What Happened to Flatheads After Shark Tank India?
What is Flatheads?
The shoe we wear on a daily basis is often not comfortable. It’s heavy and after wearing it for some time, a bad smell comes out of it. That’s where Flatheads comes in place.
It’s made of breathable materials like banana fiber, bamboo fiber, and linen. The sole of the shoe is really light. The entire shoe is light.
Who is the Founder of Flatheads?
Ganesh Balakrishnan is the founder of Flatheads. Ganesh is a mechanical engineer. He previously worked in the USA. He completed his MBA. He worked in multiple startups before.
Equity split of Flatheads
He had another co-founder of the company. He left the company. Both co-founders have 30% equity. The angel investors have 33%. The rest 7% belongs to ESOP.
How much money did he raise for Flatheads?
Flatheads raised ₹5.2 Crores on ₹28 Crores valuation.
Wearing Flatheads shoes for a longer period of time will be very comfortable. The shoe material is really sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Price of Flatheads
One key feature of Flatheads is, that once you tie the laces, you can just wear the shoes on and off without touching the laces. The price ranges anywhere from ₹1000 to ₹5000.
Flatheads Before Shark Tank India?
Flatheads was started in 2019. Till now, they’ve served 20,000+ customers. They serve these customers on their own website and some other marketplaces.
How much money did he ask for Flatheads?
Ganesh came to Shark Tank India seeking ₹75 Lakhs for 3% equity in the company. Which gives the company a valuation of ₹25 Crores.
What are the Annual Sales of Flatheads?
| Fiscal Year | Annual Sales |
| 2021 – 2022 | ₹3.4 Crores |
Unit Economics of Flatheads
| Sales | 100% |
| Gross Margin | 60% |
| Contribution Margin | 48% |
| COGS | -10% |
| Trade Margin | -10% |
| Logistics | -8% |
| Marketing | -60% |
| Loss | 20% |
Business risk in Flatheads
If you take a look at the valuation. Ganesh is actually offering a lower valuation than the last round. Because they don’t have any working capital on hand at the moment. Ganesh invested his own money in the startup. Sharks were quite surprised to hear that.
Because if Ganesh doesn’t get any deal in Shark Tank India, then chances are he’ll have to close the business permanently.
Vision of Flatheads
Also, Ganesh wants to expand this business abroad. He realized there are potential customers outside the country who can buy this shoe easily. The shoe can be a bit pricy for Indian people. For the Indian people, he can introduce a different shoe with a much lower price point.
The startup is not doing great. There are actual chances that the startup might shut down. Aman Gupta shared a simple theory that most founders ignore in business.
Aman Gupta shared 4 P’s of marketing.
- Product
- Price
- Promotion
- Place
Which shark gave Flatheads an offer?
Namita Thapar was out. Because she thought the brand was not going anywhere. In a couple of months, the capital will be gone anyway and there’s no way to revive that capital.
Vineeta Singh was worried that there was no product-market fit done properly. She thought if she invested ₹75 Lakhs then that would be in vain and burn down quickly.
Aman Gupta advised Ganesh to re-evaluate his business. If things are not working then he should stop investing more time in this and take a break. In the break, he can do something else, maybe a job.
Anupam Mittal was out of Flatheads. But he offered Ganesh a job that he could do in the meantime to land on his feet.
Aman Gupta was out because he thought the basics were missing in this company.
Peyush Bansal offered ₹75 Lakhs for 33.3%. Which gives the company a valuation of ₹2.25 Crores.
But the offer came with many conditions.
- He has to do anything and everything to make this company profitable. Be it giving shares to people or something else. He has to be open to all changes needed.
- He can’t go abroad and sell in the USA.
- The marketing of the brand has to be zero.
| Offer 1 |
| Peyush Bansal & Vineeta Singh – ₹75 Lakhs for 33.3% |
Vineeta Singh joined Peyush’s offer.
What deal did Flatheads get in Shark Tank India?
But I wasn’t ready for what happened next in Shark Tank India. Ganesh didn’t take the offer. He said he needed to re-evaluate his priorities in life and didn’t want to take the offer.
| Company Name | Flatheads |
| Founder | Ganesh Balakrishnan |
| Asked Amount | ₹75 Lakhs for 3% |
| Final Deal | No Deal |
| Shark | No Shark |
| Company Net Worth | ₹25 Crores |
| Company Website | www.flatheads.in |
| Company Status | In Business |
The episode got a bit emotional and ended with no offer taken by Ganesh.
