In a recent episode of Shark Tank India Season 4, Ayush Chauhan, a young entrepreneur and the founder of Dacby Technologies, took the stage to pitch his innovative business.
A dropout from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ayush revealed that he buys and resells used gaming consoles and accessories online through his business. Seeking Rs 75 lakh for 2.2% equity, Ayush valued his company at Rs 34.09 crore.
He also convinced two of his batch-mates to join him but when the business didn’t take off it caused conflict between him and his co-founders forcing Ayush to buyout their stake. He revealed that he took debt to do so and added that he is operating on losses.
Replying to OYO’s Ritesh Agarwal, who is also a judge in the platform, Ayush said that he has just Rs 4,000 left in his personal bank account and hasn’t drawn a salary in over a year.
He said that he has already raised funding of around Rs 2 crore, but is burning around Rs 5 lakh per month. Of this, he pays Rs 3.5 lakh in salaries to his 16 employees, and has a balance of Rs 15 lakh. When asked on how he’s surviving, Ayush said his father gives him Rs 30,000 as pocket money every month.
Despite his challenges, Ayush’s determination impressed everyone, including Namita Thapar, who turned to Ritesh Agarwal and remarked, “He reminds me of you, Ritesh.”
This reminded Ritesh of his early days. “I used to live in a barsaati, I couldn’t tell parents because they would’ve called me back home,” he said, offering Ayush Rs 10 lakh as a grant through his office, but only for his personal use.
However, Aman Gupta was blunt in his assessment. “You’ve made a lot of mistakes. You left IIT, you made your friends leave IIT, you took money from your parents, you raised money from investors. If I call you a good entrepreneur, I’ll be making a mistake,” he said. “You aren’t a good entrepreneur. You aren’t made for this. My suggestion for you, don’t do business.”