Gaurav Taneja, popularly known as Flying Beast, entered Shark Tank India with soaring numbers and a bold vision for his protein brand, Beast Life.
Seeking Rs 1 crore for 1% equity, Taneja valued his business at Rs 100 crore and touted revenues of Rs 1 crore within the first hour of its launch.
However, even though his achievements impressed some sharks, Anupam Mittal didn’t believe the hype.
Mittal offered a scathing critique of Taneja’s approach, questioning whether the social media influencer could truly commit to building a sustainable business. “When I started, I was a lot like you. I considered myself a star, but when you consider yourself a star, you think you are infallible,” remarked Mittal, drawing on his own entrepreneurial journey. He emphasized that entrepreneurship requires constant focus and full-time dedication. “You can’t allocate time to startups, you have to be there all the time. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but I have faith in Indian entrepreneurship. They won’t let a part-timer like you win.
Beast Life’s impressive performance (Rs 14 crore revenue in six months and Rs 35 crore projected for the year) earned Taneja praise from Vineeta Singh, who called the numbers “mind-blowing”. Still, the details behind the pitch raised eyebrows. Taneja revealed that he owns 30% stake while his co-founder Raj owns only 11%. Aman Gupta pointed out this imbalance, pointing out that Taneja could easily walk away if the business failed. “There is a difference between an investor and a founder,” Gupta said before signing off.
Vineeta Singh and Peyush Bansal also decided not to invest, citing concerns about the scalability of the business and reliance on Taneja’s personal brand. Singh admired the achievements but doubted the long-term viability of the model. Mittal, however, took a tougher stance, warning Taneja and the other sharks: “Don’t get carried away, it’s Rs 14 crore in six months. He introduces himself as co-founder. Which influencer-led brand made money for its investors? »
