Edited By: Yatamanyu Narain
Last Updated: January 13, 2023, 09:13 IST
Ganesh Balakrishnan in one of the episodes of Shark Tank Season 2.
Shark Tank India 2 contestant Ganesh Balakrishnan might have not fetched the kind of offer he had desired for himself but he made waves with his incredible journey.
Shark Tank India Season 2 has already caught the fancy of the viewers. With innovative pitches to heavy investments, this season has it all. While some pitchers go back with more than what they expected, others are forced to rethink the way they run their businesses. Amid all the new contestants, one of them has garnered immense popularity among netizens owing to his will to save a struggling business and how he turned down an offer from the Sharks.
Ganesh Balakrishnan founded Flatheads, a casual footwear line. Despite helming a loss-making business, his zeal and passion towards his venture and his tumultuous journey struck a chord with the judges as Anupam Mittal from Shaadi.com offered him a job along with two sharks Vineeta Singh and Peeyush Bansal who were ready to contribute Rs 75 lakh for a 33.3 percent stake in the company. While Ganesh’s valuation for the company stood at Rs 25 crores, the Sharks valued the same at Rs 2.25 crore. Unable to convince the judges, Ganesh decided to decline the offer but irrespective of that, the sharks were able to resonate with his predicaments. He stated, “When I get the chance, I will try and set up (a business) again,”
Talking about Ganesh, Vineeta Singh had taken to her Twitter handle to laud Ganesh’s courage. She had written, “Watching Ganesh make that choice and not being able to help him build his dream was so hard that every time I speak about him, it makes me emotional. Proud of you, Ganesh for doing the right thing. You’ve more courage than me and I hope to see you build your dream again soon.” Even the boAT owner Aman Gupta had shared that he could see himself in Ganesh Balakrishnan. He had shared, “It takes real guts to say no to a great funding offer on national TV to restart and recalibrate.”
Watching Ganesh make that choice and not being able to help him build his dream was so hard that every time I speak about him, it makes me emotional.— Vineeta Singh (@vineetasng) January 9, 2023
While Ganesh Balakrishnan couldn’t avail a lucrative offer on the show, his pitch didn’t go in vain. Because just in a matter of two days, his entire inventory of Flatheads was sold out. Talking about the same on his LinkedIn post, Ganesh expressed his gratitude towards Shark Tank India as well as Anupam Mittal, Vineeta Singh, Peyush Bansal, Namita Thapar, and Aman Gupta. He wrote, “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. After the Shark Tank India episode aired on Friday, there has been an unbelievable wave of compassion and support across the country. And along with that, we’ve received record traffic on our Flatheads website, all organic! I’m super excited to share that we’ve sold out our limited remaining quantity of shoes in 2 days flat! And for the first time ever, our CAC was Zero! (sharks please note).”
The second season of Shark Tank India premiered on January 2 on Sony TV. Sharks’ panel include Namita Thapar, executive director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Peyush Bansal, CEO of Lenskart, Anupam Mittal, founder of Shaadi.com, Vineeta Singh, CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics and Aman Gupta, Co-Founder and CMO at boAt Lifestyle. Replacing Ashneer Grover in season two is Amit Jain, co-founder of CarDekho.
