BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover developed quite the reputation on the reality show Shark Tank India. But his post-television life has been just as eventful. On Tuesday, it was reported that Ashneer had quit BharatPe, days after his wife, Madhuri Jain Grover, was sacked for alleged financial irregularities. In his resignation letter, Ashneer wrote that he is leaving with his head held high, despite being ‘villified’ in the public.
Ashneer became a household name after appearinng in the first season of Shark Tank India, along with fellow business heads Anupam Mittal, Vineeta Singh, Namita Thapar, Peyush Bansal, Aman Gupta and Ghazal Alagh.
Through several heated interactions with entrepreneurs, Ashneer developed a fiery reputation on the show. During one such encounter, he tore into a trio of founders for not having a sustainable business, and advised them to shut shop.
The three co-founders of a fruit-selling business called Falhari pitched on the show, asking for Rs 50 lakh in exchange of 2% equity in their company. Initially, several sharks showed interest, but Ashneer was adamantly against the idea from the get-go. After watching Vineeta make them an offer and going over their revenue, he jumped in.
“Ab main bolta hoon ke tum chane ki jhaad pe na chadh jao ek offer ke baad. Tu band kar de. Agar tu ITO ke bahar fruit ka thela kholta, fruit juice ki dukaan kholta, tu isse zyaada dhanda karta, pata hai? Tum sab apni zindagi barbaad kar rahe ho. Yeh dhanda hai hi nahi. Kuch nahi hai dhanda (I don’t want you to get swollen heads after that offer. You should shut shop. If you were to open a fruit stall outside ITO, you’d be making more money than you are now. You’re wasting your time, this isn’t a business).”
Addressing one of the co-founders directly, he added, “Tu McKinsey mein kaam kar raha tha yaar. Tu kuch bhi problem utha lega na, tu start-up mein kaam kar lega na, tu crore rupaye kamayega saal ka. Tu kya kar raha hai yaar (What are you thinking by quitting McKinsey? If you were to put your mind on anything else, you’d be making at least Rs 1 crore annually. What are you doing with your life)?”
Ashneer also took particular offence to the fact that the most articulate of the three entrepreneurs had the least amount of equity in the company. The CEO defended himself by saying, “Equity ki greed nahi hai,” to which Ashneer replied, “Hai greed, tune kya ukhaada hai (What have you achieved)?”
After the entrepreneurs rejected Vineeta’s offer, Ashneer made sure to squeeze in the final word. He told them, “Tum khatam hone waale ho. Mera khoon khaul raha hai ke tumne teen degreeyaan waste kari hain (You’re going to be finished. My blood is boiling, you’ve wasted three degrees).”