Designing Products Based on Honesty and Customer Needs Kumar believes having a solid business helps create for longer term and make it sustainable

Mohit Kumar, Founder and CEO, Ultrahuman, got the idea for the world's most advanced fitness and metabolism tracking platform after he saw athletes train using data, protocols and recovery tools at an MMA camp in Thailand. While he himself had been inclined towards classical music and martial arts since the early days, he looks up to Marcelo Garcia, Rickson Gracie and Ustad Salamat Ali Khan.

"When we (with co-founder Vatsal Singhal) started the company in 2020, we always felt that the domain of fitness is so diverse that we will build multiple products along the way. That's why building a brand mattered for us," says Kumar.

Kumar says, "Currently we sell only via ultrahuman.com. We will soon be partnering with retail chains and local retailers."

Ultrahuman counts fitness enthusiasts, biohackers and athletes among its customers. They recently launched, Ultrahuman Ring, a wearable smart ring to track metabolism.

On the best way to find what a customer needs, he says, "The customer you know the most is yourself. If you are honest to yourself about the product and the needs, you will end up building the product for most customers who are like you. I think that it is a good place to start."

When asked if there is a magic formula that increases his odds of a creative breakthrough, Kumar says, "No magic formula here. Having more diverse life experiences helps, but it's just one of the contributing factors."

Then comes the rigours of balancing creativity and business, especially when they are often looked apart. Says Kumar, "It's a hard balance. Having a solid business gives you the ability to create for the longer term and makes it sustainable."

"Find creative answers in business but do the boring things with discipline. Sort of like, 'chop wood carry water', he adds.

This strategy also features in his three-point advice to people who are creative but can't think scale. Says Kumar, "One, learn to be disciplined 'Chop wood, carry water'; second, understand human psychology. You need humans to scale your business as much as technology, and finally, learn to code. Coding teaches you how to build systems and not just outcomes of the system."

On their future plans in the coming years, Kumar is, "Currently focussed on India and the Middle East region. The idea is to address the users here and make the business self-sustainable before we expand to other geos."

Factsheet

Amount of external funding received : $25 mn across two rounds.

Number of people employed : 75 people

Turnover : Don't want to disclose this.

Year of Inception : 2020

Key customers : Fitness enthusiasts, biohackers and athletes.