'Terrible entrepreneur' says Anupam Mittal: Why sharks turned town Flying Beast’s fitness brand | WATCH

Viral: Gaurav Taneja, also popularly known as Flying Beast, had a disappointing outing on Shark Tank India Season 4 when his proposal for the fitness and wellness brand BeastLife was turned down. Aided by business partner Raj Gupta, Taneja had requested ₹1 crore for a 1% equity stake in BeastLife, which is based on protein supplements designed to be easy to digest. The sales claim was very impressive, but the pitch went terribly wrong.

BeastLife's impressive launch

Taneja and Gupta started BeastLife when it generated an outstanding ₹1 crore in revenue an hour after they opened their password-protected website. This, obviously, came in due to massive online following-9.5 million on YouTube and 3.7 million on Instagram-on Taneja. Even this did not attract the Sharks on their pitch.

 

 

 

 

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Why the sharks rejected the pitch

Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal was of the opinion that Taneja was not devoted enough to becoming a full-time entrepreneur. "You are a good influencer, but you can't outsource entrepreneurship," he said, terming Taneja a "terrible entrepreneur." Mittal went on to say that a long-term victory requires complete focus and warned Taneja to not split his attention between being an influencer and running a business.

Other Sharks echoed Mittal’s concerns, questioning BeastLife’s fragmented equity structure and Taneja’s dedication to building the brand. These concerns collectively led to the Sharks rejecting the pitch.

Taneja’s response to criticism

At the time the episode went on air, Gaurav Taneja had already tackled the backlash on a YouTube vlog, debunking the misconceptions about the ₹1 crore sales figure. "It's revenue, not profit," he explained, and that people often get it wrong. Taneja also spoke to the taunts of just marketing on the show. "I wanted both, marketing and the money. You can't run a business without them. The biggest companies in the world invest in marketing."

A rejection and a lesson learned

Though the pitch of Gaurav Taneja was rejected on Shark Tank India, his appearance brought about the plight of many influencers who start their entrepreneurial ventures. Criticisms aside, Taneja is not stopping; he keeps using his online influence with the lessons learnt from the venture.