[music playing]
- [siren blaring] - [gunshot]
[explosion]
[gunfire]
[gun clicks]
[intense music playing]
[magazine loads]
- [explosion] - [gunfire]
[music playing]
- Report! - Zone one here!
Zone two here!
Zone three here!
Zone four here! Six here!
[upbeat song playing]
Well done, boys.
Don't be scared, Sharks.
Take your positions, boys.
This was merely a drill depicting how our soldiers
protect the country and the citizens in the operational area.
I consider myself fortunate
to have gotten a chance to serve my country.
I served in many of the country's operations
like Operation Parakram, Operation Rakshak
- and Operation Vijay, better known as the Kargil War. - Oh!
In 2002,
the Army gave me a chance
to train with the U.S. Special Forces.
I observed
that the U.S. soldiers
had many options when it came to tactical clothing and gear.
I thought if we had such solutions and tactical gear,
the work of our soldiers would become easier.
Inspired by that, I started SPEC OPS.
SPEC OPS aims at designing products keeping operations in mind
to have launched tactical cargos with Lycra.
As you are aware, Lycra is a type of material that stretches
increasing comfort and endurance for a soldier.
As an example, this soldier will now stretch.
We have given many pockets in these trousers as you can see.
These pockets serve a purpose.
A soldier carries gear with him.
He can organise that gear into multiple pockets
and make them accessible to our 16 lakh soldiers.
So, I am here to ask you
Thank you, boys. You may go.
Major Anil, welcome to Shark Tank Season 3.
- Thank you very much. - And my compliments.
The way you made an entry,
we all got goosebumps.
- Thank you so much. - Fantastic job on that.
Tell me something.
At a very basic level, when we think about the Army
or Army products,
they must have some criteria
because of which they can only get it from certain vendors, right?
I didn't really understand.
Do you wish to become one of those vendors?
I did not understand exactly what your business model is.
while some are not.
For example, in sports,
- every regiment and unit has its own logo. - True.
As well as design and colour co-ordination.
That requirement can't be fulfilled through supply.
We provide this through dealers.
Dealers participate in tenders and supply them to the others.
- Then you have Army Canteens. - Okay.
Military Canteen is a different organisation.
It is not the Army.
- Okay. - It's a different organisation.
An Army Canteen is typically located in a shopping complex.
If a soldier is visiting the canteen,
he can buy other products as well.
I see two types of products in your business model.
One, what they would need in combat.
The first is a necessity.
- The second is good-to-have. - Correct.
For instance, they need something additional for sports.
Everything I am selling right now is good-to-have.
Necessity is being met by the government.
- Good. - I am doing more than what the government is giving.
Or individual soldiers buy any additional items they need.
During my tenure,
I probably had two camouflage uniforms given by the Army.
I had over 20 owned uniforms.
Do non-soldiers also buy these products?
Yes. That market exists and it's a big market.
I am not operating in it.
Don't you think non-soldiers must be buying these clothes
- for personal use through your dealers? - Very marginal.
It's because our dealers are present in operational areas alone.
What's the size of the soldiers' market?
I'll tell you what I've studied.
- There's no market study available on this. - Okay.
What I have done is a bit of an analysis
of how big the market could be.
I've identified ten products that we make,
the good-to-have ones.
In that, I considered tracksuits
- Why so many SKUs? - Correct.
This is to display our capability of what products we can make.
You don't make them!
- We do, but in limited quantity. - Okay.
I think we make somewhere around 300 different articles.
- There are suppliers. - Okay.
There is a shift in the market
which I've realised because of my experiment in the market.
- Earlier, people preferred low prices. - Hmm.
Now, they prefer quality.
- Okay. - Number one.
- Number two. There is no brand. - Hmm.
- You might have heard of Under Armour. - Yes.
And 5.11 Tactical.
- They do the same thing that we do. - Hmm.
Bridging that aspiration, they've gone into the common market.
So, they started here.
This is the aspiration bridge.
- That is inspired by the Army. - Correct.
- I read War Monger. Is that your brand? - Yes.
So, that's the brand you're trying to build.
- And SPEC OPS. - SPEC OPS.
