Shark Tank India 5’s Anupam Mittal answers if he’s fashioned himself on Tony Stark: ‘They call him Anupam Mittal there’ | Television News
3 min readNew DelhiFeb 9, 2026 02:39 PM IST
Anupam Mittal, the founder of Shaadi.com and Shark Tank India judge, recently opened up with his trademark wit, sharing cheeky takes on why hustle beats honesty and joked about being called “India’s Tony Stark.”
Anupam Mittal chooses hustle over honesty
During a podcast with Krishnank Atrey, when asked whether he values hustle over honesty, Mittal explained that while integrity is non-negotiable, sometimes a dash of dishonesty is inevitable. “Integrity can never be compromised, but you have to be a little dishonest sometimes. Like when your girlfriend or wife asks you how you look – honesty isn’t always the best policy,” he said with a laugh, adding that people shouldn’t take this philosophy too literally.
Mittal revealed that he would absolutely invest in a 25-year-old version of himself. “I had a lot of passion, energy, and determination at that age. If I saw that in someone else, I would invest without hesitation,” he said.
“Would hire Aman Gupta for PR”
When asked what roles he would assign to fellow Shark Tank judges Aman Gupta and Namita Thapar if they applied for a job with him, he said he would hire Aman for PR and Namita for operations.
Anupam Mittal on being called ‘India’s Tony Stark’
On being called “India’s Tony Stark,” Mittal kept it playful. “I’ve heard that, people also call him Anupam Mittal there,” he joked.
In an earlier conversation with ETimes, he had reacted to the comparison, saying, “Being compared to someone isn’t a big deal. It’s not an achievement. I’d much rather just be myself.”
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Anupam Mittal on similarities with Deepinder Goyal
He also drew parallels between himself and Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal, noting their shared focus on longevity.
“We both are passionate about longevity. Deepinder is working in the same area now, abhi to usey nikal diya shayad (he has been removed). He’s no longer the CEO,” he noted.
Mittal on Goyal stepping down as CEO
Mittal recently weighed in on Deepinder Goyal’s stepping down as CEO of Eternity. Through his post on Linkedin, he argued that founders resigning from CEO roles shouldn’t be seen as a crisis but as a sign of organisational maturity. “This is not failure, this is maturity,” he wrote.
“Startups today are growing faster than founders can grow as managers,” he explained. “What works at 10 people breaks at 100, and what works at 100 breaks at 1,000.”
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He said that founders are at their strongest in the earliest stages of a company – the “0 to 1 and 1 to 10” phases. Beyond that, organisations need different skill sets, he noted.
“I think making oneself replaceable should be one of the key goals of every founder,” Mittal added.
Pointing to global tech giants like Google, Apple, and Microsoft, he explained that enduring success often comes from founders stepping aside at the right moment.
“It’s not about losing control. Often, it’s about choosing what’s best for the company,” he wrote.
