Part 1 - From Zero Revenue To Dragon's Den Winners

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Welcome to this edition of the Million Dollar Mastermind podcast. This is where we pick the brains of high achievers from all walks of life and get their hard earned real world insights on winning. I'm your host, Larry Wydell. Hello, everybody. We're talking with Siddhi Mittal. Hello, Siddi. Hello. Where, where are you, Cindy?

Today, I'm currently based in London.

London. And now I just learned something. I didn't know this. I did not know what the British version of Shark Tank was called, but it's supposedly called the Dragon's Den. This, this is correct. Right, so that's probably a better name for it than Shark. Shark Tank. But you went on the British version and won in 2021. And so, you know, so let's talk about before that and after that. Because that, you know, that's by the nature of the beast, it has to be a pivotal moment, moment in your life, you know. And so how did you get to the point? How did you work your way up to where you were in that situation?

Of course. So actually, fun fact, Dragons Den was established way before Shark Tank and it was the original. However, I did not know that. However, given we are in the UK and generally people here are. If you think of a spread versus UK, things are just smaller. The population is smaller, 60 million versus 300. Your credit card debt is smaller, like by a 10. And also Dragon's Den is like a little bit more like intense, where they just want like the biggest bargain versus fund as big as UK US companies. However, very interesting. So I guess how my journey started on Dragon Send. So right before Dragon send was 2020, the year of COVID And we are a platform, we are a consumer marketplace where you can book a private chef anywhere in the uk. So guess what happens when Covid happens. It was illegal to book a private chef. No one could see each other. And suddenly that year, there was no revenue, there was nothing. So I was sort of sat with.

You had a unique business that not only was it hard to do, it was illegal during COVID Exactly.

And we had quit our jobs just a year before or like a couple of months before. So then we sort of sat there thinking, oh my gosh, this is, I think, pretty bad. However, we kind of thought, oh, all right, like, let's just sort of go with the flow. No one can do anything, so let's just make the most of it. So during that time, we started sort of trying all these different things to get our chefs more jobs. We also realized that the cost of Instagram Followers became like. It was like cents instead of like couple dollars. So we started doing cooking classes every day. Anything to grow marketing and also create different product lines. But obviously it was all very small scale just to exist. Now during this time, we decided we were going to say yes to every single opportunity that came our way, because we were basically back to zero. There was nothing going on for us. And during this time, Dragon sand essentially scouted us. They go after a lot of companies. It's not that we're special. I think they just find out what are the young companies out there, send you emails. And we got one of those emails and essentially they said, hey, do you want to come on to Dragon stuff? And I think at that point when I saw that email, I was like, what kind of weird companies go on these TV shows, you know, and like pitch themselves? That's a bit strange. So then we said yes.

Now you were. When you said young. How young? So the young company, because you're getting started, but I mean, young in age.

I mean, I see as the company age was half a year and our ages, I believe was like 26.

Yeah, yeah. And so like they found you on Instagram or social media, I guess, probably somewhere.

Exactly.

And so were you a big watcher of the program?

I was a big watcher of Shark Tank, but not of Dragon's Den.

Isn't that funny?

It is funny.

You know, I was thinking about, like, America's Got Talent with Simon Cowell. That started in the UK and it was such a big hit in the uk. He came over to United States thinking, you know, they're going to be, you know, I'll be taking the highest bidder. And he went around every network and got the door slammed in his face. It was just Fox was coming on the scene as a fourth alternate network and they were desperate for programming. That's how he got the Fox deal. But other than that, you know, we would have missed out on, you know, one of the big, big shows or.

That's crazy, right?

And so Shark Tank. You did know about Shark Tank and had you thought about getting on Shark Tank?

No, I just thought, what kind of people go on TV to pitch? That's wild.

Yeah. And so how. How was that? Were you the one that actually did the pitch of your. Your group or.

Or. Yes, it's two of us co founders. After we said yes, they're actually like, put you through a lot of hoops and they do a lot of due diligence and make sure that everything checks out. And then both of Us went in there on the day and did the pitch. So it's like a whole day of pre interviews, like rehearsal. And actually the pitch is about two, two and a half hours long, or at least it was for us, whereas when they showed it on TV, it was like 15 minutes. So it really was sort of like a real life simulation of people just asking you a lot of questions about your business and the numbers and all the shebang.