- My main brand is SPEC OPS. - Okay.
Quality, quality and quality.
Can we see them?
Absolutely, I'll show you. Just one second.
Are you allowed to use the regiment's logo?
If they are placing an order, I don't use it for myself.
I only give it to them once they give me the logo.
- This is the wallet that we make. - Yes.
These are belts that we make.
- Um, T-shirts. - T-shirt.
This is a tactical shirt.
Something similar to what I'm wearing.
Why do you have two brand names?
I launched a brand for the price-sensitive market.
- People want to buy T-shirts costing Rs. 300. - Hmm.
Keeping that price range in mind,
we launched T-shirts that we sell for Rs. 320 to 350.
Is that the dealer price?
- Very thin... No. Customer! - It's the consumer price!
- Consumer price. - Rs. 300!
Even today... That T-shirt for instance...
- The other one, not this one. - Okay.
or do you wish to create a consumer brand like Under Armour?
This is my vision.
Like Under Armour,
I should be able to cater
- and provide products to everyone today. - Okay.
One of my purposes, I'll be honest with you,
is to use the publicity that I'll get here
to now go B2C.
We will generate an online presence.
- Major, what you said today... - Yes?
Most of the companies that come here for the publicity don't admit to it.
You said it openly.
Army men have a quality of being honest.
- Straight shooter in both ways. - Thank you.
I don't understand one thing.
- You said the difference is in the quality. - Yes.
- You said you make for dealers. It's wholesale mostly. - Yes.
You must get specs in your order with regard to GSM and material.
Then how's the quality different?
The specs only come for the tender business.
We get specs for tenders.
We can follow the specs or increase them.
What percentage is the tender business?
It's mainly retail.
- Through the dealers, it is retail. - Got it.
Tell us about your sales.
Top three SKUs that make up 80% of sales.
Have you raised investment yet, Major?
Not yet.
I'm expecting a sales turnover of about Rs. 8.5 crores.
- Profit... Rs. 70 lakhs... - 50 times.
50 times profit multiple!
If you look at the profit multiple, it is more than normal.
A CA might have told you to follow 5 times the sales.
Yes, this is the discussion I had with a friend
- because my knowledge of finance is limited. - No.
You built a Rs. 6.5-crore business. Your knowledge is obviously good.
Major Anil, I am out.
Your business is not investible.
- Let me honestly tell you why. - Hmm.
It is difficult for an investor to become a partner
because the business won't scale
Good quality and affordable products are available today
- on Amazon and Flipkart, in plenty. - Okay.
Scale would be a challenge there.
But huge respect
for who you are and what you've done.
Thank you.
Major, I'll make an offer.
If you take this to consumers...
There's a brand called Timberland famous in the U.S., correct?
If we make a similar brand in India
- where we could use you to make a brand... - Sure.
With similar prints and colours.
With your focus on quality, you could get into many areas.
If you make a brand in this, you could do big on licensing.
For instance, I make speakers too.
If you build this brand,
- I could launch a boAt X Special Ops Speaker. - Yes.
Using your brand name as leverage.
There is no brand yet in this area. So, I could do that.
I will give you a logical valuation
because I feel Rs. 40 crores is a lot.
I will give you Rs. 20 lakhs for 10% equity.
Rs. 60 lakhs debt
This is my offer.
The valuation is Rs. 10 crores.
It is Rs. 50 lakhs for 5% equity
- Okay. - [Sharks laugh]
- Straight shooter! - [laughter]
You recognise that the premium is because of the platform.
I think India needs to hear that.
Thank you so much for your offer.
To you too.
And I don't mean to sound rude.
I know you can't know about the other person's business sense
and nitty-gritty in such a short time frame.
It's hard to know what it might be, right?
For example,
currently, Rs. 8.5 lakhs sales is through my regular channels.
I'm right now in an advanced stage
where I am getting an order for Rs. 8 lakhs.
- Rs. 8 crores. Sorry, not 8 lakhs. Rs. 8 crores plus. - 8.5 crores!
I'll get that order which I will execute in 3 months.
Okay, got it. I will change the valuation, Major.
Rs. 15 crores valuation.
