'Hum chapal zyada ghisenge': When Shark Tank judge Radhika Gupta was asked what's her 'moat'

Radhika Gupta, the CEO of Edelweiss Asset Management, believes hard work should be the at the centre for startups searching for their business' 'moat'. She described an incident from a few years ago when an investor asked what was the moat of the mutual fund she was managing. The Shark Tank India judge recounted that she quite literally said 'hum chapal zyada ghisenge'. 
 
"I got asked this question 7 years ago when I started. They said there are 45 mutual funds, what is your moat? One of these investor types asked me this question. I said, 'I have no moat' and I said 'hum chapal zyada ghisenge'. We literally will work harder," she said on Youtuber Think School's Indian Business Podcast.  

"You are looking for a moat, we will just execute better, which means we'll care about customers more, we'll answer queries better, we'll travel more, we'll be more engaged," she added.

Gupta gave the more literal definition of moat too. "Moat is the wall created around a castle so that if there is an attack it is your defence. It's really what is your right to win, and what will keep you alive in the long run," she explained.

But, on a lighter note, she said: "I'm telling you 'chappal ghiso' is actually one of the finest moats. If someone told me their moat is 'chappal ghiso', I would write them a cheque."

'Power of the brand'

The podcast also featured two other Shark Tank judges - Oyo's Ritesh Agarwal and Sugar Cosmetics' Vineeta Singh - who shared their views on the moats of their respective companies. Singh said that in her segment brand matters the most but there are other moats too.

"Different companies have different moats. Any brand business the biggest moat is brand. A transactional company will get valued at two- or three-times revenue, but a solid brand will get valued at almost 10 times revenue. The difference between the two is the power of the brand," she explained.

The startup founder listed humility to keep learning, building a community and distribution as other possible moats for businesses.

'Exclusivity with our hotels'

Oyo's Ritesh Agarwal said that the moat is 'ever evolving'. "If your enemy figures out some better way to breach the moat, it troubles. You have to constantly evolve it," he said.

"From my experience, I believe that India is a supply starved market more than a demand starved market. Good products at the right price point have not been available historically. And, once they become available, they can become very valuable. Hence, to do it you have to figure supply chain distribution, lots of other things."

He cited Reliance Jio's disruption of the telecom industry as an example. "Think about telecom. Reliance Jio's moat is the amount of infrastructure and pipes they have gotten. Now, for a new company to go set up a business like that is very very hard. Similarly, if you were to think about television rights for IPL for next 10 years, you could be very very successful. For our business, having term contracts of exclusivity with our hotels allows a moat." 

"I think the simple way to think about it is main apne business mein kya kar raha hoon, jiske karan (what am I doing in my business because of which) when somebody else with much more money and muscle power, and I mean capital muscle, if they want to try and enter the same sector, they would face challenges beyond what I faced. What is the additional barrier I have created beyond whatever the industry has," he said.