A considerable put-off is the unwarranted condescending attitude of a few judges
Uncertain flow of income during the Covid pandemic has infused loads of stress and many are seeking to start something on their own in order to ensure lesser but steady income. Many are opting for “safer” business options (shop/trading), but a fair number are going for start-ups with new ideas.
It is in this backdrop that I take up the issue of impact of reality shows like “Shark Tank”.
I have been talking, discussing with like-minded friends, to understand what is the objective of such type of reality show. For a layman it’s difficult to follow the start-up jargons and the general concept. The whole thing gets reduced to whether the pitch presenter gets the funding or doesn’t. So, does it encourage people to take up entrepreneurship? May be, but a considerable put-off is the unwarranted condescending attitude of a few judges. It’s not known whether it is a deliberate ploy by program producers for eyeballs, because they are known to employ such spices occasionally in programs like “Indian Idol”, “SaReGaMa”. But frequent usage of this attitude, bringing the program on par with “Roadies”, is confounding viewers and actually raising a serious question about the objective of such programs in general.
Nothing comes easy in life, whether in sports, entertainment, science, politics and it’s the same with an entrepreneur with an idea, he/she is passionate about, searching for funds. There may be something wrong with the idea but the process to ideate is very important. And a person should ideally ideate with a free mind.
The various episodes of “Shark Tank” leave one disturbed, when quite a few of the ideas are trashed unnervingly by the judges. Okay, you may ask, “so what’s new in this”? The world is supposed to be cruel. Normally while seeking funds, this humiliation happens with almost all such aspirants, may have also happened with Ashnir Grover, Anupam Mittal and co. But then this, most probably, would have happened within four walls, not in front of the world. A pitch is a private insight into your idea which aspirants have nurtured so carefully, passionately, and when criticism happens within four walls (just like a job interview), it is not taken to heart so much because whatever happens, it’s private. I believe that by displaying pitch presentation publicly, we are not extending the necessary respect to the entrepreneur’s idea. Pitch presentation can’t be entertainment.
Simultaneously I am also not in favour of “all is hunky dory”types of similar programs like “Business Blasters” where they give you encouraging words only. This again is not desirable as the impression a youngster gets is that it’s an Amir Khan world out there where”all is well”.
Both encouragement and a bit of humiliationare necessary for the growth of mental bandwidth and resilience of an upcoming entrepreneur. Let them experience it naturally. Let them run around, seek investors, make presentations, let them get an earful, or positive kicks within the room, that’s the best way of putting him into a sound path of ideating, iterating and reaching a sound product. Good ideas will survive. Unfeasible ideas will anyways fall-through.
As freshers we were all a bit nervous, slightly fearful of interviews initially. The fear went away because whatever happened (criticism or encouragement), happened inside the interview room, no one else knew. Similarly, there is stage-fright, and hesitancy that unnerve a few first-time entrepreneurs. So why don’t we just let them experience the regular, natural process, why unnerve them at the entry-point of this world?
There is loads of money with investors, but there are millions of entrepreneurs who need to be pulled out of their hesitancy, obscurity and given right inputs in terms of counselling. Just giving out MSME loans will not create MSME eco-system, nor the required job creations.The right minds with money need to be involved to pluck out minds with innovative ideas. Right ones can be nurtured and invested in. If talent scouting for IPL teams can happen, why not for this.
It isn’t the objective to criticise the “Shark Tank” judges here because there appears to be a script running there. But pitch presentation is a serious affair and not a song/dance/talent show. A person puts his or her whole thought, time into it. One shouldn’t be making an entertainment spectacle out of it. If this continues then the next in line could be hiring of fresh MBAs through reality shows. I shudder to even think about it.
(The writer is a finance professional and an entertainment and sports enthusiast. The views expressed are personal.)