Now that had to be useful for you. And one of the things about selling a company, that companies really find out how to run their company when they decide to sell it, and then they go out and they market it to a bunch of these hedge funds and investment companies and they bring in all their high price, their best financial minds and really grill questions. And then if you're running the company, you say, oh, this is what's important. We didn't think about that. How about this, that, and you can go away and not sell your company, but take that information. It's like a, you know, a huge consulting experience on how to make your company a whole lot better. But it had to be tremendously educational experience for you going through that process.

It really was. And I think what you touch upon is so true because while we prepped for this, we asked a lot of people to do more questions. And I think people from like the backgrounds of consulting or on finance or just investors. And I think listening to those questions the first time, you just think, oh my God, I never thought of that. Like when someone asked us, hey, so how are you going to find this many chefs across uk and suddenly you just think, wait, let me. Hold on a second, let me stop there. Let me now actually run through my numbers. And I think that program sort of forced us to say, actually, wait, if we're after 100 million company or a billion company, that means X number of orders, but one chef can do X number of bookings. Okay, so actually we only are looking for, let's say 2,000 chefs. And that's pretty doable. But I think we had to go through the whole thinking process, which we did, which was a great exercise in us to understand how viable the company was.

And so Citi, when you get into a situation like that, you know, that's great training for you as a CEO entrepreneur for the rest of your life, because you're going to be faced with situations you never opportunities too, that you never knew you could never plan for. And that's one reason I think we've got value in doing this podcast, is to put People to make people aware of these kinds of things that you may or may not face, but let them know that you just go in with your same attitude and your same spirit, and just. It's like any problem or any situation, you unravel it step by step, get advice, and you just take one step forward at a time, and then you find out you come out the other side, and in your case, you came out the other side and you won the dirt thing. And so that had to be an overwhelming build new confidence.

Yeah, it was super. I think it was super exciting that we won for sure. Especially because we sort of predicted two people we wanted, and those are the ones that gave us offers. So it was like, okay, awesome. We did this. But I think at the same time, we were very aware of sort of what it takes. I think going through that day, I just kind of wanted to get out and say, oh, my God, I need a break. So I think it was really good that we won, but we were also really aware of what raising investment would look like in future. It requires a lot of prep and Requires. Yeah.

Grit and talk about that for a minute.

Yeah. So, for example, in the den. So it's not just about knowing, let's say, your numbers and knowing your business. So one of the things that was super interesting, I love to crack jokes, I love to kind of get in there, have a little bit of banter. It was tough. These people were out there to just like, you know, tell you what was going to go wrong with your business or question you. And I think even when you know an answer, like, sometimes the way someone will ask you a question, like, shakes you, you just think, oh, my God, do I know this answer? And I think it's in that moment where you could either become a little bit apologetic or you can kind of sit there, say, be aggressive, like, try to tell them why they are wrong. And I think watching the episode and even in that moment, I realized that there were these times where you just had to be super calm. There was like a combination of being respectful, where you say, okay, I hear you, but let me tell you why I know it to be this way, because this is my research. And I think that was like a really interesting moment where I realized it wasn't just about the knowledge, it was about how the nuance you use to communicate with someone.

Yeah. Well, when you put your finger on an incredibly important issue, it's what the eggheads in the universities call intellectual, you know, or emotional intelligence. Like, you can go through tough times without panicking. You know, there you don't have to have the panic response. It's basically like you say, take, take a breath, you know, absorb it, have a calm response. And you know, you don't have to throw a knockout punch just because someone threw a knockout punch at you. You know, you can dodge it, pick your, you know, pick your spot and.

Exactly.

But that's, you know, that's great training, great awareness for all kind of situations you have to deal with as a CEO going forward. So the, you know, the thing is the experience of being in the, the driver's seat as an entrepreneur CEO will te. It's like being a parent. The kids will teach you what you, a lot of what you need to know. It's like, you know, at six in the morning you need to get up, mom, you know, you know, and then, you know, you need to change my diaper, you know, and then they're crying, you need to get me some food here. And they drive you nuts. And then pretty soon you turn into a disciplined parent. But you know, I don't think parents are necessarily that disciplined when, when they bring the little package home from the hospital. And so the same thing with CEOs. I don't think CEOs are naturally entrepreneurs that discipline, organize, keep up with the books, keep up with the taxes, keep up, you know, learn how to, you know, treat your, your people in a certain way, have incentives and you know, make sure they understand the vision of what you're doing. All of these things you grow, grow into and you got, you have to be patient with yourself and let yourself grow into those roles, don't you?

