A couple of sibling founders pitched their books brand ZebraLearn on the latest episode of Shark Tank India, and asked for Rs 1 crore in exchange of .8% equity, valuing their business at a whopping Rs 125 crore. They said that they specialise in educational books, and that their products range from books on financial advice to NCERT textbooks for students. The founders said that they’re forecasting revenue of over Rs 20 crore this year, and have Rs 2 crore in the bank. Kunal Bahl was very impressed with their business, and commended them for it.But after learning some more details about their sales and financials, he came to a ‘preliminary diagnosis’. Kunal said that because only four books on finance are driving the majority of their sales, paired with a very low repeat order rate of 10%, he could surmise that the people who are buying their books are interested in getting rich quickly. And either because the advice failed or because they never read the books in the first place, they aren’t buying more. Kunal backed out for these reasons. Aman Gupta, on the other hand, backed out because he doesn’t read books. “I would just spend all my time trying to get you to shut down your books business,” he joked.Also read – Shark Tank India pitcher got scammed for Rs 70 lakh by ‘brand architects’; Anupam Mittal sidelines Ritesh Agarwal to back herNamita Thapar was shocked to discover how expensive the founders’ books are. They said that their products range from Rs 1500 to Rs 3000. When Kunal asked Namita how much her book is sold for, she said, “Rs 300!” Backing out of the deal as well, she told the founders, “Usually, when a profitable company comes on Shark Tank, we all get very excited. But, in your case, there are a lot of areas where you could be looking at disasters and scaling issues. It’s my duty to tell you these areas. Four books are driving the majority of your sales. Your books are way too expensive. It’s a highly vulnerable business. Don’t diversify, double down on your strengths.”Anupam Mittal said that their business is in a very precarious stage, and that he wouldn’t be able to make an offer for less than 5% equity, which would be nowhere near the valuation they are looking for. For these reasons, he backed out. But Ritesh Agarwal was still convinced that money could be made in this business. Even as Namita shook her head at his decision, Ritesh praised the founders for trying to educate people in finance, and said that he advocates for finance to be taught in schools because of how important it is. He offered the founders Rs 1 crore for 1.6%, decreasing their valuation by half. But they accepted his terms, and struck a deal.Click here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd