Ashneer Grover, who shot to fame on the reality show Shark Tank for his harsh attitude and pinpoint retaliation, is back in the spotlight. He was the former co-founder and Managing Director of BharatPe. On 29th April 2022, Ashneer was invited to Lovely Professional University. At the event, he spoke on the topic related to marketing and business. Ashneer shared his experience and spoke about the things to be kept in mind while stepping into a startup venture.
Salman Khan, Brand Ambassador Of BharatPe
While speaking, Ashneer recalled an incident of hiring Salman Khan as the brand ambassador for BharatPe. Ashneer said that he was short of funds. He shared the hilarious reaction of Salman Khan’s manager at that time. In 2019, Ashneer Grover got Salman Khan on board as a brand ambassador for the fintech venture. Sharing the incident, Ashneer said,
“2019 mein Salman Khan ko brand ambassador liya. Koi soch bhi nahi sakta tha. Mere paas bank mein 100 crore pade the, jisse merko pura business banana tha or merko ye pata tha ki yaar koi bhi business banana haina, jo bhi paise ke len den ka business hota hai woh business of trust hota hai, ‘ki agar main aap pe trust karta hun toh business chalega, trust nahi karta hun toh ek paise ka len den nahi hone wala’. Ab main choti company tha, merko overnight trust generate karna tha, toh merko laga ki main Salman Khan ko brand ambassador leta hun.”
Ashneer Brought Salman On Board
Ashneer said that he had around INR 100 crores in his bank account from which he had to run the business. It was just the start of his venture. He wanted to gain trust overnight, so he wanted Salman Khan to do promotions. He added,
“Ab Salman ki team ko approach kara, toh woh bole ki 7.5 crore lagenge, toh main calculation kar raha hun 100 crore pade hain, 7.5 isko dunga, 1-2 crore ki ad banegi, fir chalani bhi toh hai TV pe, toh merko 20 crore ka panga hai aur 100 crore meri jeb mein pade hain, next round hoga nahi hoga merko nahi pata, but maine woh liya panga and main Salman ko bola kam karde bhai, toh woh 4.5 mein maan gaya.”
Salman Khan was charging INR 7.5 crores. The shooting of the ad will take around INR 1-2 crores. Then have to run the ad on television as well. So it was the expenses of over INR 20 crores. Ashneer said he was not confident about the round 2 funding. So he asked Salman Khan to negotiate and reconsider the amount. The deal got finalized at INR 4.5 crores.
Salman Khan’s Manager Hilariously Trolled Ashneer
During the negotiation, Ashneer revealed that the actor’s manager came and told,
“Sir aap bhindi kharidne aaye ho kya, kitni mandwali karoge?” (Sir, have you come to buy vegetables, how many negotiations will you do?)
Ashneer replied and said,
“Mere paas hai hi nahi paise, de hi nahi sakta” (I don’t have enough money to give you.)
Ashneer Grover was one of the seven sharks on Shark Tank India, along with Namita Thapar, Anupam Mittal, Peyush Bansal, Vineeta Singh, Aman Gupta, and Ghazal Alagh. He resigned from his post as managing director of BharatPe in March.
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