Ahead of its sixth season, Shark Tank India has unveiled a new campaign, #DontBeATota, encouraging aspiring entrepreneurs to prioritise business understanding over startup buzzwords.
Conceptualised and created by The Script Room, the campaign centres around Tota (parrot), a mascot who confidently throws around startup terminology in the belief that it is enough to impress investors. Through the character, the campaign highlights the idea that while anyone can memorise entrepreneurial jargon, building a successful business requires conviction, execution, resilience and a deep understanding of the fundamentals.
The campaign builds on the show's role in bringing entrepreneurship into mainstream conversations over the past five seasons, celebrating founders who have built businesses by solving real problems and understanding their customers.
Commenting on the campaign, Aman Gupta, Co Founder- boAt and Founder, OFF/BEAT, said, “If repeating startup buzzwords was enough to build a business, we would all be investing in parrots. That’s the thought behind this campaign. Over the years, Shark Tank India has helped make entrepreneurship part of mainstream conversations, and that’s something we are incredibly proud of. But building a company has never been about sounding like an entrepreneur, it is about solving real problems, understanding your business inside out and showing the resilience to keep building every single day. That’s exactly the kind of founders we’re excited to meet in Season 6.”
Ayyappan Raj, Founder of The Script Room, commented, "The campaign is built on a simple idea: businesses aren't built on buzzwords, they're built on ideas and execution. Shark Tank India wanted to make entrepreneurship feel more accessible, and using a parrot to poke fun at start-up jargon felt like an interesting way to land that message. We were fortunate to have a brand team in Prashant Iyer and Chandan Sawant who backed the idea from day one, while Nitin, Risheeta, and Team EO2 brought it to life with great craft. OG Aman Gupta added the perfect finishing touch! Personally, this campaign is proof that when good people come together good things happen — Shivani Gairola, Nitin Menon, Ahsan Khan, Mr. Tota, and there you go!"
Registrations for Shark Tank India Season 6 are currently open on Sony LIV. The upcoming season is co-powered by Lahori Zeera and L'Oréal Paris, with White Gold and Lal Sweets as partners.
