India is full of fixers—people who see a gap and build something useful. Ideabaaz puts those builders on stage. Starting 25 October 2025, this Zee TV inspirational series invites first-time founders from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities to present working ideas to a panel of Titans for funding and straight-talk mentorship. The tone is clear: no frills, no gimmicks—just the work of turning a sketch into a company.
If you’re planning your weekend lineup, park Ideabaaz at the top and glance through our TV Shows hub to line up your follow-ups.
How Ideabaaz helps creative minds
The promise is simple: a tight pitch, firm questions, and a clean outcome—deal or no deal. Money matters, but so does guidance: route-to-market, pricing discipline, basic brand hygiene, first hires, and what to stop doing right now. The Ideabaaz, a reality TV show on Zee5, keeps the focus on execution—customers served, margins held, supply chains that don’t snap under stress.
What a founder’s journey looks like on the floor
First, the basics: the problem in one sentence, the solution in one paragraph, and why this team is the right one to build it. Then the numbers—landed cost, selling price, contribution per unit, and a month of real orders if available. Finally, the ask: how much equity, what valuation, and what the Titan brings beyond a cheque. The room rewards clarity over theatre. Founders who know their numbers move quickly in this reality TV show. Those who don’t learn fast.
Stories you’ll meet (and why they matter)
Expect makers solving everyday pain points: safer small-town commutes; low-cost cold-chain hacks for kiranas; vernacular ed-tools that work offline; a materials tweak that replaces a pricey import. These aren’t pitch-deck buzzwords; they are use cases you can picture. When a Titan bites, it’s because the fix is needed and the model can carry weight.
Titans as coaches, not just investors
The panel—Arjun Vaidya, Jimmy Mistry, Sandesh Sharda, Anupam Bansal, Shaili Chopra, Archana Jahagirdar, Priyanka Salot, Rishab Mariwala, Pawan Jaggi, Simron Mhapatra—covers FMCG, retail, media, tech, and manufacturing. Each brings a different tool: sourcing playbooks, brand lift, logistics, or a door into distribution that most start-ups can’t open alone. Watch for bundled offers: money plus reach; money plus a senior operator; money plus a brand push at the right moment.
The host who keeps it readable
Pratik Gandhi holds the room steady. He trims rambly pitches, pauses to translate a dense term, and pulls a heated negotiation back to first principles. That small work pays off: viewers understand the stakes, and founders get enough breathing space to answer the real question, not the loud one.
Why this Zee TV inspirational series is right for this moment
Two reasons. One, access: founders outside metros often don’t get investor rooms. Ideabaaz builds that room and broadcasts it. Two, discipline: this Hindi TV show forces hard calls—how much equity to part with early, how to price for growth without burning cash, and how to staff the first five roles. Seeing those choices made in real time is more useful than any generic “start-up advice.”
What you can learn just by watching
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Anchor a valuation without bluster: tie it to orders, not optimism.
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Hold a margin when a Titan tests price: show unit math, then defend it.
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Decide when to scale and when to fix the leak in operations.
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Structure a counteroffer that trades equity for mentorship or distribution.
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Know when brand recognition and reach beat a higher cheque today.
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Build a clean dashboard: monthly revenue, repeat rate, contribution, cash runway.
Small details worth watching
Whiteboards with actual math, not slogans. Purchase orders brought as proof, not promises. Founders ready for “Who is your customer—exactly?” and “What breaks if orders double next month?” Notice the calm resets after a tough grilling; the show respects the grind and allows a cleaned-up second pass—once facts are in place.
Three participant arcs that tend to hit hardest
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The scrapper: bootstrapped, 500 units/month, needs capital for moulds and certification. The risk is execution, not demand.
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The rural pilot: a working prototype, paid trials in two districts, looking for a distribution partner and credit terms. The risk is scale.
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The legacy turn: a family business going D2C, balancing tradition with new channels, asking for a brand and logistics lift. The risk is speed.
Each arc lands because the stakes are real—jobs, families, reputations—and the path forward is visible on screen.
Who should tune in
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Early founders who want to sharpen a deck before the first investor meeting.
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Students and makers who like building things and want a read on real-world constraints.
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Small business owners who will never raise capital can use the same questions to clean up pricing, inventory, and hiring.
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Anyone who enjoys a smart negotiation more than a loud one.
How to watch
Premiere: 25 Oct
Zee TV telecast: Sat–Sun, 6:30 PM (simultaneous stream with multi-language feeds)
Regional weekend bands:
Zee Bangla 11:00 PM
Zee Tamil 11:00 PM
Zee Telugu 11:00 PM
Zee Kannada 10:30 PM
Zee Keralam 10:30 PM
Zee Marathi 5:00 PM
Zee Sarthak (Odia) 5:00 PM
Zee Punjabi 6:00 PM
Audio: Hindi, with seven language telecasts
Quick viewing tips
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Note the first sentence of each pitch. If you can’t repeat it, the problem wasn’t clear.
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Track one metric across the episode—repeat rate or contribution per unit—and see how it shapes decisions.
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When a deal is declined, listen for the exact gap named; that’s often the most useful lesson of the night.
Add to Watchlist
Watch Ideabaaz only on Zee TV & ZEE5. Bring a notebook. You’ll leave with a better pitch—even if you never plan to raise a rupee.
Bio of Author: Gayatri Tiwari is an experienced digital strategist and entertainment writer, bringing 20+ years of content expertise to one of India’s largest OTT platforms. She blends industry insight with a passion for cinema to deliver engaging, trustworthy perspectives on movies, TV shows and web series.
