boAt CEO Aman Gupta: A Story of Conquering the Electronics Industry

Everyone starts with nothing, so did I… This pretty much explains the life of Aman Gupta, the entrepreneur who started with something very small, and today is a much preferred and trusted name when it comes to conquering the electronic industry. Aman Gupta co-founded boAt, the company that produces smart audio systems like Bluetooth headphones, portable music systems, earphones, and wireless headsets. Needless to say boAt today is the much sought-after name in the electronic industry. But not many of us know the actual story of boAt or its founder, Aman Gupta. From pursuing a career in CA to heading India’s number 1 audio and wearable brand, let’s have a closer look at the life of the nation’s finest entrepreneur.

What childhood looked like for Aman Gupta

Aman Gupta was born in Delhi in 1982 to parents Neeraj Gupta and Jyoti Kochar Gupta. He did his schooling at Delhi Public School, RK Puram New Delhi. Afterward, he received his graduation degree in Bachelor of Commerce from Delhi University. Before venturing out as an entrepreneur, he completed his education in CA from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) from 1999 to 2002. Surprisingly, Aman is considered one of India’s youngest CAs who cleared CA at a very young age.

He started his professional career with Citi Bank where Aman worked as an assistant manager. His entrepreneurial spirit came to the front when he established Advanced Telemedia Pvt Ltd. in 2005, where he launched global brands into the domestic circle such as Beats Audio, Sennheiser, Telex, etc. Aman completed his MBA in General Management from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. During his study tenure, he studied at the Indian School of Business in the first year and later went to Kellogg School of Management as an exchange student in his second year.

Aman Gupta-boAt

Before starting boAt, the young entrepreneur spent a considerable time working at JBL Speakers. Considered an electronic giant today, boAt came up in 2016 when it was established by Aman Gupta along with his co-founder Sameer Mehta. Since the arrival of the brand, every individual has only preferred its gadgets over any other label. Today boAt stands at a valuation of Rs 700 crores. 

The wide range of audio-centric electronic gadgets that boAt offers include earphones and headphones, both in wired and wireless options. These electronics cater to the audio needs of every music lover who chooses the brand, significantly making every music experience an unforgettable moment. boAt has garnered a significant presence amongst the millennials, as was the dream of Aman Gupta. Beyond producing innovative headphones, earphones, and earbuds (often addressed as Airdopes), boAt offers premium home audio equipment such as portable Bluetooth speakers, smart watches, personal hygiene products such as trimmers, power banks, etc. Each of these products comes with unique innovative systems, successfully showcasing the brand’s hold over technology, integrated with design and fashion. Before kicking off with boAt, both Aman Gupta and Sameer Mehta founded together Imagine Marketing Private Limited, boAt’s parent company. 

Challenges at boAt

Not many people know that before starting his journey with boAt, Aman Gupta had five failed startups in his portfolio. And like every other startup to have existed in history, boAt too had its share of challenging days. The company has its designs ready in India, but its manufacturing units are situated in China. The apparent difference between the two nations has created many unfavorable impacts on the company’s systems and workings.

The Coronavirus pandemic too had posed challenges in the production for Gupta’s company. In an interview, he mentioned that a majority of the production of electronic gadgets takes place outside India. boAt’s main manufacturing market itself was in China and had the pandemic persisted for a longer period, the production of electronic gadgets would face a subsequent downfall. The startup’s inventory of new and existing stocks was affected during those crucial years. Some say that Aman Gupta had even planned a sale but he had to rule it down to hold its inventory for the months to follow. Yet he and his brand managed to swim to the surface by formulating effective strategies and a good customer-centric approach.

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Recognitions and Awards

Aman Gupta’s brand has collaborated with many renowned celebrities and known faces to endorse the brand. These names include personalities from the cricket industry such as Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, and Hardik Pandya. This is a big achievement for any brand, that too in a span of just a few years. Besides being considered India’s coolest entrepreneur and getting featured as a constant judge in all three consequent seasons of Shark Tank India, Aman Gupta has received several prestigious accolades for his work and vision across the various domains of the business sector. Let’s look at a few of them below:

Today, a majority of Aman Gupta net worth is derived from boAt’s earnings alongside the various investments that he has made in startups. To talk about its growth perspective, boAt has recently received a $60 million investment from Malabar Investments and Warburg Pincus. This has marked it as a global brand, leading in the market with state-of-the-art audio equipment, driven by innovation. 

While Aman Gupta may be widely known as a budding entrepreneur, he also hails as an angel investor who has invested in many companies during his stay at all three seasons of Shark Tank India. These investments are proof of his unwavering dedication to creating a startup community fueled by innovation, unique ideas, and passion for doing something new. Some of these startups aided by him are The Renal Project, MyCloudkitchen.IN, Floryo, Chargeup, Licious, 10club, etc.

Aman Gupta’s dreams and visions have added a new viewpoint to the Indian electronic industry. Through highs and lows, his perseverance and resilience have laid forward an example that one can always strive through adversities if they have the ambition to dream and work diligently. It is all a matter of hard work and patience, and then you may conquer anything that you have envisioned. To sum it all up, there is no better way to put down the conclusion in Aman Gupta’s own words when he said “Being an entrepreneur requires you to surf through different turfs in one go. This needs passion and love for what you are doing.”

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