Feels really sad to see this, but wasn’t left with a choice either!
It has been 50 days of zero D2C business and all we get to hear is *“We won’t do anything”*
We recently aired on Shark Tank S3- on the 15th of March which was a dream come true, but what followed has turned into a nightmare. Despite our joy at being featured on national television, our happiness was short-lived.
Sony Entertainment Television has unjustly targeted us for trademark violations without any prior notice. They have striked our social media posts containing clips from the shark tank episode and have gone ahead and *blocked our Ad account, unpublished our Facebook page, disabled the collaboration feature on our brands account as well as on my personal account.*
1. No prior notice / warning was sent to us
2. Ideally we have aired in the episode, which we could use for marketing purposes for 3 months from the said date (as per their guidelines)
3. Our content was pulled down within 25 days, after which we ceased to run all shark tank clips on organic as well as paid posts
4. We have been writing to both Meta and Sony daily since, to help us with a solution, but haven’t received any resolution.
5. We don’t want to use any clips for marketing and just want our original accounts back
All we want is someone from the SONY Team to talk to us and help solve this amicably but sadly not a single party (sony legal or shark tank) chose to reply. Not only me but more 70+ brands are facing these challenges.
While we were shown a bigger picture of getting upto 5X & 7X of growth, the Shark Tank experience has infact got us huge loss in business and a downfall of almost 10-12X.
As the founder of Fit and Flex, I've poured my heart and soul into building our brand from the ground up, and this is extremely disheartening to see that massive media houses are harassing startup brands.
*Fellow startup founders, please share your thoughts on this, what do you feel?*
It has been 50 days of zero D2C business and all we get to hear is *“We won’t do anything”*
We recently aired on Shark Tank S3- on the 15th of March which was a dream come true, but what followed has turned into a nightmare. Despite our joy at being featured on national television, our happiness was short-lived.
Sony Entertainment Television has unjustly targeted us for trademark violations without any prior notice. They have striked our social media posts containing clips from the shark tank episode and have gone ahead and *blocked our Ad account, unpublished our Facebook page, disabled the collaboration feature on our brands account as well as on my personal account.*
1. No prior notice / warning was sent to us
2. Ideally we have aired in the episode, which we could use for marketing purposes for 3 months from the said date (as per their guidelines)
3. Our content was pulled down within 25 days, after which we ceased to run all shark tank clips on organic as well as paid posts
4. We have been writing to both Meta and Sony daily since, to help us with a solution, but haven’t received any resolution.
5. We don’t want to use any clips for marketing and just want our original accounts back
All we want is someone from the SONY Team to talk to us and help solve this amicably but sadly not a single party (sony legal or shark tank) chose to reply. Not only me but more 70+ brands are facing these challenges.
While we were shown a bigger picture of getting upto 5X & 7X of growth, the Shark Tank experience has infact got us huge loss in business and a downfall of almost 10-12X.
As the founder of Fit and Flex, I've poured my heart and soul into building our brand from the ground up, and this is extremely disheartening to see that massive media houses are harassing startup brands.
*Fellow startup founders, please share your thoughts on this, what do you feel?*
The eChai Effect - In Their Words
"From late-night brainstorming over chai to early morning founder calls, eChai has been more than just a network for me; it’s been home base for ideas, impact, and inspiration. What started as a simple meetup years ago turned into a powerful movement, connecting founders, creators, and dreamers. I’ve had the privilege of seeing startups find product-market fit, marketers (like me) find unexpected collaborations, and most importantly, people finding their tribe. संगच्छध्वं संवदध्वं – Let us move together, speak together. It’s not just a verse from the Rigveda — it’s how Jatin and the entire eChai community truly operate. We don’t just network, we grow together. Forever grateful to be a part of the eChai Effect.
Jaydip Parikh
Chief Everything Officer at Tej SolPro
"We found eChai to be a force multiplier throughout our startup journey. Through it, we connected with folks from DevX, Allevents, Plutomen, and more - many of whom became friends of IndiaBizForSale.com and even part of our clientele."
Bhavin S Bhagat
Co-founder of Indiabizforsale and IBGrid, TiE Ahmedabad President
“You don’t plan to build a company via eChai. You just keep showing up … and one day, you realize you did.” I’ve known Jatin since 2012, when I was still deciding what kind of second innings I wanted to play as an entrepreneur. Over the years, through events, chai breaks, intros, and seemingly small conversations, eChai helped shape not just Upsquare but also refined the lens through which we see collaboration. At Upsquare, we’ve hired talent, met partners, discovered co-investors, and built lifelong friendships. One of our joint ventures exists today only because a casual eChai memory sparked a deeper trust. Now, as we build House of Starts — our venture builder — eChai continues to fuel our mission: co-creating a shared future. eChai isn’t just a startup network. It’s a trust network. And for business builders like me, that makes all the difference."
Utpal Vaishnav
Founder @ Upsquare & House of Starts • Angel Investor + LP
eChai Partner Brands
eChai Ventures partners with select brands as their growth partner - working together to explore new ideas, open doors, and build momentum across the startup ecosystem.
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