From 2 crores to 15 crores.
- He spoke about the order. - Okay.
I guess you didn't hear him.
2% equity as you offered.
Rs. 30 lakhs cash.
The rest in debt
I won't be able to help you much as you've got a good hold on it.
The second area that is still developing,
which is on the retail side,
I am familiar with that area.
You need virality at some places in your brand.
That virality is possible.
Such a brand has not yet come in India
as far as I know
and that can become viral
on camouflage military-based products.
It is something which is very new.
That is the risk I am taking.
For Rs. 15 crores, don't take any risk!
Let me tell you that.
- Seriously. - [Sharks laugh]
Salute!
Are you the Shark or are we?
The real Shark is there.
Sir, you are the Shark.
- Wow. - I'm just trying to get a decent valuation
which I feel is decent.
Rs. 40 crores is a lot to me.
[sombre music playing]
Until the valuation was Rs. 2 crores,
I was quite interested.
You took it to Rs. 15 crores.
I am trying to value your D2C business.
So, it looks very difficult from my perspective
although I'm very excited about the market.
I can't arrive at a valuation benchmark
that you will like.
I am out for that reason.
Sure.
It's difficult to value B2B businesses
because of fluctuating contracts, low margins
- and longer working capital cycle. - Yes.
I don't think the valuation in my head
will match your expectations,
given the current state of business.
I don't have confidence in how big the B2C will be.
For now, I would respectfully exit.
- Thank you so much. - Best of luck
and very proud and inspired by you, sir.
Thank you so much.
I guess I'm taking it personally.
I'm taking your valuation to be for me personally,
what you are valuing me at.
- How could it be yours? - No...
I believe that the business is nothing but me.
No, sir. It is our job to maximise our return.
- I totally agree with you. - It is not a value
ascribed to a person.
I gave you a valuation of Rs. 15 crores, sir.
Okay. Rs. 15 crores is also very low, sir.
Then make a counter-offer.
Sir, I already gave it.
- What is it? - [Anupam smirking]
What did you say?
I came with the offer of Rs. 80 lakhs
- in exchange for... - 2% equity.
- Amit, can I discuss with you? - Of course.
[suspenseful music playing]
All right. Looks like you'll get a joint offer.
Go for it, guys.
You didn't like Aman's valuation of Rs. 15 crores so both of us will
And the rest Rs. 40 lakhs is on debt for 12%
Thank you so much for your offer.
Do you agree with the offer?
Thank you! You are doing a great job.
- Thank you so much, sir. - Let's grow this company.
I look forward to that. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
[upbeat music playing]
Hello, Sharks.
1500 years ago, chess started in India.
Currently, chess is played in more than 190 countries.
Wow!
Today, India is shining in chess.
But not everyone has access to a good coach.
We started Kaabil Kids to immerse children in the world of chess.
Sharks, Kaabil Kids is a global online chess training academy
I have a quick question.
How do you gain the title of grandmaster?
You have to secure 3 grandmaster norms
I started when I was 10 years old.
When did you get the title of grandmaster?
I became a grandmaster in 2004.
- At the age of 22. - 22.
- It took you 12 years to become a grandmaster. - Right!
There is a speciality about Shark Tank.
- Tradition! - It's our tradition.
Before the person who asked a question
gets an answer,
all five of them ask their questions.
- It's just four of us. - Yes, four.
[laughing]
I asked you a question earlier.
Before you could answer, Anupam asked you a question.
So, Mr. Sunil,
please let's complete my question.
When did you start this journey?
Tell us in detail.
But first... Sorry!
[laughing]
I was just teasing her.
I am sorry!
I am a chess player.
I won many tournaments
at district and state levels
when I was young.
I always dreamt of being a grandmaster.
But I never had the access or opportunity to achieve it.
Because I belong to a very small town
of Udhampur, which is in Jammu and Kashmir.
Ultimately, after completing my education
I started working in a corporate office.
When my son was around 4 years old,
I tried to fulfil my dream through him.
I taught him how to play chess.
- He ranked fifth in Delhi State Under 7. - Wow!
He was only 4.5 years old back then.
4.5?
- 4.5? - Yes.
