On Shark Tank India, three entrepreneurs walked away with an all-shark deal. Their initial request of Rs 3 crore in exchange for 0.75% equity, valuing the company at Rs 400 crore, left all the sharks in disbelief, before negotiations began in earnest. The entrepreneurs were pitching their baggage brand, Nasher Miles, which they claim is 100% bootstrapped and successful.
The entrepreneurs stated that they generated more than Rs 50 crore in income last year and expect to reach Rs 100 crore in sales this year. The sharks were all impressed, but Anupam Mittal wanted to test their claim of having indestructible baggage, so he started jumping on a suitcase.
“Anupam, kya kar rahe ho (What are you doing Anupam)?” Namita Thapar asked in a disappointed tone. “Karna padega (I have to do it),” Anupam said sadly. The businesses reassured the sharks that if a customer’s luggage cracks, they will honour their return policy without issue.
Anupam was also shocked to learn that two of the three entrepreneurs are drawing salaries of Rs 7 lakh per month, and giving themselves bonuses depending on sales.
He said, “Mujhe 20 saal hogaya companies banate hue, bechte hue, aaj bhi main aap jitni salary nahi leta. Aap Rs 7 lakh ki salary lete hain (I’ve been building companies for 20 years, I still don’t draw that kind of salary).” One of the entrepreneurs quipped, “Anupam, we live in South Bombay.”
While all of the sharks were interested in Nesher miles, they were not amused by the Rs 400 crore valuation. After four sharks (Anupam, Namita, Ritesh Agarwal, and Vineeta Singh) came together with a Rs 300 crore valuation, Aman Gupta went alone and reduced the estimate to Rs 100 crore.
The entrepreneurs politely declined his offer and considered the potential of all sharks joining forces. In the end, they took an all-shark offer of Rs 3 crore in exchange for 1.5% equity and a royalty of Rs 1 crore till the investment was recovered. This valued the company at Rs 200 crore.
