Every member of the Shark Tank India judges’ panel has their own story of overcoming hardships. While Anupam Mittal lost all his savings after the company he was working at in America went bust, Ritesh Agarwal faced rejections from several key investors before his company took off. In a recent interview, Aman Gupta said that there were several years following his departure from his CA job that he wasn’t earning much money, and that his wife supported him financially during that time. He said that he quit his job to focus on entrepreneurship, but struggled to launch several businesses before striking gold with Boat.
Appearing on Prakhar Ke Pravachan, Aman reflected on the hardships he faced in life, and said that his success is a result of tremendous hard work and sacrifice. “I’m terrified of God,” he said, adding, “I’m scared that if I do wrong by someone, God will punish me. I swear to you, I haven’t intentionally harmed anyone in my entire life. I think I’ve been given far more than I deserve.”
Aman continued, “Yes, divine intervention is involved, but I’m not saying I’m not a smart guy. I worked very hard. I would travel by buses every day, and I would board the bus at the first stop because it would be empty. I would especially go out of my way to the first stop, just so that I could get a seat and sleep for two hours, or study. I’ve worked very hard. I’ve worked 16 hours a day, I’ve changed jobs. All my friends were doing so well. Till the age of 40, my livelihood relied on my wife. I have burned the midnight oil.”
Aman said that he has no regrets, including not being able to spend time with his daughter while she was growing up. “If I had not made those sacrifices, I wouldn’t be here. I worked hard, but I didn’t work like a donkey. God gave me a brain, I used it.” Aman said that one point, his father bought his products on Diwali just to show his colleagues at work what a good job Aman was doing. “He supported me when the business had no money. But the best thing was that he bought Boat products as Diwali gifts, just to support me and spread the word about the company,” he said. According to the Financial Express, Aman is worth more than Rs 700 crore. He’s married to Piya Daggar.
In an interview with Ranveer Allahbadia, Aman had spoken about his failed business before Boat’s success. He said, “Boat was established when I turned 36. I started with dad at 23, and I learnt a lot of things. I think I should write a book called ‘What they don’t teach you at Indian business schools.’ Jo marketing seekh ke aate ho and jitna use karni padti hai, wo bohot alag hai. Jitna aap gir ke seekh sakte ho na, utna aap kisi aur cheez se nai seekhte, aur main bohot seekha hun apne failures se” (The marketing that you learn at business schools, and the one which you actually have to use in real life are very different from each other. What you learn from failures, is something that cannot really be taught).”
