Risk-taking capacity is a lot higher while investing my personal capital, says Shark Tank India judge Radhika Gupta

Shark Tank India season 3 is all set to hit the ground running and start streaming from January 22 on SonyLiv. New shark Radhika Gupta says she felt at home on the sets. The Edelweiss Mutual Fund MD said some fundamental factors between investing in one’s personal capacity and professionally stay the same.

“Some factors you look at are the same. You look at the entrepreneur’s quality, unit economics of the business, thought clarity and focus, etc. These are some things I am very obsessed with in both businesses,” Gupta, MD & CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Fund, told Business Today.   

She believes that risk taking capacity is a lot higher personally because professional capital is fund capital and retail investor capital is something you’re most careful with, she adds. “When you’re investing professionally, it’s extremely regulated. As far as the differences go, I think professional capital goes through months of diligence and decision making but in Shark Tank, you have no data in one hour to make a decision. So that is very different,” she says.  “Other than that, I felt at home on the set.”  

She feels that while investing personally, the emotional element is a little higher because “you’re looking for businesses where you want to give your time and there are categories you more inclined towards than others.” She said that would never come into play in a fund business.  

Since Gupta has been an entrepreneur in a consumer-facing financial services business, it was easier to understand the entrepreneur's lens on Shark Tank India. “I know the lens of building something very small and doing something very big with it. And I also know the lens of an investment professional. While I come from a very different world, it was not difficult to blend the two because I think companies are finally companies and we’re people who understand companies, whether they are small, mid or large,” she said.   

She added that some of the factors she looked for while investing on Shark Tank were whether the companies were operating in a big market, the quality of entrepreneur, whether they’re clear about what they want to build, and finally, whether the story of the company connected with her and affected her personally.

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