What I Saw When the Cameras Were Off
Notes from the set of Bharat Ke Super Founders
I was invited to be one of the tycoons on Bharat Ke Super Founders at a time when the show itself was still taking shape. Even the name had not been finalised then. As the project evolved, the creative teams worked through several iterations before arriving at a title that, in hindsight, captures the spirit of the show well.
Bharat Ke Super Founders is about builders, not performers.
I will be honest: I was skeptical in the beginning.
We were not given the names of the founders or the companies ahead of the shoot. What we received were high-level profiles—sector, revenue, traction, and the capital being sought. For someone used to preparing deeply before meeting founders, this felt uncomfortable.
Early-stage investing is not just about numbers. It is about people, their backgrounds, the context they operate in, and the long arc of why this particular founder is building this particular business.
But somewhere in that discomfort was an important reminder. Not all of us are creative professionals. I am not a television personality. I was invited because I am an active investor, and because my day job—building LVX - LetsVenture—means I spend most of my time meeting founders and investors, absorbing signals from the ecosystem, and forming judgement in imperfect conditions. Sometimes, you have to trust the process, and trust the people who understand their craft better than you do.
Day 1
The first day on set began with a puja. Every new session started with ‘Ganapati Bapa Moraya’. I loved this as it was complete surrender before the cameras rolled. As a tycoon on the show, I felt consistently and thoughtfully taken care throughout the shoot. The set itself was expansive and thoughtfully designed. Viewers will see its grandiosity when the show airs. What they will not see is what struck me the most: the sheer scale of what it takes to make a production like this work.
There were close to two hundred people on set, quietly doing their jobs—managing lights, sound, cameras, logistics, schedules, and countless details most of us never think about.
The effort was not just about getting the shots right. It was about making sure founders felt at ease, and that we, as investors, had the space to focus on the conversations. That invisible orchestration was humbling.
When filming began, the tone shifted quickly. I was seated as an investor. Across from me were founders—many visibly nervous—presenting businesses they had spent years building. Our first responsibility as tycoons was not to interrogate. It was to create enough comfort for a real conversation to begin.
Once that happened, the room changed.
Was a decision made in 20 mins?
What viewers will experience as a twenty-minute segment was often a ninety-minute or two-hour discussion. There were pauses, breaks, and moments where we went deep into the business, the founder’s thinking, and the trade-offs they were making. Nothing was scripted. We did not know the companies beforehand. The questions were real, and the decisions were grounded in those conversations. As tycoons we had long days. From 10am to 10pm on set. But it felt more fun than work!
This is real life playing out in reel life
This, incidentally, is what early-stage investing often looks like in real life. You rarely have perfect information. You listen, you probe, you connect dots quickly, and you decide whether you are willing to back a founder knowing that uncertainty will remain.
One of the most unexpected—and reassuring—elements of the show was the dynamic among the tycoons themselves. I have long believed that investing is not a zero-sum game. Founders do not benefit when investors compete to exclude one another. They benefit when aligned investors come together, bringing capital, perspective, networks, and long-term support.
That belief played out on this set. There was collaboration, mutual respect, and a shared intent to do what would genuinely help the founder. In an ecosystem where it is easy to default to competitive posturing, this mattered.
A quiet anchor through the process was Suniel Shetty. He was not the Bollywood star but the anchor in the room. His grounded presence brought calm and continuity to the room, allowing conversations to flow naturally and collaboration to take shape without force. It was understated leadership at its best.
India needs more
I know comparisons with Shark Tank are inevitable. And it is worth saying clearly: Shark Tank has done a remarkable job of educating India about entrepreneurship and investing. But India is large, complex, and diverse. It can—and should—have many platforms that give founders visibility and capital.
#EquiDebt and Marketplaces at work
What made Bharat Ke Super Founders particularly interesting to me was its integrated capital approach. The conversations were not limited to equity alone. Debt and grants were also part of the mix. That is closer to how real businesses are funded, especially outside headline-driven narratives.
Equally interesting was the idea of “the market.” This was not an audience of consumers or users. It was a group of other active investors—equity and debt—watching, engaging, and forming views.
For me, this aligned closely with how I have built LetsVenture: on the belief that value and wealth creation should be democratized, and that no single investor has a monopoly on the “right” lens.
Different investors can look at the same founder and arrive at different conclusions, and that diversity of perspective strengthens the ecosystem. It gives founders options, and it creates a broader support system when things get hard—as they inevitably do.
It is also important to clarify what commitment on the show really means. The decisions you see are based on what we hear and understand in that room. As with any responsible investment, detailed due diligence follows. That is not a formality; it is fundamental to how serious investors operate.
For me, investing is not a side activity. It is my work. Meeting founders, asking difficult questions, building conviction—this is what I do every day. I would not associate myself with something that exists only for optics or viewership.
Real to Reel Life
What you see on Bharat Ke Super Founders is how those conversations actually unfold in real life. They are not always neat. They are rarely complete. They are human, nuanced, and grounded in judgement rather than performance.
My hope is that the show brings that depth into people’s homes. That it encourages founders to think differently about their businesses, and helps audiences understand that investing is not theatre. It is responsibility, trust, and long-term partnership.
I walked into this experience skeptical. I walked out grateful—for the founders who showed up with courage, to a team that designed a format that respected the complexity of building, and for a reminder that, at its best, investing is collaborative.
This feels less like a conclusion and more like a beginning.
You will see more when Bharat Ke Super Founders airs on Amazon MX Player. Coming Soon! So excited for all of us!