Flying Beast Gaurav Taneja compares Beast Life with Shaadi.com after Shark Tank rejection, says ‘My startup has...'

YouTuber Gaurav Taneja, popularly known as Flying Beast, and his company, Beast Life, made an appearance on Shark Tank India 4. Taneja was accompanied by his business partner Raj Vikram Gupta. The two requested Rs 1 crore in exchange for a 1% stock stake in the venture, valuing the business at Rs 100 crore. The sharks, however, rejected their proposal, citing Taneja's engagement in other projects and the brand's disjointed equity structure as reasons for his conflicted focus. Notably, Taneja and Varun Alagh control 40% and 30% of the company, respectively, while Gupta owns just 11%. He claimed to have made incredible sales, but he was unable to close a contract. 

Founder and CEO of Shaadi.com and People Group, Anupam Mittal told the influencer that 'You cannot allot a set time in start-ups; you have to be available all the times' when he declined to invest in the influencer's fitness brand. 

Anupam Mittal, criticised Taneja, calling him a 'good influencer' but a 'terrible entrepreneur.' Mittal told Taneja, 'You are a good influencer, but you can't outsource entrepreneurship.' 'You cannot set a time in start-ups; you have to be available all the time,' he continued.

This didn’t go down well with Taneja took to LinkedIn to defend his brand and compare it to Mittal’s company. “For perspective: Shaadi.com IG distribution (since April 2015): 125K followers. 8-month-old BeastLife: 127K followers and growing. Shaadi.com might have spent millions to create this distribution," Taneja wrote on LinkedIn.

He added, “With over 8 years of digital marketing experience, I understand the power of organic reach and audience trust. We’re already EBITDA positive, and because of the distribution we’ve built, we save nearly 90 per cent of our total expenditure on marketing. That’s a huge advantage."

He even mentioned one piece of advise he got from the show: “Shut down YouTube and go all in one business. He also mentioned what Mittal told him on the show."

“During the pitch, one of the sharks asked if I would continue YouTube. Without a blink of an eye, I confidently said, ‘Yes.’ He didn’t seem too happy with my response and remarked: ‘Aap ka focus nahi hoga, aap wahan se paisa bana loge.’"

Gaurav Taneja told the Shark Tank India "sharks" about his inspirational path, saying, “I was born in Kanpur and completed my schooling there. After that, I pursued engineering at IIT Kharagpur. My father wanted me to do a master’s in civil engineering. However, I had no interest in it. So, I left for the US to pursue flying. After completing my training, I worked as a flight instructor. In 2010, I started flying as an airline captain."

He continued, “I was passionate about working out when I was in college. In 2013, I went to watch a bodybuilding show. There, I saw people walking onto the stage and receiving applause from an audience of around 5,000 people. I wanted to experience that feeling. I promised myself that the following year, I would compete in that show. I prepared for it, and when I went on stage the next year, I won the title of Mr Delhi. After that, I participated in competitive bodybuilding for four years."

Taneja responded that he balanced both when Sugar Cosmetics CEO Vineeta Singh questioned him about if he had to give up his career to pursue bodybuilding. “Later, I began my journey as a fitness influencer and started my YouTube channel ‘FitMuscle TV’. After making videos for a year, I realised that only fitness enthusiasts were watching my content. I started thinking about how to attract a broader audience. That’s when I ventured into lifestyle vlogging because I travel a lot, and our journey began in December 2017. Currently, my YouTube channel, Flying Beast, has over 9.5 million subscribers, and I have more than 3.7 million followers on Instagram."