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Anupam Mittal Shaadi.com founder, more known for his presence on Shark Tank India. Yes, many people recognized Anupam from that show and for his knowledge about every business vertical.
In Shark Tank India, Anupam Mittal is the most experienced person on the show. He started his first company Shaadi.com in 1998 and till now invested in more than 300+ startups.
So, he has more than 25 years of experience in startups. In one of the interviews, Anupam Mittal opened up about the initial struggles of his life.
Family Financial Condition
The struggle starts with his father, who was the eldest kid among 4 sisters and 3 brothers. At the age of 15, he lost his father and was struggling for survival.
So, at a very young age, Anupam Mittal’s father went to hunt for a job in Calcutta. Then his father started working in a factory for a salary of Rs 100.
Anupam Mittal’s father had a great responsibility to take care of his family. So, his father had greater conviction in life. In another decade, his father’s hard work made their family well and stable.
Yes, Anupam Mittal’s father became started a textile factory and made good money.
Even Anupam Mittal said, ” My father became financially good, and sent me to the US for higher studies”.
He had come to know the struggle of his father. So, Anupam had a vision in his life to make something big in his life.
His father’s struggle is like a great inspiration for him in his life.
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Anupam Mittal Shaadi.com founder Career in USA
He started his career in a US company “MicroStrategy”. In a few years, Anupam Mittal’s greater dedication to his work made him climb in his career. Yes, later he joined the founding team with a salary of $100,000 and also with shares worth millions.
So, in his 20’s Anupam Mittal became a multi-millionaire. Those days were the dotcom booming period. So, every internet company gets a rich valuation from its investors.
Even Anupam Mittal’s company “Mictrostrategy” from $600 million to went hight up to $40 billion in those days.
So, he was working hard on weekdays and partying on weekends. Totally, he was living his life with great pride.
But everything will not be the same in the long run. Yes, Anupam Mittal had a great setback in his career in March 2000 because of the dotcom burst.
Where all the internet companies lost the many millions and booked for heavy losses. So, investors lost interest in internet companies. Even people lost too.
Within a span, all internet companies had a fallback and their valuation went down from the sky to rock bottom.
Microstrategy company’s shares dropped from $666 /share to $3/ share. Anupam Mittal lost all his fortune. Even he had taken a lot of assets from his shares. But now he needed to pay back all. So, in his late 20’s he had a debt of $ 3 million.
However, Anupam said that he was not sad about his situation. But he was angry about himself being so foolish. And not saving more for his future.
These setbacks made Mittal more resilient and stronger in the future.
Shaadi.com’s early day’s struggle
After losing his fortune in the USA, he came back to India. But the only good thing he had done was starting an IT service company while working in the US.
So, his IT services company had clients and the company was making some good money.
Then he got the idea of Shaadi.com and wanted to turn his idea into a startup. So, before launching, he needs to purchase the domain Shaadi.com.
This is another low point in his life. Where the domain was already purchased by someone and they were demanding $28,000.
Since Anupam Mittal lost all his fortune in the US. So, his IT company had $30,000 in the bank.
It was a tough call for him if had taken the domain by risking all his money. In this situation, others would step back but Anupam Mittal had a different play.
He always had great faith in his idea and finally took a bold step by purchasing the domain Shaadi.com.
Then he started Shaadi.com and the rest is the history. Later he bought many companies under his firm People Group.
Still, Anupam Mittal had to face many tough instances later. But his resilience and perseverance made to cross over.
Anupam Mittal Shaadi.com’s founder life is a great source of inspiration for all young entrepreneurs. As the entrepreneurship journey is not like a bed of roses there will be many horror situations one has to face.