 "Shark Tank India makers reacts to kicking out Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal from the reality show: 'One needs to understand that we have...'")
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal became a household name after his stint in Shark Tank India. However, the show garnered controversy when he was asked to leave. The 4th season of Shark Tank recently went on floors with Anupam Mittal of People Group, Aman Gupta of boAt Lifestyle, Namita Thapar of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Peyush Bansal of Lenskart, and Ritesh Agarwal of OYO returning as sharks and Viraj Bahl, founder and managing director of Veeba as the newest Shark.
Talking about the latest development, Viraj told India Today, “I am only happy. Deepinder gaya toh mere ko jagah mil gaya (Because Deepinder left, I got this spot). I can write a thank-you note to Zomato."
Danish Khan, who is the Business Head, Sony LIV and StudioNext, said, “Also, everything that comes in newspapers is not always true. We would love to have him (Deepinder) at some point. One needs to understand that we have around 50 episodes, and there are permutations regarding the sharks’ availability. They are all busy running their organizations, and we get them to spend weekends with us. I won’t say much, but there’s no such thing as reported. Some sharks have been on the show for four seasons, and we hope to see them next time too."
On the other hand, Aman Gupta, boAt’s co-founder and chief marketing officer, said, “Aisa kuch nahi hai (There’s nothing like this). I am the perfect example. I have not sponsored this show, and yet I have been on this show for the last four seasons. So, I will never say that the makers did this for money. I feel indebted that they chose us and made us sharks. I can vouch for it and give in writing that I have not paid a single penny. It’s a beautiful feeling to be here, and I hope it continues. Sharks will come and go; there will always be a change—hopefully, except for me (laughs). But this is life."
At the ET Startup Awards, Goyal was asked about his public appearances, to which he replied, “Shark Tank… I really went there to… The startup culture of India is too much about valuations, it’s too much about like showmanship and so on. I just went there to set a different narrative, be real and change how people perceive, how a startup should be built. I just went to do my job. I felt it to be my moral obligation to go there once. I just did it one weekend, and that’s it. I didn’t go there for a long time. I just did one weekend shoot, gave my point of view on how startups should be built and got out of it."
When journalist Samidha Sharma asked, “You are not going back? He responded, “I, unfortunately, can’t go back because Swiggy sponsored Shark Tank this time and kicked me out… at least that’s what I heard."