‘Shark Tank India’ broke many limiting beliefs about the world of startups, entrepreneurship and innovation among common people. Proving to be a catalyst in fostering conversations around the aforementioned topics, the show was also famous for its ‘sharks’ aka the entrepreneurs/ angel investors who bet their money on innovative ideas.

The likes of Anupam Mittal, Aman Gupta and Peyush Bansal became household names.

Now I know that if you’re an investor or even an aspiring entrepreneur, you might be wondering: “How do these ‘sharks’ choose what startups to invest in?” or “Is there a process that these investors follow when evaluating a startup’s important metrics?”

Well the answer is yes!

James DePorre is the author of ‘Invest Like a Shark’ – a  top 10 investing book of all time.

He operates the SharkInvesting.com website and is a hugely popular market columnist on Jim Cramer’s RealMoney.com besides being a frequent guest on TV channels and radio shows.

If you too want to think and invest like a shark, here are a few golden principles you should adhere to:

1. Profits occur sporadically

DePorre says that the market always remains cyclical, going through various ups and downs irregularly. He says that investors that an investing style that works now, might not work in the future.

Investors need to keep themselves updated about the market conditions, and ignoring this can lead to a rather unsuccessful investing career.

He recommends the ’80-20 rule’, implying that investors produce 80% results 20% of the time, making little progress at other times.

2. Predictions and forecasts aren’t always correct

According to DePorre, he has heard multiple predictions and forecasts over the years, a majority of which has been wrong or poorly timed. He says that the ‘Wall Street’ loves predicting and forecasting about the market, since it is their job to convince customers that they’re able to predict movements within the financial market better than others.