'Befaltu Ke Excuses Mat Do': Shark Tank India Pitcher Bashes Anupam Mittal, Peyush Bansal

In the recent Shark Tank India 4 episode, woman entrepreneur Gauri Varma pitched her confectionary brand, Confect to the sharks, asking for Rs 1 crore in exchange for 1% equity. Gauri shared that she first got the idea to enter the cake business after spending Rs 36,000 on her wedding cake.

The pitch

Delhi-based startup founder Gauri Varma presented her pitch to the panel of sharks, which included Peyush Bansal, Anupam Mittal, Namita Thapar, Vineeta Singh, and Aman Gupta.

In her pitch, Gauri explained expanding her business to fondants or sprinkles and eventually growing to 800 products. 

Lenskart CEO Peyush Bansal wasn’t impressed with this. “This is a big mistake, by the way," he remarked.

Shaadi.com CEO Anupam Mittal also expressed his disappointment when Gauri revealed feeling restless every few years and wanting to start a new business. Mittal reasoned he might not invest in her business because getting restless is her ‘fitrat (nature)’. He was further dissatisfied and questioned the confectionary entrepreneur for abandoning her business in India to pay attention to the US market.

boAt Lifestyle's Aman Gupta agreed with Anupam Mittal and asked Gauri, “Where will you run away to when you sense trouble in the US?"

Sugar cosmetics co-founder Vineeta Singh also told her, “Your superpower has a dark side that doesn’t let you learn from failures, and that can hold you back."

Emcure Pharmaceutical’s Namita supported Gauri’s vision and offered constructive advice. Finally, she agreed to invest in Gauri’s confectionary business. However, the angel investor made her offer on the condition that Gauri would also focus on the Indian market. Namita offered Rs 1 crore for 2% equity and asked for royalty till the time she made her Rs 1 crore back. Gauri gladly accepted the offer.

A shocked Anupam Mittal questioned Gauri about decreasing the valuation of her company. At this point, Namita came to the rescue of Gauri and asked her not to pay attention.

In her post-pitch piece-to-camera, the woman cake business owner, Gauri shared her discontent with Anupam Mittal and Peyush Bansal’s remarks about her business. She reasoned if the sharks weren’t interested, they should have simply declined her offer without making unnecessary comments about her startup.

“Ab ho rahi hai na FOMO?" Gauri said about Anupam and added, “Felt like telling Peyush he should sell just one design at Lenskart." She further mocked both the sharks and said, “They don’t understand the first thing about cakes, befaltu ke excuses mat do."

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