Why a shark tank? Why not a bloomin' nursery?

A strange culture in many ways if one thinks about it.

When you have some of the most creative, fruitful, wonderful young entrepreneurs presenting their labors of love – exciting products, passionately nurtured ventures and fledgling ideas – why would you test them with the sharks ???? Especially when the budding, hopeful entrepreneurs have made it their life mission. Against odds and risks.

The entrepreneur community is a brave brave community and they battle it out against odds everyday. And it takes huge efforts to muster up and present their passion products before a world that is out to judge them in front of everybody over a few minutes. So hats off to them for their spirit and spunk. They are winners all - with or without a deal.

As a concept a shark tank might not leave too much room for second chances or runners-ups, or even leave diversity of approach or productivity standing. A bit Faustian with trade-offs that can hurt the very community it intends to help.

Hyper competitive on-stage forums and IPs where predatory instincts and deals take over, leave room for little else. Does productivity grow under a fear of being eaten and being examined while being grilled? Or does it bloom with a culture of nurture, chances to make mistakes, unlearn and learn. So why for instance not a garden instead of a Shark Tank.

Yes, one might say it breeds and prepares entrepreneurs for the jungle to follow but then surely there are other things to bring to the table for ventures and budding entrepreneurs - especially for entrepreneurs in their formative and clay years and the next generation wanting to make their ideas their anchors for life.

Here could be a few reasons to think original instead of aping formats.

1)?The world is already at its hyper-competitive best in almost everything it does – schools, corporate ladders, Gini-coefficients, politics, news anchors peddling headlines, streaming services and bidding wars – exemplifying the winner takes all mode, the no-sharing please code. And that’s a culture entrepreneurs could learn to avoid. If the desire is to make a better world with better products and better innovations, coopetition and collaborative nurturing could be a better schooling than bugle-call competitions under the glare of show-lights. ?

The emergence of the Commons Economy or the Doughnut model as a working, thriving, creative alternative to the winner takes all hyper-capitalism could be something that IP creators, studios and brands can look at, to create inventive programs that bring excitement and purpose in equal measure. And disseminate the right values, more importantly in the context of the country hosting it and the stage of life cycle of entrepreneurship in it. It matters for impressionable founders and the support system to believe they are not being led to the sharks to be eaten. Or that it's a one chance game.

2)?Is it that a Shark Tank and a predatory conquest, is far more fun to watch than a bloomin’ garden? Maybe a gladiatorial bloodbath and its cheering raptors is more entertaining for many. It often leads to candidates / pitchers growing the lizard brains – fear, fight, feeding and flight - with the same being reinforced. This could often seep into the entrepreneur-audience that is watching the gladiators bloodying it out or influence a freshly minted investor. Fear can be productive but a fear under the microscope and being socially broadcast is a different thing. ?

How fear chokes creativity - Forbes

3)?Probably some of the most impactful ventures, solving solid problems with solid teams, addressing economic and social inclusion don’t fit into this pop culture door where raising monies in an instant could be the only metric of success, often measured against a slew of such examples and peers where capital has been burnt in building lossy houses and loud headlines. India has amazing creators and thinkers who could put up original formats that bring the real and sensible world of entrepreneurship and its path in front of audiences and making the journey less of a deal oriented world. But it needs a studio to be a bit more brave and first think blue-sky original.

4)?Growing a business and raising equity to power it could be one way to finance a fledgling venture. But then so is inspiring real clients to make advance down payments on purchase orders (pre-sales) or pre-selling a concept and idea on crowdsourcing platforms like Kickstarter or Wefunder or Patreon or in taking out an appropriate loan (debt). There are diverse ways of injecting cash and cash that one could be responsible for and that could also grow a venture. In ways that don’t become a gladiatorial show for the voyeurs or noisy side-shows which have less to do with entrepreneurship and more to do with theatrics.

Angel investment is said to be the primary source of outside equity financing and support for ventures and start-ups in many countries, yet it is frequently glossed over as angel investors are often not visible (source: OECD report on Financing High Growth Firms). And therefore guess far less glamorous and entertaining than sharks with shiny teeth.

What matters is what values does a much televised, branded and marketed IP leave behind for the entrepreneurial and entrepreneurs. Is it a winner take all culture and just about a hawking opportunity for founders who otherwise wouldn’t be baring their all in front of audiences that are looking at just gladiatorial conquests? One should be careful that one shouldn’t become the subject of entertainment - entrepreneurship deserves far more and far better. Done wrong, these programs just become yet another form of pop culture entertainment at someone else's expense.

The same studios and brands have the capabilities to build an IP that is truly original, sensible and impactful – one that leads rather than tamely follows a template. Or it could go the same route like when we mucked up the Master Chef India cringe-worthy series where possibly one of the most diverse food-culture civilizations like India couldn’t pull off something original and genuinely engaging. It became a sad, noisy parody of Master Chef Australia, missing a huge opportunity for storytelling and presenting India's food prowess and food heroes. Or even taking another example that illustrates what could be wrong in templating IPs for another geography without a cultural context. Take for example what The Apprentice stood for. At the end of the day you had the spectacle of being fired spectacularly, while one aggressive alpha stood as the declared winner. These theatrics pitted against the real world playbook of millions of reputed brands and businesses which on the contrary, have been built and continue to be built by exceptional women & men who are first and foremost team players. People with exceptional empathy building brands and businesses that have truly inspired and lasted.

Often with such mass marketed IPs with mega branding and publicity, what happens on the program and what happens around the program and across its communities over time matters. Is it time then, that India conceived its own entrepreneurial-talent IP? One that is truly suited and tailored. One that blooms, inspires and doesn’t bite.?It could save many budding entrepreneurs from Galeophobia. And if the Shark Tank India edition truly over its course, rises above and beyond the template and script, it could well be a welcome move. Time will tell.

So what is it for you? Fresh blood or fresh flowers?