My God!
- That is great. - I was waiting for him to grow up.
I used to keep the chessboard in the open when he was around.
And his interest piqued.
Gradually, his friends found out.
His friends came home.
I started teaching around 6 children.
Gradually, in 2015, when the number of students increased,
I started looking for a place.
There is a basement
in my society.
- It's a small basement. - Which city is this?
- Greater Noida. - Okay.
and life skills have improved.
Their thought process is evolving.
How did you meet Ms. Kitty and Mr. Tejas?
So, Kitty and I were colleagues in SAGE Publications.
Kitty, are you a chess player?
No! But I know chess.
- Okay! - How did both of you connect?
There is a website dedicated to chess called lichess.org.
I contacted him there.
I shared my idea with him. I discussed my plan.
And my vision is to open the world's largest chess academy.
He liked my vision.
How many people in India play chess?
5 crores people play chess in India.
You will find information about courses,
young achievers,
and training team,
along with their credentials.
This is our curriculum.
Currently, we have five levels.
The rest of the curriculum is structured
to cater to school, district, state, and national levels.
How much does per package cost?
We offer group and individual classes.
For group classes, we charge Rs. 375 per class.
Monthly tournaments play a major role in our curriculum
and how many attempts it took to solve it.
How many students are on your platform?
Around 1280.
If the student is with us for 7 months,
he starts performing in the Top 10 in his school.
- Hmm! - As of now, in 3.5 years,
we have 21 students
What is your USP?
Is it curriculum?
Why haven't numerous EdTech companies developed this?
Grandmaster-designed curriculum adds a lot of weight.
Other than that, how is your delivery?
We train the parents
on the child's psychology and the parent's psychology.
What do you do for sales?
For sales, we are currently doing performance marketing.
If I search on Google...
Can we do a live Google search?
- Yes! - Do it.
And search
'chess training for kids.'
What is first?
- ChessKid. - And second?
Kaabil kids.
Why isn't it first?
Is ChessKid an Indian company?
ChessKid is part of Chess.com.
They do around Rs. 1000 crores in revenue.
- Is it a global or an Indian company? - Global.
How many other companies are in India?
There are around 400 small chess academies in India
that have around 50 to 500 students.
So, you are India's biggest chess academy.
Globally, we are the leaders in our category.
Which is ages 5 to 15.
Which is 5 to 15 and live training.
Don't ChessKid provide live training?
ChessKid is a platform
where they have gamified the content and curriculum.
- And they sell their product per licence. - Subscription-based.
- Subscription-based. - Because software is highly scalable.
Your issue is that you have to pay the trainer.
That is when you get your gross margin.
How much does a trainer make in one month?
I don't think it is fair.
The monthly cash component is considerably high.
As per our engagement, once a month or once every two months,
he helps us with masterclass
and major changes or updates in the curriculum.
That is how it is.
- This means you are better at chess than Mr. Tejas. - No!
[laughing]
Who has the remaining 30%?
you are allocating to marketing and trainers?
Give us a detailed breakdown.
How much is the CAC?
Our CAC is around Rs. 6,000.
In the past 3-4 years,
we've witnessed all aspects of the EdTech business.
The game is
to spend as much as you can on CAC
and the lifetime value will be enough to make up for that.
That story never came to fruition.
- It started to drop. - In fact, it started to drop.
CAC increased and LTV dropped.
Right? Because once you get past the earlier adopters,
you are left with lower-paying users.
The calculation gets inverted.
You are saying that you spent Rs. 6,000 and made Rs. 16,000 LTV.
40% of your cost is going into acquisition marketing.
Therefore, I want to ask you a question.
Why can't heavy lifting be done by artificial intelligence?
That will be boring for the children.
Why will it be boring? It could be gamified.
There are apps and games.
- They can do that. - ChessKid.com is doing that.
We don't want to do that, because we believe
that 90% of students
are between the ages of 5 to 8 years old.
- They need hand-holding. - Yeah.
After a certain level,
and playing chess for around 7 years.
We use such tech for high level learning.
- Not at a basic level. - But...
In this era, hands down, artificial intelligence
is defeating grandmasters and world champions.
