Infosys founder Narayana Murthy’s 70-hour work week take made it to Shark Tank India season 4. Founders of the lifestyle clothing brand Burger Bae — Rohan Kashyap, Janvi Sikaria, and Ojasvee Kashyap — pitched their business on a recent episode of the show.Â
During their pitch, Rohan mentioned that he wants to transform Ludhiana like Narayana Murthy did for Bengaluru. “Mujhe Ludhiane ka Narayan Murthy banna hai.” To this, boAt Lifestyle co-founder and CMO Aman Gupta said: “Sahi hai, bas 70 ghanta kaam karna padega.”
Rohan said that he is even willing to work 100 hours a week if needed. Besides this, the founders described their products as being ‘tasty’ and ‘saucy’ and equated their brand’s persona to that of a toxic college girl who is a red flag that one cannot avoid.Â
The founders sought an investment of ₹1 crore in exchange of 2.5 per cent equity, valuing their business at ₹20 crore. Rohan revealed that their revenue is about to reach ₹15 crore this year but admitted that his brand almost went bankrupt recently because an early partnership did not work out.
He told the ‘sharks’ that he sold around 33 per cent of his business to an early investor, who did not live up to the deal. Following this, Rohan had to buy the investor out, for which he borrowed money from his family.
Janvi revealed how she transformed being a customer to a co-founder following an order delay. The two also discussed their relationship. The sharks were impressed by the founders vision of building a Make-in-India fashion brand which prioritises quality, community, and sustainability.Â
However, Emcure Pharmaceuticals executive director Namita Thapar was not convinced of Rohan’s grasp of numbers and backed out of the deal along with Viraj Bahl, calling it too early to invest.
‘Sharks’ Anupam Mittal, Kunal Bahl, and Aman Gupta offered an investment of ₹1 crore for 10 per cent equity or ₹2 crore for 20 per cent. The founders eventually accepted the second offer of ₹2 crore for 20 per cent equity, sealing the deal on the show.Â