Vineeta Singh and husband Kaushik Mukherjee.
Sugar Cosmetics CEO and Shark Tank India judge Vineeta Singh who founded the company with her husband, Kaushik Mukherjee, recently revealed that sometimes fights at the office reach home and fights at home reach the office as well. She was talking to YouTuber Ranveer Allahabadia during the podcast 'The Ranveer Show'.
"There are small fights. We fought even today. Sometimes fights at the office reach home and vice versa. I think co-founders, be it brothers or any family members, end up fighting. For example, at Shark Tank, when people pitch their startups and we ask them who the CEO is, they say all of us decide together. But if you just have a penny left in your company's account and you have to decide where it has to be spent- then it's a subjective decision," Ms Singh said.
"There are a lot of subjective decisions. If people say that they don't fight and agree on everything, then it's an absolute lie," she remarked.
The entrepreneur went on to add that she and her husband had decided their roles where each of them would have a "final call". She continued, "For instance, if I have a final call on a product, then Kaushik can disagree as much as he wants, I will hear his point of view, but still, I will decide and fundamentally over a period of time, we can't hold grudges about it."
Recalling her initial days, she stated that there were a lot of conflicts in the beginning. "There were a lot of disagreements over the right strategy. Sometimes it used to get personal and people at the office would get scared since we would scream at each other. Over a period of time, we figured that we can respectfully disagree. It has to be understood that words are more dangerous than weapons and now we are much careful about it."
"Sometimes, it gets really intense and then we use Slack to argue rather than in-person since emotions can run high. I think over a time period, co-founders learn how to respectfully disagree. Another thing that I have learnt is that you need to keep your ego aside in a co-founder relationship else it creates a lot of friction. If there is mutual respect, defined boundaries, acceptance of disagreement and passion towards the end goal, then it becomes easier," she told the podcast host.
Ms Singh said that above all this, she knows that there is always love and respect always. "I never forget this. Fundamentally, Kaushik is a better person than I am and everything that I am in terms of the freedom I got- to be able to pursue my dreams, is because Kaushik is unlike a lot of men. This is something I remind myself every day. Every morning I feel blessed to have a husband who believes that every woman has a right to have dreams. That's a big deal."