Anupam Mittal is now a household name, thanks to hosting Shark Tank India for three years. Companies now offer him equity for free, but there was a time when he faced challenges like everyone else. Speaking on the Barbershop podcast, Anupam remembered starting as an entrepreneur and going from living in a small Mumbai apartment to becoming a multimillionaire in his twenties. He mentioned that although his father had success in the textiles business, there was a time when they weren’t well-off.
He shared, “We wouldn’t realise it as kids, but 20 of us were living in a 1,000 square foot house at the time. People were sleeping on the dining table, under the dining table. But as kids, you don’t think of that. You enjoy having so many kids around”.
Over time, his father became successful, and Anupam went to the US for studies. However, he struggled to find a job there. He decided not to tell his parents because they would insist he return to India. He also revealed that he had no money. Opening up on the dilemma, he recalled, “Now the situation was such that I had no money, and if I asked them for money they say, ‘Where’s your salary?’ I had no money. It was the first time I experienced hunger. This is something everybody should do in live once, because experiencing hunger teaches you a lot. There was a time when I didn’t eat for two-three days, because I couldn’t eat. How long could friends help? They would’ve helped, but you also feel bad after a while… Credit cards are maxed out, everything is finished. It wasn’t like I was out on the streets, but I did experience some level of lack of resources”.
But Anupam’s luck turned around and he became a multi-millionaire in his early 20s. “It was crazy, I’d never imagined it. I’d ordered a sports car, we used to party in stadiums, our corporate parties would be on cruise ships. It was next level,” he said.
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