Mamaearth co-founder Ghazal Alagh interacted with some entrepreneurs who put forth their idea for a steel tiffin manufacturing company in a recent episode. shark tank india, but they were not satisfied with the terms of his offer. The whole conversation was shared by Sony Entertainment Television has posted a video on its Instagram account.
Ghazal is one of the ‘Sharks’ or investors featured in Shark Tank India, a spinoff of the Native American reality show, which has been running for 13 seasons since 2009.
Sugar Cosmetics co-founder Vinita Singh bowed out citing marketing issues for the brand, so did Anupam Mittal, founder of Shaadi.com, who said the ‘new generation’ would not be attracted to steel products like entrepreneurs were selling. Lenskart co-founder Piyush Bansal said the brand needs a ‘coolness factor’.
But Ghazal saw potential, so he offered Rs 30 lakh to entrepreneurs in lieu of 10% equity, with Rs 45 lakh as loan, for which he asked for 12% interest. The original demand for 3% equity was Rs 75 lakh. One of the entrepreneurs immediately turned down the offer, saying, “That’s too much, ma’am.”
The entrepreneurs sought some alone time to consult with each other, and returned with a counteroffer. They said the debt component is a complete ‘no’ on their part, and asked for Rs 75 lakh against 6% equity, as they do not want to liquidate the company to such an extent. But they offered a new angle to the negotiations: If they failed to get the Rs 12.5 crore valuation, they would return all the Ghazal money with interest the next year.
“I will give you Rs 75 lakh, and remove the debt, for 11% equity. But it has to be mentioned as a clause in the contract, that if you fail, you will have to refund the entire amount along with interest,” she said, and the entrepreneurs agreed immediately. But he refused to liquidate more than 6%. So after reaching the impasse, he left empty-handed, but Ghazal wished him all the best.