Shark Tank India, a popular reality show where aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel of investors, often showcases exciting and lucrative deals between the contestants and the sharks. However, not all of these deals materialize in reality, as Namita Thapar, one of the sharks and the executive director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, reveals in a candid interview with the YouTube channel Finance with Sharan¹.

Thapar, who has been a shark since the first season of the show, explains that most of the deals fall apart during the post-show due diligence process, where the investors verify the claims and the financials of the businesses they have agreed to invest in. She says that during this process, they encounter a lot of “lack of integrity” on the part of the founders, who may exaggerate or falsify their numbers, have multiple companies, or even stop communicating with the investors altogether, a practice known as “ghosting”.

“There are many founders who have ghosted me. There are many founders who, when we do the due diligence, the numbers they quoted at the tank, they are completely off, not just marginally but substantially off,” she shares¹.

She adds that the audience is often unaware of what happens behind the scenes, and may blame the investors for not following through with the deals they have offered on the show. She clarifies that the investors are not obliged to invest in any business if they find out that the founders have lied or misled them, or if they are not comfortable with the terms and conditions of the deal.

“So what people don’t realise is, that they see us giving these offers and then they say ‘you did not do the deal’ but what they don’t realise is that there is a lot of integrity issues, which is why the count goes down substantially. I think this is one thing that whoever is following Shark Tank must be aware of, that there is a margin between what’s revealed at the tank vs what really comes out in the due diligence,” she says¹.

Thapar also advises the founders to be honest and transparent with the investors, and to respect the time and money they are putting into their businesses. She says that lying or ghosting the investors will not only ruin their reputation, but also harm the startup ecosystem in the long run.

Shark Tank India is currently airing its third season on SonyLIV, and features five sharks: Thapar, Anupam Mittal, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Ritesh Agarwal, and Bejul Somaia. The show has received positive reviews from the viewers and the critics, and has showcased a variety of innovative and impactful businesses from different sectors and regions of the country.