Don't you think, in the future,
it will be able to train that effectively?
Artificial intelligence calculates millions of moves in a second.
It had no emotions. So, it can win.
- But it can't teach a child. - It can't train.
The product... I like what you are doing.
It will help India to move forward.
If it were a technology platform
without human intervention, I would've been interested in this.
Because scalability is fast with tech products.
This seems like a push product.
It doesn't feel like there is an organic demand.
I am out because of these reasons.
I wish you all the best.
Around 5 crore people play chess.
Approximately 1 crore falls within the age range of 5 to 15.
In India, Rs. 500 plus affordability doesn't even reach 1 lakh.
So, our target market size is around 1 lakh.
Secondly, the bigger problem is,
that your gross margin is 15%.
Because you give 30% to the trainer.
40% is CAC.
And 15% GST.
So, you are left with around a 15% gross margin.
In this business, it gets difficult to invest in tech and branding.
These two challenges pose a barrier to scalability.
That's why, it's not an investable business, but a fantastic business
for the future of India. Good luck.
- Thank you! - Thank you!
You are in a good direction because of the niche
and you are focussing on it.
But I have an issue.
Besides the small market,
AI will be a bigger threat.
If you want to create value in this,
then you must capture the entire market.
In order to capture that,
you don't have money.
Acquiring users will require
a significant amount of CapEx investment.
So that the LTV is maintained in the future.
The ratio is not sitting well in my mind.
That's why I am out today. Good luck!
- Thank you! - Thank you!
How can you turn Rs. 3.5 crores into Rs. 100 crores?
For that, we need 40,000 students
to do Rs. 100 crores in revenue
with EBITDA of Rs. 25 crores.
And 40,000 students will come from India.
Other than that, the entire globe is with us.
Chess is very popular in the US.
Out of 250 students, 100 are from the US.
Number one, our LTV becomes strong there.
And number two, we don't have to pay GST to them.
I want to ask something.
Have you been approached with acquisition offers
or investment offers from EdTech companies?
In fact, there have been plenty of offers.
First year, we received an acquisition offer.
It was from Play Magnus.
It is Norway based.
The only company listed in the stock exchange. Norway based.
They were recently acquired by Chess.com
for ¤83 million. We declined their offer.
You are not burning any more. You've started earning.
We are sustaining now.
We will give you Rs. 50 lakhs
as equity at 5%.
- He means both of us. - Both of us.
We will give you Rs. 20 lakhs debt
Why did you come to the Sharks?
We came here because we wanted to open new avenues for us.
We also want to learn a lot.
We will teach you. But it comes with a price.
It's not a bad valuation, to be honest.
Someone made a mistake by valuing it at Rs. 20 crores.
I won't make the same mistake.
What will you do, sir? Check or checkmate?
We want to give you a counteroffer.
Very good.
Rs. 50 lakhs for 2.5% equity.
We are sure that
we will bring this company to the top.
So, we would like to
keep the same valuation at least.
[suspenseful music playing]
- Okay, done. - Smart move.
- You guys are worth this. - Thank you so much.
- Thank you! - Let's create more grandmasters.
Absolutely!
[camera clicks]
Superb! Well done!
- Superb! - Thank you.
[theme music playing]
Then it's all right.
[Aman laughing]
Please keep your notepads and notebooks aside.
Nowadays, there are innumerable digital tools
to make our lives easy.
So pen and paper aren't required.
As it is, people say, "nobody writes nowadays."
Sharks, we are here to break that myth.
Even today, 65% of people
Your thoughts become organised,
your mind is decluttered
and your creativity increases.
During the last few years,
mental health awareness has increased
but people don't know how to start improving it.
So we started Odd Giraffe.
you may use our productivity planner.
Similarly, Namita, if you want
to reduce stress and anxiety,
you may use our guided journals.
Vineeta, you may use our notebooks and to-do lists
to write down your daily tasks and to-do lists.
All our planners and journals
and build a category-defining global stationery brand.
Sharks, who is ready to join the revolution?
- By the way, I saw your products as they were gifted to me. - Wow!
And they are very good-looking!
Thank you so much.
