Ayush Bansal
Image: koimoi
Businessman and Shark Tank judge Ashneer Grover recently shared a funny incident where he tried to bargain with Salman Khan’s team to get his price down for an Ad. Grover revealed that he wanted to rope in Khan (which he eventually did) as the brand ambassador of his startup, BharatPe.
The entrepreneur revealed that didn’t want to spend a large amount of money on an advertisement and tried to bring down Salman’s price which was Rs. 7.5 crore for an ad.
A few months back Ashneer Grover was invited to the Lovely Professional University to give a talk about business and marketing. During his talk, he recalled the incident and said, “2019 mein Salman Khan ko brand ambassador Liya.
Koi soch bhi nahi sakta tha. Ab main choti company tha, merko overnight trust generate karna tha, toh merko laga ki main Salman Khan ko brand ambassador leta hun.”
He said that at that time, Salman’s fees was Rs. 7.5 crores. Talking about the negotiation, he said, “Ab Salman ki team ko approach kara, toh woh bole ki 7.5 crore lagenge, toh main calculation kar raha hun 100 crore pade hain, 7.5 isko dunga, 1-2 crore ki ad banegi, fir chalani bhi toh hai TV pe, toh merko 20 crore ka panga hai aur 100 crore meri jeb mein pade hain, next round hoga nahi hoga merko nahi pata, but maine woh liya panga and main Salman ko bola kam karde bhai, toh woh 4.5 mein maan gaya (When I approached Salman’s team, they told me that they will charge Rs. 7.5 crores, that’s when I started calculating. I had 100 crores, I will give him Rs 7.5 crore, I will spend another Rs 1-2 on making the add and I should also pay to the broadcasters, it’s a Rs 20 crore expense and I have Rs 100 crore. I didn’t know if I would get another round of investment, and so I told Salman to decrease his price, and he agreed to do the ad for Rs 4.5 crore).”.
Grover further added that “Ek time mein to uska (Salman Khan) manager merko bolne laga ki, ‘Sir aap bhindi karidne aye ho kya, matlab kitni mandwali karoge’, maine bola hain hi nahi paise, de nahi sakta (At one point his manager asked me, ‘Sir have you come to buy vegetables? How much will you negotiate?’, to which I said, ‘I don’t have the money to give’).”
A new Unicorn
Ashneer Grover along with his wife Madhuri Jain Grover has formed a new company called Third Unicorn Private Limited, as per data accessed through Tofler. Celebrating his 40th birthday on June 14, Ashneer Grover, hinted that he is ready to build another unicorn.
“Today I turn 40. Some will say I’ve lived a full life and experienced more things than most. Created value for generations. For me, it’s still unfinished business. Time to disrupt another sector. It’s time for the Third Unicorn.” the former BharatPe MD has tweeted.
The new company has an authorized capital of Rs 20 lakh and a total paid-up capital of Rs 10 lakh, as per company filings. The nature of the company was not immediately known.
Several news reports have suggested Grover is in talks with investors to raise money for his new business, despite him saying his next venture would be a bootstrapped company.