Shark Tank India: Vineeta Singh talks about judges’ audition process, reality of contestant pitches

The entrepreneurial reality show, Shark Tank India, has been making waves for the exceptional concept that Indian reality TV is witnessing for the first time. One of the show’s judges, Vineeta Singh, recently opened up about how there was a kind of audition process that the sharks themselves had to go through.

In a conversation with Hindustan Times, Singh talked about how the showrunners asked the judges to sit in on a ‘mock pitch’ which served as a kind of personal audition for the sharks. They were asked to be themselves and react to the pitches as serious investors. Singh said that the attitude of the makers in this regard played a huge part in her acceptance to be a part of the show.

Regarding the constitution of the judging panel, Singh said that the producers wanted the panel to consist of a variety of investors. They were also particular about having company founders on the show, as most of the pitches were for different brands. Representation in terms of gender also played an important role in their selection. Roughly half of the entrepreneurs who appeared on the show were women, the makers wanted the judging panel also to be reflective of that.

Singh also opened up about the details of contestant pitches, revealing how most pitches were 30-45 minutes long and producers edited it to broadcast only the important and entertaining parts on the show that the audiences can easily understand. She also added how the judges were not allowed to look into the business of the contestants on their own, so that the sharks’ investment decisions were based purely on their pitches.

Regarding the show’s huge success in the country, Singh believes the show will lead to a positive change when it comes to the attitude of people regarding entrepreneurship as a career path. She also noted how the show, within weeks of airing, had witnessed huge viewership among people aged above 50 and below 20 years of age. Singh believed that it was a good thing as those age groups were the ones most in need of education when it comes to the importance of entrepreneurship.

The businesswoman also talked about the approach she prefers to take with the entrepreneurs, saying that although being blunt with them had its positives, she preferred to be more encouraging and let them down easy if she isn’t planning on investing in their business.

The journey to success in the dog-eat-dog world of business is riddled with snags and struggles at every corner, and Singh’s journey was no different. She reminisced about the difficulties she had to endure during the first decade of starting her business, which she did after graduating from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad at the age of 23. She recalls how she had turned down a high-paying job to start her own business, and how those initial difficulties played a crucial role in making her who she is today.

Singh, who is the co-founder and CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics, judges the show along with Aman Gupta, Ashneer Grover, Anupam Mittal, Ghazal Alagh, Namita Thapar and Peyush Bansal. Each episode features a panel involving any five of the group. The show is hosted by Rannvijay Singha.

Shark Tank India is available to stream on SonyLIV. The final episode of Season 1 of the show will be out on February 4.