NEW DELHI — Ashneer Grover entered Indian consciousness in two ways simultaneously: as the most charismatic judge on Shark Tank India Season 1, where he made phrases like "yeh toh doglapan hai" and "bhai, seedha baat kar" genuinely iconic through a combination of directness, aggression, and an absolute conviction that he could spot a bad deal from twelve feet in a television studio — and as the co-founder of BharatPe, where internal governance reviews simultaneously found ₹81 crore in allegedly fraudulent transactions involving fake vendors, family members on the payroll at inflated salaries, and an approach to company money that a governance committee would later describe in language more charitable than accurate.

The leaked audio clip came first. In January 2022, an audio recording surfaced of a man identified as Grover calling a Kotak Mahindra Bank official "tere jaisi aulaad" and making threats that were, in terms of professionalism, unprecedented in recorded fintech history. Grover said the voice was not his. Then he said the bank deserved it. Then he took legal action against the bank. The bank took legal action back. BharatPe's board began an internal investigation. The investigation found things. The things were in a governance report that was not fully released but was sufficiently alarming that Grover resigned in February 2022 with a settlement that has not been fully disclosed, a statement that described "mutual disagreement," and a Twitter presence that remained very active throughout.

The ₹81 crore fraud case: BharatPe alleged that Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover orchestrated the creation of fake vendors who were paid substantial sums from company funds, that family members were placed on the company payroll at salaries inconsistent with their roles and qualifications, and that financial controls were so absent as to constitute their own form of governance innovation. Grover denied everything. A settlement was reached in 2024 whose terms are confidential, which is the legal system's way of closing a chapter without everyone learning what was in it.

After BharatPe: Grover launched Third Unicorn, a venture to build his third unicorn (after BharatPe and a previous venture). Its first product was CrickPe, a fantasy cricket platform, launched ahead of IPL 2023. CrickPe shut down in early 2025, citing the 28% GST on online gaming and a "crowded competitive landscape." This is the accurate reason. The complete reason also includes the fact that Dream11 and MPL already exist and have 200 million users between them and had no particular reason to move, and that CrickPe's differentiator was primarily "it is by Ashneer Grover," which is a differentiator with a specific audience and a specific ceiling. The product shut down. The podcast continued.

Ashneer Grover is currently one of India's most popular startup podcast guests and hosts. He speaks plainly. He is funny. He is genuinely insightful about certain aspects of business. He is terrible about other aspects of business, including the aspects that resulted in the governance report. He gives advice about hiring, fundraising, building culture, and dealing with investors that is compelling, specific, and occasionally correct, delivered by a man whose company fired him following a governance review that found ₹81 crore in alleged irregularities and who has settled a case whose terms are confidential. The podcasters do not ask about this in detail. The podcasters ask about the vision. The vision is good. The governance report is in a file somewhere. Both things are true. India listens to both. India prefers the vision. This is very human. It is also very startup.