Shark Tank Experience: 2/3

 The on-set experience

In conversation with Jayanti, our co-founder telling us of her experience of being on the sets of Shark Tank India

What was the experience like?

After prepping intensively, finally meeting all 5 Sharks in person and getting to pitch was surreal. I had a chance to tell our story and our motivation behind the company. 45 minutes of discussion and questions. A dream come true! Take a look at our episode on Shark Tank.

Can you tell us a bit about the day of the shoot?

On the last day of prep all of us contestants got to visit the actual set, to orient ourselves. The set had a large ornate peacock carved into the floor and  we were asked to stand ‘at the peacock’s feet’, that was where all the cameras were focussed.

Being in the tank wasn't as scary as going up to it! The long walk to the golden doors almost felt like walking the plank surrounded by swarming sharks (on LCD’s)! The 3 days of prep was necessary and really got me "in the zone". Plenty of footage was shot throughout the entire period. It was an adrenaline fueled week under bright lights.

What were the highlights of your pitch?

Having learned and built everything, each element had to now be distilled to the most precise detail. Although I spoke in brief these are the pointers from our pitch

• Introduction to our company
• Our co-founder’s recovery story from using Hemp products
• How we discovered Hemp
• The history of Hemp
• The many uses of Hemp
• Where we sell (online/offline) - the numbers
• The new regulations in the market
• How Hemp is the next BIG thing

How did you find the Sharks' assessment?

I was blown away, here was the validation of all our hard work, a desire, and backing with investment for our company. I felt incredibly grateful, and still do for such valuable inputs by all the sharks.

Despite a comment that one of the sharks thought it was a hobby business, to which I responded by defending the company and something we had built with a lot of passion and hard work. The moment came when we were offered a deal by one of the sharks.

Why didn't you take the offer?

It's easy to get swayed by the adrenaline, the grandiose and the bright lights at Shark Tank. We had to turn down the offer, we’ve been in the fundraising process for over 6 months now and have met a fair amount of investors (angels and VCs). The valuation of 2 crores was way below the range that we’ve already got from the market.  It was extremely challenging turning down live offers. 

If you enjoyed reading these two posts about our experience, we'd appreciate you sharing them with a friend or potential business owner who's aspiring to scale. This is a handy list of tips and will help anyone prepare for Shark Tank India. Following our last segment, we'll discuss what we've taken away from the experience as a whole.

Stay tuned. Leave us your questions on instagram and join us back for the final segment of this story.