A Shark Tank India Pitcher Gives Answer To Behind-The-Scenes Questions In Reddit AMA

Whether or not you’ve been watching the new reality programme Shark Tank India on TV, you’re probably intrigued about the show’s content given the amount of hype it’s generating on social media. What goes on behind the scenes, what is the reality of this reality television programme, etc. are the most searched questions everywhere.

Angad Talwar, a pitcher from the show, did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit. CosIQ Skincare was founded by Angad and his wife Kanika. The fourth episode of the first season included their pitch. Vineeta Singh and Anupam Mittal invested 50 lakh in the firm in exchange for a 25% share.

Netizens jumped at the opportunity to ask as many inquiries as they could. It’s conceivable that you’ll discover the answers you’re looking for here.

1. A Redditor posed the subject that everyone is thinking about: What is your view on Ashneer’s personality? Do you find him repulsive?

Angad’s response to this was:

“No! I love him! He’s direct, has a positive intention and does not sugar coat his works or wiggle out of situations that demand strong words. Unhone humare naam ko bhi sasta Chinese brand bola tha so I can say he’s bad and bakwaas and all that but no, he’s not. He is a gem and speaks his mind. Jo hai woh bolte hain.”

2. Another individual inquired about the mechanism for disbursing money following the verbal agreement made on the show, as well as if the checks were fraudulent.

“Those cheques are dummies. Next comes Due Diligence, term sheets and then we get the funds!”

3. Then there’s this Redditor who thinks the money offered by the sharks to pitchers is quite less. Angad, on the other hand, described the true worth.

“Hai toh but unki moongfali humare liye anaar ke daane hai bhai. Also, its not all about the money! :)”

4. A lawyer, inquired about legal matters. First, he inquired about how long does the actual pitch and negotiation go on and is there are a lot of discussions that are edited out?

To the first question, he answered,

“It in real life, its atleast 30mins and up to 2 hours. The average is around 1 hour. On air they cut it down to 5-10 minutes max.”

Second, he inquired about if there’s any scope to negotiate on the documentation or is it all standard form stuff that they compel you to sign?

To the second question, he answered,

“No, they do not compel to sign anything, just a basic NDA. Documentation and stuff happens after the pitch so we can negotiate (and so can the sharks). Basically during the shoot, it’s a handshake agreement, anyone can back out at any time. People usually don’t since its symbiotic, the sharks believe in the companies and the founders need the sharks and(or) their money :)”

5. The programme has become so famous that everyone wants to know how pitchers are chosen. As a result, someone inquired, “Was it difficult to get a chance to pitch on Shark Tank India? Did Sony do a due diligence before letting you come on air?”

“Yes & yes! So out of 50,000+ applications 200 odd got to pitch, definitely IIT waali ratios hai toh difficult to hai. There are multiple rounds, forms, screen tests etc.”

6. Another individual asked, “How often have you interacted with Sharks since you got funded?”

“Directly with them? Twice on video call. So they have teams and Executive Assistants and all that jazz! Bade log hai yaar. We interact with the team(s) for now and that’s good enough, solves our purpose. We can always request to talk to them directly, did that only once and were promptly given a web appointment. Easy access hai but bekaar time waste access nahi hai which I think is right.”

7. Someone further inquired if there is any expense involved to get associated with Shark Tank India, to which Angad replied,

“No!”

8. Someone questioned, “I’m curious, is this just purely just a boost of capital or does the shark actually mentor and directly is involved in growing the business?”

“It has both elements, if it was just the capital, we would never have taken at this valuation.”

9. Finally, the million-dollar question has been asked by someone: Is Shark Tank India scripted?

“Ittu sa bhi nahi. Once you enter the tank, it’s all real, no retakes, no direction nothing. Ranvijay wali clippings mein they might ask you to say again or stand like this etc. but that’s outside the tank. Everything once those doors open and until you step out is 100% real.”

10. One of the user asked, if the sharks fake smile a lot for the cameras. Does it feel creepy while giving the pitch?

“No they don’t do that! I think these are cut shots they put in just to set that flow masala daalne ke liye! Aise fake smiles nahi dete asli main warna it would’ve been very creepy!”

11. A user asked on the language used while pitching the ideas. He asked, “were you ppl explicitly told to speak majorly in Hindi? I see a lot of South entrepreneurs struggling with Hindi on the show. Wanted to know if it was suggested or recommended.”

The reply was,

“Yes, you caught that right! It was very strongly enforced! I’m from north India and speak Hindi as my first language and still had trouble speaking only in Hindi (We all tend to switch to Hinglish). I saw a lot of people struggling because of this.”

How many of your concerns were addressed? You can read the complete AMA thread here.

Also read: 8 Myths About ‘Shark Tank India’ Debunked By Anupam Mittal