“Called Rude, B****”: Shark Tank Entrepreneur Alleges Online Harassment

The Paradyes founders had gone into the show asking for Rs 65 lakh for 1% equity.

New Delhi:

A Shark Tank India episode this week featuring a hair dye company followed the same drama-filled script: ‘sharks’ fighting amongst each other, pitchers negotiating with them and a result that left a couple of ‘sharks’ disappointed. But what stood out on this occasion was the buzz and debate stoked after it aired.

Paradyes CEO Yushika Jolly took to LinkedIn to detail the hate that she received online after the show aired on Thursday, despite having secured a deal that both she and her co-founder were satisfied with. While her co-founder, and husband, was “praised for his excellent negotiating skills”, she said that the hateful messages she was receiving were coloured by “gender prejudice”.

assertive and having opinions,” the 26-year-old CEO wrote in a LinkedIn post. “In the last 48 hours, I have been called “rude, smug, manipulative, greedy, bitch and unprofessional.” Hate messages abound in my DMs, in the comments on my personal page, and even on my brands’ page. I draw attention to the gender prejudice because, in contrast, my husband, who is also the co-founder, is getting praised for his excellent negotiating skills,” she wrote.

Defending her decision to go with ‘boAt’ founder Aman Gupta and Sugar Cosmetics CEO Vineeta Singh’s offer rather than Lenskart CEO Peyush Bansal’s, she said that she knows her “business better than any keyboard warrior”.

Yushika Jolly and Siddharth Raghuvanshi had gone into the show asking for Rs 65 lakh for 1 per cent equity in their company. While Piyush Bansal offered them what they asked for, the two ended up taking up Vineeta and Aman’s offer of Rs 65 lakh for 2 per cent equity.

“We could have chosen Peyush if we were truly that ‘greedy’… And for everyone asking why create a mess for 1%, please go and build your own business and only then will you realise how important even 1% is,” Yushika Jolly wrote.

However, Ms Jolly found a silver lining to the hate that she has had to endure. “Following our airing, our sales have almost doubled on our website and in a few specific marketplaces. Our website has seen a 20x spike in traffic.”

The second season of Shark Tank India began earlier this month. The reality show, which made its debut a year ago, is one where startups seek investments from established businessmen. The show is the Indian version of the Shark Tank show from the US, which is currently in its 14th season.

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