says, ‘Maybe I’ve taken it personally’

Also read – Shark Tank India founder leaves everybody’s jaws on the floor with Rs 1,250 ask, but Anupam Mittal suspects ulterior motives: ‘You’re here for marketing’

The founder also admitted that he hopes to use this appearance on Shark Tank for ‘publicity’ as well. Aman was impressed. “What you’ve said just now, so many people come here and lie about. That’s the Army honesty in you,” he said. Namita concurred. “Straight shooter, in both ways,” she said. The sharks were even more impressed when the founder shared some financials with them. He said that his sales in 2023 stood at Rs 6.2 crore and that he is projecting Rs 8.5 crore in sales this year. But he couldn’t provide some finer details about his profit margins that Anupam wanted to know. “Frankly, I don’t know. My finance knowledge is limited,” he admitted. Anupam replied, “Don’t say that, you’ve created a business doing over Rs 6 crore in sales, you surely know something.”

But this made Aman curious about the Rs 40 crore valuation that the founder had arrived at. Namita was the first shark to bow out of the deal. “Your business isn’t investable, and I’ll tell you why. It’ll be difficult for an investor to join you because you can’t scale this up, and we will not get an exit. And this camouflage print is a very commonly available product. They’re widely available on Amazon and Flipkart. But huge respect for who you are and what you’ve done,” she said.

Despite his concerns, Aman made an offer valuing the company at Rs 2 crore. The founder seemed offended. “The sort of valuation you’ve offered me, if we were not on this platform, I wouldn’t have even entertained. I don’t want to sound rude, because it’s difficult to understand the nitty-gritties of a business in such a short time. But right now, I’m getting an order for Rs 8 crore, which I’ll execute in three months,” he said.

This new piece of information seemed to get Aman to change his mind. He said, “I’ll change my valuation,” he said, increasing it to Rs 15 crore. “I think this is a very new space, and the brand has a virality potential, that is the risk I’m taking,” Aman said, and the founder laughed in his face. “At Rs 15 crore, you’re not taking any risk, I’ll tell you that…” This made both Vineeta and Namita burst out laughing. “Straight shooter!” Namita said again, but the founder became serious. “Maybe I’ve taken it personally. Maybe I’m thinking this is the value you’re giving me,” he said. Vineeta tried to placate him “No, sir. We are just looking to maximise our returns. This value is not ascribed to you,” she said.

But Aman was swayed once again. He asked Amit if he’d want to make a joint offer, and the both of them offered the founder Rs 40 lakh for 2% equity, plus Rs 40 lakh in debt at 12% interest for two years. Aman meekly asked the founder if he should be concerned about his stubbornness, but seemed to be convinced when the founder said that he is willing to learn from him and Amit. In the end, he received a valuation that was half of what he was originally looking for, but 10 times greater than what Aman had first offered. As Vineeta and Anupam gave him a salute, Aman remarked that even the founder’s handshake was intimidating.