This is for you. This one.
Nice, buddy!
- Thank you so much. - Very nice.
Odd Giraffe. Yes! It's a very cute name.
And the best part is everything you make is good-looking.
Thank you so much. It's nice to know you already know our brand.
- You have seen our products. - Yes, and good-looking stationery
- and aesthetics is the most important. - Exactly.
They are personalised. Our names are written here.
- Right. - Very nice.
- It's really nice. - Thank you.
It's of high quality with an aesthetic appeal.
- Thank you so much. - Thank you so much, Amit.
- I have used planners but none of them had this quality. - Correct!
- Amazing. - You can personalise it and order a copy bearing your name.
It's lovely, right?
And I love the quotes.
- Brene Brown is one of my favourite influencers. - Right.
The way they have designed it.
'I'm grateful for...'
'What would make today great?'
- Correct. - I think taking out moments to do this
is a kind of mindfulness. It's great.
- At least the Gen Z believes in it. - Definitely!
Karan and Sanil, please tell us your background.
How did you get this business idea?
I have done graduation in advertising.
Then I started working in advertising agencies.
I worked with plenty of brands for 2-3 years.
Which brands?
Nat Geo, Pepsi IPL, NIVEA
and many Indian and global brands.
Then I realised I wanted to start my business
- so I started my agency at the age of 23. - Really?
We created digital content and websites
with Discovery Channel, Paytm Insider, and Bacardi.
What was the name of your agency?
I joined Karan's company as an intern.
After my graduation,
I joined him full-time and then both of us worked for the company.
From which college did you graduate?
- Thank you so much. - Cleanliness.
- Thank you. - Paper quality and other small things are very elite.
- Thank you so much. - What do you do?
Actually, ours is a small company. It just comprises the two of us.
- That's it? - Yes.
- Karan handles marketing. - Marketing, branding,
influencing, packaging, designs, and the website are handled by me.
It's like splitting the left brain and the right brain.
- Oh, wow! - In 2019.
I never saw it before.
Yes, because we took funding to start our company.
We work with freelancers and interns.
What about your scale?
Our last year's revenue
for FY 22-23 was Rs. 4.1 crores.
What is your projection for this year?
I agree 100%. I thought the same.
There's something called "sale per employee". Right?
- Right. - Right.
- There's a metric, Revenue per Employee. - Right.
- Rs. 8 crores with two employees... - Yes.
It means Rs. 4 crore per employee.
- Awesome! - I think it's a record in Shark Tank.
- Seriously. - For sure!
Hire employees and then fire them
so that only two employees remain.
Just two people made a revenue of Rs. 8 crores. I can't get over it.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Going by your explanation,
you're doing Rs. 27.8 lakhs,
that puts you at a run rate of Rs. 3.25 crores.
- I understand. - Yes.
If your revenue is going to be Rs. 8-Rs. 9 crores,
it would be because of gifting after the festive season.
Festive season.
Gifting must be at the beginning of the year.
- They are selling journals. - Beginning of the year.
You mentioned gifting.
It's surely a part of our business.
It must be important.
We started this business model only last year.
Earlier, we had an inventory-based model.
We changed it last year.
What change did you make? Did you transform it into made-to-order?
Q3 and Q4 are such periods for us.
If so many people use these...
- Right. - There must be a company larger than yours.
Does a company exist right now?
Many companies exist globally
but there's no Indian company.
We are the leaders here.
- Who is the global one? - What's the name of the French company?
- Moleskine. - Italian.
How large is that company?
It's a 200 million dollar company.
Didn't it catch up in India yet?
It didn't catch up in India yet but it's catching up now.
This trend is increasing.
Our sales are increasing every year.
You talked about a global company
so their price point and your price point
must be significantly different.
- They are quite different. - Of course!
The margin structure must be strong abroad.
Their margin structure is strong.
How much EBITDA can we maintain?
It will be between 10% to 15%.
In our category creation business,
we need to do a lot of marketing initially.
How much does it cost?
Rs. 1,599. Around Rs. 1,600.
Isn't Rs. 1,600 costly?
- Our target customers purchase it... - Gen Z...
- If I break down the market size... - Right.
