Anupam Mittal on being was jobless in US: ‘Sent out 800 resumes, in 3 years…’

Shark Tank India judge Anupam Mittal said that before becoming multi-millionaire founder-CEO of People Group and Shaadi.com, he grew up in a cramped 1000-square feet Mumbai flat. In a podcast, he said that his father worked in the textiles business but there was a time when the family struggled to make ends meet.

“We wouldn’t realise it as kids, but 20 of us were living in a 1,000-square foot house at the time. People were sleeping on the dining table, under the dining table. But as kids, you don’t think of that. You enjoy having so many kids around,” Anupam Mittal said on Barbershop podcast.

But then his father’s business prospered and Anupam Mittal went to study in the Boston College in the US where he had “terrible experiences” while he was trying to find a job in the IT sector.

“I sent out 800 resumes. Now the situation was such that I had no money, and if I asked them for money they say, ‘Where’s your salary?’ I had no money. It was the first time I experienced hunger,” he said.

The Shark Tank India judge said that there were times when he would go without food for two to three days. He said, “This is something everybody should do in live once, because experiencing hunger teaches you a lot. There was a time when I didn’t eat for two-three days, because I couldn’t eat. How long could friends help? They would’ve helped, but you also feel bad after a while… credit cards are maxed out, everything is finished. It wasn’t like I was out on the streets, but I did experience some level of lack of resources.”

He then landed a job with MicroStrategy where he was offered stock options. He explained, “I had joined as a sales consultant but very quickly I rose through ranks to become the director of strategic partnerships so I had a lot of stock options and had become a multi-millionaire in my early twenties. It was crazy, I’d never imagined it. I’d ordered a sports car, we used to party in stadiums, our corporate parties would be on cruise ships. It was next level.”