Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal has often been criticised in social media for his scathing attacks on Shark Tank India contestants. After the much-discussed takedown of an influencer-turned-founder, Gaurav Taneja aka Flying Beast, a recent episode saw business and finance influencer Vijay Nihalchandani facing the wrath of Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal. When Vijay Nihalchandani presented his venture, Make My Payment, Anupam Mittal delivered a blunt reality check, stating: “Isse acha thela laga lo”, which means Better to start a street cart than this.
What Made Him Face The Wrath
In a recent episode of Shark Tank India Season 4, business and finance influencer Vijay Nihalchandani presented his app, Make My Payment, which aims to assist in recovering money from defaulting debtors through automated reminder calls. Nihalchandani appeared on Shark Tank India alongside his brother, wife, and business partner to present their business concept. The team sought an investment of ₹30 lakh in exchange for a 3% equity stake in their venture.
When they were asked about their users, Vijay’s wife said that only 200 of the 3,500 sign-ups were paying subscribers. This was the instance that made Anupam Mittal respond with: “You’re making Rs 30,000 per month; isse acha thela laga lo,” which highlighted the company’s short fall.
How Other Sharks Reacted
The other sharks, Aman Gupta and Namita Thapar, were also not impressed by the influencer-turned-founder’s proposal. Namita Thapar, Executive Director at Emcure Pharmaceuticals, stated that an automated audio message would be ineffective in convincing someone who is behind on payments, as they could easily block or ignore the calls.She advised Vijay to abandon the app idea and focus on something more meaningful, challenging the viability of a business with such a narrow scope.
Aman Gupta, CEO of Boat Lifestyle, probed Vijay further, asking if he was involved in any other ventures. Vijay revealed that, alongside running a successful hotel booking company, he is a social media influencer with around one million Instagram followers. Peyush Bansal of Lenskart focused on Vijay’s Instagram earnings, to which Vijay shared that he makes about Rs 5 lakh a month through the platform. However, the other sharks didn’t seem as impressed with his social media achievements as Peyush did.
