The ISB Where I Studied Never Invited Me: Aman Gupta on Shark Tank India

HYDERABAD: Ghar Ki Murgi Daal Barbar (Familiarity breeds contempt). People often take for granted the things that are familiar to them. The same may be the case with ISB (Indian School of Business), where I studied. Harvard Business School invited me. It calls me every year. It wrote a case study on us, but ISB ignored me, it never invited me. Looks like Indian business schools don’t value their own people, said Aman Gupta, Shark Tank India fame.

But Hyderabad is the lucky city for me.  I have so many memories of this place.  Many firsts have happened here, he said.

boAt, the company I co-founded,  created history. It has become the 2nd biggest wearable brand in the world. We placed India on the global wearables map, homegrown brand achieving it is a matter of great pride. boAt has also solidified its position in the Indian market by capturing significant market share, shared Aman Gupta.

Indian brands are here to stay and they are all set to go places, he declared. People are buying Indian brands, he said.

I worked with JBL, an American audio equipment manufacturer. Now I am the biggest competitor to them, he said.

He was in the city at the invitation of the FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO).  He addressed 200 plus members on “Ride on the Waves of Success with The Great Indian Shark with Aman Gupta” on Saturday evening at Hotel Park in Somajiguda.

Giving her welcome address Ritu Shah, Chairperson of FLO Hyderabad recalled what Hillary Clinton once said, ‘Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world — Talent which once given direction shall take them a long way in life”. Historically women faced many challenges and barriers. And they overcame it with determination.

The hall was packed.  Women were very enthusiastic to listen to him.  Seeing in such large numbers, he said “I am nervous.  I have never addressed so many women in one place”.  He struggled a bit in the beginning but gained confidence and earned their trust. He was at his best with his humour.  He made his 45 minutes talk very jovial and fun.

I had six failures before boAt happened. I never looked back. In a short span, we have reached the 1 crore units mark.  Nearly 5000 people work in our company.  The valuation of our company is Rs 10,000 crore. I hold a 25% share. Our sales revenues stand at Rs 4000 crore. We were profitable on day one.  I don’t have to work for money. I have sufficient money.  I no longer run my business. It is now run by professionals.  What drives me most is people, their energy and enthusiasm. I invest in people.  I love being busy.  I like to inspire people.

Now I am being invited to deliver guest lectures and I am paid for it.  The additional money now I make by way of speaking assignments I give to charity, he said.

Aman Gupta admitted that he was never a technocrat. But, JBL where he worked had made some good learning. And some of the people who were his colleagues joined him to build boAt, technically superior products.  He was asked what if his own colleagues desert him and pose a competition. He replied that he takes care of his employees well. I don’t want another Aman Gupta born out of my company, he said.

When asked between Idea and execution, what he prefers? The idea is good, but the execution is great.  Success comes sometimes out of hard work, luck, idea, execution and what have you, he said.

He gave eight lessons of success that guided him through his success.  They are 01. Customer is king, 2. Frugality, 3. Back to basics, 5. Do what floats your boat, 6. Money and Mann, 7. Let youngsters run your business and 8. Ham bhi bana (we too can do) attitude.