Everything About Ganesh Balakrishnan, Flatheads Co-Founder Who Appeared On Shark Tank

After the successful first installment of the Indian franchise of the American show, Shark Tank, Shark Tank India Season 2 is being watched by the audience on Sony TV. The show is receiving mixed reactions and reviews from viewers. In one of its recent episodes, a man named Ganesh Balakrishnan who is the founder of the shoe company Flatheads grabbed attention with his emotional outburst.

The Friday episode of Shark Tank India’s second season was very emotional as the founder of Flatheads, cried on camera. The sharks on the judges’ panel were Peyush Bansal, Anupam Mittal, Namita Thapar, Aman Gupta, and Vineeta Singh.

Ganesh Balakrishnan pitched on the show and was also offered a deal but he refused to take it. As told to the Shark Tank judges, the Flatheads shoe company was started by Ganesh Balakrishnan in 2019. Unfortunately, just when the shoes hit the market, the coronavirus pandemic hit hard. For the next 4-5 months no one brought shoes from his company and he was at a loss. He told that even though he was capable of running companies he was unlucky this time.

Who is Ganesh Balakrishnan?

Ganesh Balakrishnan graduated from IIT Bombay. He later joined the corporate world after completing his MBA. The budding entrepreneur claimed to have helped build many brands. But his luck seldom favored him as he built three companies over the last few years, but unfortunately, they failed to see success.

Balakrishnan has a wife and a 10-year-old daughter. Ganesh Balakrishnan wife works for a German company and is also a software engineer. The company is run by the family from Bengaluru.

Just when Flatheads was on the verge of collapse, things took an unexpected turn

When the company was about to collapse, Ganesh trended on Twitter and his company was saved. Balachandran’s story touched the hearts of the audience. His emotional moment at the show hit the right chord.

On Sunday, Ganesh Balachandran posted on LinkedIn that Flatheads’ inventory has been sold out. 

He wrote,

“To be honest, I was dreading the airing of the Flatheads pitch on Shark Tank India. Breaking down on national TV isn’t exactly great for one’s self confidence. What I definitely didn’t expect is the episode to be received the way it has been, and it is very very heartening to see that people are applauding the entrepreneurial spirit – of all startup founders, with me as a proxy,”

He also added,

“We’ve almost sold out our inventory in India, so pardon us if you aren’t able to find your size on www.flatheads.in. Would be amazing if you can tell your friends in the US and UAE to try our shoes”

Let’s talk about the company ‘Flatheads’

Flatheads manufacture shoes suitable for Indian weather. They use breathable and light shoes using sustainable material. The Flatheads shoe prices range from Rs 1000 to Rs 5000. Ganesh opened up to the sharks and revealed that even though his company had been making sales, they were not gaining profit.

He mentioned that they had run out of working capital and they had to use their own money to get the company running and to pay the salaries. He said he had to use his personal savings of around Rs 35 lakh.

When he made a pitch of Rs 75 lakh to the sharks at the show, Shark Tank India Season 2 for his company, the judges said that the amount won’t be enough to revive his company. The sharks also said that he was not making a profit as the price of the products are high.

In the Ganesh Balakrishnan Shark Tank episode, he mentioned that the mid-range of his company started from Rs 2500. However, the sharks said even this was too pricey for the Indian market.

The co-founder who had been designing these shoes for Flatheads didn’t show up. He also mentioned that he raised over Rs 10 crore through angel investors but now that were not supporting him at all.

The Shark Tank judges said that they had no confidence in the company and decided to leave him to be on his own. The sharks further asked what would happen if he didn’t secure their investment, and Ganesh responded that the company would shut down.

Balakrishnan said,

“Iske liye funding nahi aati hai toh mere paas paise toh hain nahi. Toh main shayad job dhundna shuru karuga. Aur jab mauka mile toh wapis shuru karne ki koshish karuga (sic)”

The sharks bluntly asked him to shut the company, earn money and get back on his feet. They asked him to rebuild the company afterward.

But Peyush Bansal, the Lenskart founder, offered Ganesh Rs 75 lakh for 33 percent of the company with conditions. Balakrishnan’s investor asked him to go ahead with the deal.

When Ganesh Balakrishnan refused the deal and became emotional

When he came back inside, he refused the offer and told that he would consider his priorities again. When Ganesh started crying on camera, he was hugged and consoled by all the sharks. He was also offered a job by Anupam Mittal of the People Group.

When this Shark Tank episode was telecast on the Sony Liv application, Balakrishnan started trending on Twitter. Several Twitter users urged him to not give up and believe in his capabilities. Some called him the first generational entrepreneur and a genuine guy.

It is likely that his company may have registered more sales as it was massively searched on Google Trends after the show.

Take a look at some of the reactions of the netizens

Ganesh Balakrishnan bhai ne rula diya 😭(men cry)#Entrepreneurship is not as rosy as it gets projected. It is certainly not a glamorous thing esp for those who are 1st generation.

Loved the fact that he accepted that “it is not working”for him. #SharkTankIndiaS2 #Flatheads pic.twitter.com/ACtEeE7igd

— Kumar Manish (@kumarmanish9) January 9, 2023

‘Success builds ego but failure builds character’
Spoke to @ganeshb78 of @flatheads_in today & thrilled to learn that he has landed firmly on his feet 💜… until the day he starts up again 😉🚀 #SharkTankIndia pic.twitter.com/WFDXPrPJwa

— Anupam Mittal (@AnupamMittal) January 7, 2023

We hear about the underdog disruptor narrative of starting up but there’s also a side that we don’t talk about – because that’s not what we want our idea of entrepreneurship to be.

Which is why watch the @flatheads_in pitch tonight on #SharkTankIndiaS2 – nothing but respect 🙏 pic.twitter.com/o30lE7Fs4h

— Kaushik Mukherjee (@kaushikmkj) January 6, 2023

I’m not a sucker for drama on reality TV, but nothing about Ganesh Balakrishnan was drama on the latest episode of Shark Tank India. The honesty was so genuine and it sort of took away the curtain of what you see on the outside – a successful brand and showed the fight behind it.

— Abhiram R (@abhicantdraw) January 8, 2023