Varun Gupta, co-founder, Boult
In a recent episode of the popular podcast Think School, hosted by Ganesh Prasad, Varun Gupta, the co-founder of Boult shared insights into the bootstrapped brand's growth journey and what is in it for young entrepreneurs to take.
Despite having no external funding, Boult Audio has scaled to an impressive Rs 700 crore in revenue, establishing itself as one of India's most successful and profitable D2C (Direct-to-Consumer) brands.
Notably, its rise has occurred amid stiff competition from highly-funded competitors such as boAt and Noise, yet Boult remains unfazed.
But how did it happen? Where did the company start from? And more importantly, how have they managed to remain non-funded and thriving?
THE AUDIO CATEGORY IN INDIA
In the Indian audio market, Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS) accounts for 55% of the total market share, making it the largest category.
According to Varun Gupta, Boult holds a 12% share within the TWS segment.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
In the podcast, Varun revealed that Boult Audio is his fourth startup.
He has been an entrepreneur for some time now, with a background in consulting for smaller e-commerce companies in India. This was also the period where he deepened his understanding of marketing databases, strategies, and the renowned 4 P’s of Philip Kotler.
Fast-forward to 2017, and Varun saw a market gap in the audio segment. In his own words, “We caught on the pulse of wireless earphones.”
This was the time that marked the beginning of the end of wired earphones.
Companies like Apple had just started to stop including wired earphones in their smartphone boxes. Other Chinese smartphone brands also followed suit. Customers had developed a new purchasing habit of shopping for earphones separately.
International brands, at the time, were selling wireless earphones at a price range between Rs 5,000 to 10,000. That is when national audio brands entered the space to make products more accessible to the Indian consumer.
However, as the shift unfolded, companies paid little attention to visual aesthetics and design.
According to Varun, customers were making a very practical choice, comparing features against prices - a reasonable approach. So Boult decided to come in, offer competitive pricing, better tech, and “make products that are never seen before.”
In the podcast, Varun mentions that they started with a capital of Rs 15 lakhs and placed a manufacturing order of about 1,200 units.
Once the design elements were in place, the brand initially outsourced to China but eventually shifted the research, tech processes, and design capabilities to India.
Boult now sources all its raw materials domestically, reinforcing its commitment to the Make in India initiative.
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BOULT’S PRODUCTS - WHAT STOOD OUT
In the Think School podcast, Varun also mentions that he is an artist and musician by hobby.
When designing the products, in the first phase of the business, he went all out. In his words, “I started making products with wood, with leather, with aluminum, with copper.”
Even though this kind of earphones didn’t find mass acceptability, they were intensely loved by a small section.
Eventually, the D2C brand moved to building earphones with a more “massy” approach. They introduced lots of colours from solid blacks and whites to lilacs, purples, and pinks.
This became the DNA of Boult - designing everything in-house and offering something that no one else was.
THE BOOTSTRAP APPROACH
The host, Ganesh, asked Varun Gupta about Boult’s decision to remain unfunded.
While competitors raised funds, hired Bollywood celebrities, and indulged in heavy promotional strategies - how did Boult feel? Did it fear missing out? Did the founders think they’d be wiped out?
No. None of these things. Instead, the brand took it as a positive sign!
According to Varun Gupta, when competitors raise huge amounts of money, it offers validation to the category as a whole.
In his words, “When a competitor raises 10 to 100 million dollars, they will invest a lot of media, a lot of energy, and a lot of funds into building awareness for that category. It increases the entire market size. It is not a zero-sum game.”
Varun also affirms that while other brands raised funds, he and his co-founder (and brother) remained unwavering on certain key metrics: the core DNA of Boult, the belief that they were building a brand, designed to scale, and their commitment to operating in a limited set of categories.
This laser focus worked in Boult’s favour. Today it is the #1 rated audiowear brand in India.
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Varun Gupta also believes that startups can become successful if their core team has skin in the game. Offering Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs) and equity can play a large role in motivating the team and driving them to be aligned with the brand’s value system and larger goal.
He also says that while Boult’s production cycles are slower, the products that come out of it are heavily researched, superior in tech, and of course, thoughtfully designed. This has ensured that the D2C brand’s offerings are consistently superior in terms of both form and function.
THE SECRET SAUCE
Throughout the podcast, Varun Gupta’s transparency stood out. He revealed the secret sauce of making a strong, non-funded consumer brand in the Indian market. He delved into marketing strategies that help and how the desire for innovation over revenue always wins the long-term game.
Varun also tackled a common myth regarding the D2C sales model, which many assume has the highest profit margins.
He said, “D2C is the least margin-offering platform.”
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LOOKING AHEAD
As Boult inches towards the Rs 1,000 crore revenue mark, it has become one of the fastest-growing audiowear brands in the country.
Varun Gupta and Tarun Gupta’s D2C brand is a case study in building from scratch, without any external funding and shaking up seemingly strong competitors.
To hear more insights from Varun Gupta, watch the full podcast on Think School’s YouTube channel.
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