Exclusive- Shark Tank India 4's pitcher Rahul Shah talks about focusing on his brand Yaan Man's target audience: We are here to break the stigma amongst straight men about makeup

In the recent episode of Shark Tank India 4, Rahul Shah brought his brand Yaan Man which focuses on Men's makeup. The entrepreneur left the sharks stunned when he agreed to the offer which had more than double the equity he had asked. In an exclusive conversation with Times Of India TV, Rahul shared how the market has a stigma, his vision behind his brand and more.
Rahul's experience in Shark Tank India 4
It was edited very well, I was quite anxious about how it would turn out but the channel did it very well. My anxiety was that if this were shown negatively then the brand would have been affected. There is already a lot of stigma around men's makeup so if they would have shown it in any other way then there would be a problem around the topic. I have been positively receiving a lot of messages, people have texted me that I was the torch bearer and all.
On Namita's analysis of why straight men don't put on makeup assuming it's for the gay men
I have respect for everyone, but if you see Indian men's mentality when it comes to Makeup, they feel 'yeh lagayega toh ladki jaisa lagega, ya yeh gay hai isiliye lagata hai.' How much ever you call yourself progressive, this thought process is still relevant. So that is why I had agreed to Namita, but we are currently focusing on straight men as our target audience and buyers are them. Though our brand is for all and we are happy to share it across the communities, we are here to break the stigma amongst the straight men about makeup.
Would Rahul target the entertainment industry to build his brand?
Yes, 100% we are targeting the entertainment industry, see if the actor puts makeup then the Indian men are fine with it. There is this conundrum amongst the men that they are fine with certain people and unacceptable with certain. So yes, we are targeting models and actors as it is a very big scope in terms of sales. Indian men don't follow men's influencers, they only follow gym influencers but not other men. So we are trying to play with their psychic on whom to target and how our messaging reaches the right place.
His major buyers for men's makeup
So the tier 2 and 3 cities around Delhi, Maharashtra and UP are our biggest consumers. The smaller cities people have disposable amounts to spend and they are all influenced by Social media posts so they are the ones majorly buying makeup to look good on the screens. Also, men have been buying to look good at social functions. The product is being bought, though repeat customers would be less but it is reaching men.

On agreeing to 20% equity with Aman Gupta and Anupam Mittal
My decision-making is honestly very quick. You need to be true to yourself in the tank. If it was fake then the sharks would have noticed it. So yes, my decision was quick and I remember how the sharks were shocked but that's how I am. This is a very new category, I needed their support. So I felt that if they had more equity, they'd be more interested in work. If they have the skill in the game, they have the drive to take it forward. Anyway, we are bootstrapped so if Aman and Anupam took 10% each it was great. I have seen that they wouldn't have been much interested in 1-2% and I didn't want to do that.