- A household must have a minimum income to buy this. - Right.
- If their child wants to buy it. - Right.
Seven crore people do tax filing.
- Only 2.5 crore people pay tax. - Right.
If a child buys it at this price point,
- the family's income should at least be Rs. 20 lakhs. - Right.
Only 1-1.25 crore Indian households have that income.
Our market size is too small.
The cost of our notebooks starts from Rs. 699.
Which product is a bestseller?
We mostly sell planners.
It's like the Google Calendar.
You have simply copied it.
Which doesn't work.
I'll tell you why.
We can write limited calls and only two lines are given for email.
We have different kinds of planners.
You are holding a daily planner.
- Yes. - We have given you an entire day's scheduling.
Similarly, we have a productivity planner
where you get more space to write.
I'll tell you one more challenge.
Any person can easily buy your notebooks
- and replicate them. - Replicate them. Right.
- Right. - The barrier to entry must be high.
- Right. - So that you could scale.
- Right. - If the barrier to entry is low,
you can't scale.
- Right. - Correct.
- You said that people are going back to writing. - Right.
I don't agree, bro.
Vineeta said in the beginning
that Gen Z believes in keeping a journal.
- Journaling. - Analog products. I meant that.
I mean journaling.
- As a trend amongst women. - But digitally.
- Not really. - Digitally.
Handwritten.
So I want to say
- that the new generation... - How do you know it?
- I'm trying to tell you. - Did you research?
I'm trying to explain that the new generation believes in this.
They have realised that taking care of the mind
is as important as taking care of one's body.
So they spend more
on experiences and analog products.
This generation is born in a digital world.
What are you saying?
My wife loves reading books.
- She likes a few shops in the Khan Market. - Yes.
All of them have shut down.
You claim that Gen Z is going back to writing
and they maintain a journal.
I'm not able to digest that fact.
Understood.
I'm out, unfortunately.
Though I love writing.
because the youngsters...
For instance, my children
write but they write digitally.
Most importantly,
barrier-to-entry is low and it's easy-to-copy.
Beyond a point, you can't scale.
So all the best for that.
Thank you so much.
I like you two and the quality of your product.
- The look and feel are good. - Right.
Your product is good
but I think it's a niche market.
You know it after my discussion. I'm out.
Your business of journaling
is limited to Gen Z, women,
social media savvy, and the metro population.
- Yes. - It's a niche market.
You have a small audience.
It's not a scaleable business at the moment so I'm out.
Okay. Thank you.
The first lesson in business is
- you can't change the market overnight. - Right.
- Right. - It should increase the market size and you just follow it.
However, the trend is against you.
I don't think you should raise capital.
If you are passionate about your business,
grow it at a small level
and cut down your unnecessary costs. Right?
Don't hide your manpower cost by outsourcing.
- Even though you outsourced it, it's your manpower cost. - Right.
All right? Run it profitably.
Don't be under the fallacy
that you can build a big business by raising funds.
I can't see the future of your business so I'm out. Good luck.
Okay, thank you.
It's not an investible business.
It could be a passionate hobby project. So I'm out.
I wish you all the best.
- Thank you so much. - Thank you!
And I'll gift this to people.
- Thank you so much. - Thank you!
Friends, welcome to Ask The Shark.
Today, the CMO and cofounder of boAt, Mr Aman Gupta
- has joined us in Ask The Shark. Welcome. - Hello, Rahul. What's up?
Sir, Niren Bhavsar from Ahmedabad has a question for you.
'I'm Niren Bhavsar from Ahmedabad.'
'I'm 38 right now.'
'I want to be an entrepreneur like you all'
- 'but don't have enough courage to start something new.' - Yes.
- 'Also, I have a family with two kids.' - Yes.
you can't leave a secure job. You'll have to work
or save some money.
Start a business with your savings.
If you get an idea, approach an angel investor
and tell them your situation so that he can pay you a salary.
If everything is fine financially
and you can start a business,
don't be under the impression that running a business is easy.
It appears easy but it isn't.
I have been saying this for the last three years.
I have three children.
Two children are with my wife and one is with Sameer.
boAt is like my child