New Delhi: On the premiere of Shark Tank India Season 2, while most had assumed the absence of Ashneer Grover will be the highlight, that wasn’t the case. What caught the attention of most Shark Tank India fans was how the judges treated the owners of the brand Recode. Starting off the new season this Monday, the episode had three brands and while the first two managed to get investment from the judges, the last didn’t.
#SharkTankIndiaS2 #shark #SharkTankIndiaSeason2 #Pitch pic.twitter.com/SplnoWOkvO
— Vikram Choudhary (@Vikram910) January 2, 2023
The five sharks this season, Anupam Mittal, Aman Gupta, Peyush Bansal, Vineeta Singh and Namita Thapar were under much scrutiny on social media after the season’s premier yesterday. The two pitches that did manage to get investment out of the three were of Yeshoda Karuturi and Rhea Karuturi for their flower business ‘Hoovu’ and Sparsh Agarwal and Ishaan Kanoria for their tea brand called ‘Doorji’. But what disappointed people was their irksome treatment of the last brand, Recode by Dheeraj and Rahul.
@sharktankindia @amangupta0303 why are u mocking and making fun of contestant?? I was seeing #recode makeup episode and feeling irritated while seeing u, when u making fun of those guys. Also @sharktankindia is it valid reason that my friend is in buisness so i am out
— Rohit Choudhary (@RohitLannister) January 2, 2023
After 10 minutes of snide remarks and mocking, the sharks looked at each other making the pitchers visibly uncomfortable. Questioning their methods multiple times and laughing in their faces, the sharks gave the reasoning that left viewers confused and shocked. Despite a verbal slap in their faces by Recode’s business numbers, the judges found ways to break the brand apart. Calling the packaging wrong and their fast decision-making a flaw, judges all were out of the deal.
Recode makeup deserved better than this. 15 cr FYI 21-22 with 6% PAT. You kidding me? Making stupid faces and laughing on founders? Horrible. I bet you this brand will beat Sugar cosmetics in 5 years.#SharkTankIndiaS2
— Bonny A (@jungleeejanwar) January 2, 2023
This would have been digestible if not for the “lame and childish” reasoning they gave for saying no. A trend started by Namita Thapar, was followed by Aman Gupta as well saying they can’t invest in the business because they were friends with Vineeta, the CEO of Sugar Cosmetics. Recode being a cosmetics brand was a competition of Sugar and being friends they don’t invest in each other’s competition no matter how profitable. Netizens found this conduct highly unprofessional and invalid comparing it to “Nepotism in Bollywood” and calling Recode a “potential game-changer”.
In first episode of shark tank S2, some sharks refused brand Recode in order to safeguard their relation with their friends. This denial was unfair unless it is not due to a flaw in their business model, vision
Missed @Ashneer_Grover @SonyLIV #SharkTankIndiaS2 #Entrepreneur— Namrata Shubham Mittal (@ShubhamNamrata) January 3, 2023