Completely. I actually love that analogy because I think that really describes the journey of at least me being a first time founder, where a lot of the things that I've learned is because either I got it wrong or I never knew how to do it or like it'll just be something completely new. So I think, yeah, I love that analogy and I think figure it out as you go. We have been trying to do.

Yeah. Now when you got, before you got, let me ask you this, the idea you had, your concept was a association of private chefs and organizing that. It's kind of like an Uber for private chefs. It seems like something like that and, or, anyway, so I'm sure how many times were you told that was a stupid idea before you got on, on the dragons thing?

I think just about anyone that you try to talk about it, you will kind of look at you and say, ah, that's interesting. And suddenly you Just think, okay, so you think it's shit, but you're just being polite. So all the time. I mean, like, every day. All the time.

Yeah. And so at least that had to change after you went on the show.

Yeah. So I'd say, what? Yeah, I think that's a good point. I think society responds a lot to, there's a reason people go out there and collect awards and, like, go to Ivy Leagues. I think society really does respond to these accolades. So what Dragons Den helped with was, is sort of validation that, oh, these people like you, so you must be doing something cool. And I think it got. And I think for the first time, instead of us having to do the pitch again and say, people could just kind of say, oh, actually, I saw that, I get it, because it was like a 15 minute slot where we can sort of explain what it was about. But yeah, it did help because just saying Dragon's Den made people more empathetic to our cause and it helped having a business which people knew about a little bit more.

Now where. How do you think your formative years sent you on this direction? You know, what happened in your formative years that kind of sent you in this direction as you're going through your schooling and you're, you know, still, still with your parents and still at home and all of that?

Yeah. So I come from India, where my dad is an entrepreneur, but it's not as sexy back in India. It's more a businessman and you're sort of like going through the mud and just building like a big company and you're doing everything you can to make it exist. And I think as we grew up in India and now that I've been to New York, America, where I went for uni and London, I think I can reflect a little bit more back to my brinking, which was so different than how people are sort of here. And I think one thing was that there were no invisible rules. So I think, like, because my dad was a businessman, even when we were young, he'd say things like, get up there and go ask that. Like in a restaurant, he'd say, go ask that waiter to customize this dish. Now, in uk, people will say, oh, my gosh, don't do that. You just think about the restaurant. Whereas my dad looked at me, he was like, no, go ask the question. And he made me go out there and talk to all these different people about the weirdest questions. And because he just wanted me to know that I can. Just because I asked the question doesn't mean Someone else will say no. And just because I ask a question doesn't make it awkward or weird. And I think it was. Obviously back then, I hated it. But I think now I realize that's really lowered by inhibitions. So now if you tell me, how are you going to go contact someone or how are you going to find that partner? I'll just go do it. Like, I will go cold email. I will reach out to people I know, people who know people who know people. Just like any path that takes you there, I will do. And I think all of these things were really baked into us when we were growing up. And I think another example is sort of focusing. So I think education was important in my family, of course. So my mother, like, super educated. However, my dad was more about the street smarts. So I think. Let me give you an example. So we used to go to school, and if you were a little bit late to your school, let's say you missed like the morning bell, you would get fined 100 rupees in India, which is like $2 in America, but you'd have to pay that. And then at some point, and I remember my dad sort of just saying, okay, so how if my daughter sleeps in for 30 days and she gets extra, extra one hour of sleep in the morning, can I just pay 30 times 100 rupees up front? Because that's. So that's just 3,000 rupees. But it's a very cheap cost of letting my daughter get an extra hour of sleep every single day. And I think obviously the school was livid. They were like, what are you teaching your daughter? But in that moment, I got it. I was like, right. He just made a very quick roi. And this makes sense. And I feel like it was practical learning like that. That sort of instilled in me. Yeah. Slightly more like, I don't have rules. I think I make my rules. And I think you're meant to do whatever in life you need to do to get things done. And I think that was sort of instilled by my parents.

Did anything. Did this, the fact that you were his daughter, have anything to do with him trying to get you to come out of your shell? Were you the oldest? Were you the. Was it a big family?

Three. Three kids. So I'm the middle daughter.

Oh, so you're the troublesome middle. Middle daughter. Maybe that's why he tried to do it.

I just thought it was great training. Like, I think firsthand I realized, okay, cool, there's a way out of every single problem. And there are multiple ways to solve something, you know. One is to go to school early.

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