Who is Utsav Malhotra?
Utsav Malhotra shares the inspiring story of their fledgling startup, which took only four years to become one of the world’s biggest smartwatch brands. They offer some perspective on the Indian direct-to-consumer market with “only 12 of 1000 to 1200 emerging brands” reaching the 1000 crore revenue mark.
Of these, only five are in the black, and just one—Noise—is in that position while still being bootstrapped and not venture-capital-backed. The speaker alludes to important lessons he wasn’t taught in school.
Utsav Malhotra biography
Utsav Malhotra says that the smartest child is not one who answers all questions but one who asks a good uncomfortable question to which his friends don’t have an answer. These tough questions can be uncomfortable to ask, but they lead to the best results.
Utsav Malhotra, founder of Noise, one of the highest-selling smartwatches, shares how that curiosity and courage to ask strange questions has been more fundamental in his journey than hustle and networking. Looking back on it, he remembers that curiosity—regardless of what others thought about his inquiries—enabled him to advance in school and defy the stereotypes applied to a child assumed to be an engineer.
Business Philosophy of Utsav Malhotra:
Utsav Malhotra writes on how everyone “naturally” wants to be an engineer, and they did pursue it too in the line of battling their competitive exams, securing a seat at Delhi College Of Engineering. But even with a flair for numbers, it was towards understanding people where their interests truly lied, and they stepped off the engineering route to take a drastic left turn by enrolling into NIFT, India’s premier fashion institute.
But the speaker felt lost when it came to fashion, like an outsider trying to fit in; she initially struggled to grasp notions as basic as Pantone and labored to find her way in a new world. While classmates drew mood boards, they were given a project on Western womenswear, something they say underscored their outsiderness to this new industry.
Direct-to-consumer brands India
Utsav Malhotra started investigating silhouettes, inspired by the fact that no sizing existed for Indian women, despite their unique body types and huge population. Some began taking measurements and developing a sizing system, while others concentrated on developing class collections.
In doing so, the speaker met all sorts of folks from Delhi and earned friends who believed in them as a front-runner, though to most people it was misjudged initially.
From Engineering to Fashion Design at NIFT:
You have to give away the credit – The unconventional question and a brief ultimately led to us winning 2 first-ever gold medals at NIFT. It was never easy to push people when they didn’t understand what I was asking for, especially when the speaker’s words were ambiguous.
Signal of doubt instead of direction All that mattered was trust; someone had to listen to all the ramblings and guide me through pens & papers. The experience became the speaker’s life compass—curiosity.
They point out that if you ask a certain kind of question, you get the sort of answer that you’d expect, but sometimes the “wrong” questions are asked, and an unexpected and imaginative solution emerges, outlining how “outward-looking” thinking can lead to new insightful understandings.
Lessons from NIFT: Nazr vs Nazariya:
Utsav A key learning from NIFT was to understand when you are not observing things directly (nazr) but with a tilted perspective or a filter (nazariya, which can itself become an advantage). And as a brand manager at a big fashion retailer, they asked themselves if they were really offering customers the right solutions.
This was difficult because people are already using and working for a company with mature systems of processes is hard to question, which I think will going to be an interesting challenge ever in innovating inside the box of brands.
Mass customization in retail:
Utsav Malhotra recounts how he went through a tough time in a company which mostly kept White and blue colored shirts and had different collars and cuffs as well to not ‘let the customer down.’ But the method resulted in overstock, discounting problems, and less variety, which finally led to customer dissatisfaction.
Utsav challenged the assumption around customer needs and suggested we just ask customers what they want instead of assuming for them. This resulted in a mass-customization experiment on the ready-to-wear shirt market, where customers could personalize their own shirt by choosing fabric, collar model, cuffs design, sleeve length and more.
AI in smartwatch personalization:
Utsav Malhotra explains how his smartwatch company struggled to offer customers different watch faces. To begin, they delivered about 1000 watch faces, but it turns out that’s not nearly enough for some variety over time.
This inspired the notion of letting people design their own watch faces. The company also created a watch face builder, allowing customers to customize their watches using images, including photos of friends and family or even celebrities.
Bootstrapped startups India:
The watch face builder was revolutionary in the fact that users could do a little self-expression—let’s call it personalized canvas. The company took that to the next level by incorporating an AI engine in them that allows users to create their own watch faces with voice commands; no images are required.
This innovation led to a huge leap for the company as it became one of the largest smartwatch brands in the world in less than four short years and also confidently held its ground as India’s number one wearables and smartwatch brand.
Read More: Utsav Malhotra founder of “Noise Smartwatch”.(Credit-joshtalks)
Noise Smartwatch:
Utsav Malhotra breaks down the Indian consumer market, saying there are roughly 1000-1200 DTC brands being born every few months. Of which, only around a dozen are 1000 crore companies, and five to six of them are profitable. Of those, the speaker’s startup was unique in being profitable with no outside funding (bootstrapped).
Internally, they credit their success to having asked basic questions that “rocked the industry,” and in turn inspired others to think that way if you want the same amount of success.
Utsav Malhotra’s Journey:
Utsav Malhotra urges all to ask tough questions that are uncomfortable, because the tough ones reportedly lead to innovation and personal growth. They tell the story of how questions like these turned an engineer into a designer and then, eventually, the CEO of the tech company.
Addressing the Issue of Startup Capital Efficiency Here, the speaker raises and discusses managing scarce resources to expand your business.
They answer common questions about product innovation and market share in smartwatches and audio devices – emphasizing why you need to think about the reason behind new launches, pointing out that solving user problems is key to tapping into potential demand – also recalling a moment five years ago when their company was reflecting on their problem-solving focus for India.
Democratizing technology in India:
Utsav Malhotra lays down how they are democratizing technology in India by bringing products within reach of everyone, hence breaking any obstacles between wanting to buy and actually buying the product.
For the past five to six years, they concentrated on developing a true homegrown brand that can provide products at India-friendly prices directly to consumers. At present they have smartwatches, smart rings, and wearable smart audio, which are leading in all three.
The company has branded India, and it must be proud of making Kiraana Godowns to third biggest company in the world; we all should feel very great.
Utsav Malhotra motivates his or her audience to actually ask questions that are tough, possibly off-the-wall, or even frightening, because in the Q & A after the TED talk offered by a hero (seen as a problem-solver), “we most need new solutions and self-knowledge.”
Conclusion:
The story of Utsav Malhotra illustrates that curiosity and a willingness to ask hard questions can inspire innovation. From changing careers to starting one of the world’s greatest smartwatch brands, he has shown that listening to your customers, challenging the assumed, and remaining resourceful can create enduring success.
His effort to democratize tech is causing others to think differently and solve problems that make a real difference.
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