‘Don’t put all your gold and savings’: Shaadi.com’s Anupam Mittal tells what NOT to do when starting a business

Investor and entrepreneur Anupam Mittal is known to advise many start-up entrepreneurs on investments, starting a business, funding, and more. However, in the latest episode of Shark Tank India 2, Mittal was seen advising a mother against mortgaging her house and gold to help her son start a business. 
 
A viewer of the Indian business reality show, Neelima from Munger (in Bihar) asked the founder and CEO of People Group if it would be right to mortgage gold and house to support her son. Mittal answered this question by saying, “Our ancestors have always told us that when money comes in, we should immediately invest it in buying some gold or real estate so that we have a safety net when the time comes.”
 
He then goes on to add, “If you ask me to tell you to put this safety net on stake - then that is not possible.”
 
Mittal also highlighted that India has developed and progressed a lot in the last few years and so has the investing ecosystem. “If a person has a solid business plan and model in place, then he or she can definitely raise money from the market,” he noted.
 
He suggested that if the mother wants to support her son, she can invest “15-20 per cent of her savings as risk capital” and then observe how things pan out.
 
“The rest of the decision is yours…after all it is your money and he is your son,” he concluded.
 
Mittal is one of the most prominent angel investors within the Indian start-up ecosystem. He is known for his investments in iconic start-ups and unicorns such as ride hailing company Ola Cabs, online grocery start-up BigBasket, drone unicorn Druva, and many others. 
 
He has invested in over 240 companies. In the season one of Shark Tank India, he invested Rs 5.4 crore in over 24 companies. Of these, 70 per cent are led by young entrepreneurs, 50 per cent are women-founded companies, and 30 per cent are being led by families. In season two, till the second six, the shark has invested about Rs 8.05 crore. 
 
According to Shark Tank’s website, Mittal’s net worth is between $20-25 million. 

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