Conversations with Utsav Agarwal, Co-Founder & CEO, Evenflow.

Tell us about your best and worst days at work

Utsav: Two factors determine the ‘good’ days. I have found that building out my team and helping brands scale-up bring me sheer joy and satisfaction. The days I hire a new team member or sign a Letter of Intent (LOI) to partner/acquire a seller brings true joy. 

I consider myself to be a salesman, and I am constantly selling Evenflow to investors, sellers and prospective team members. While hearing no is part of the job, a day full of hearing the word ‘no’ is definitely not one that makes it to the top of my favorites list. 

What do you do when you’re not at work? 

Utsav: My professional and personal life are intertwined and very rarely am I not plugged into work. For the times I am not, I do enjoy running four days a week and playing with my niece and nephew to unwind. 

What is unique about your business? 

Utsav: There are two aspects that make Evenflow unique. The first is the team. By design, the core team has been onboarded keeping in mind an execution-first, operation-led approach. The second is our collaborative approach to doing business. While the global playbook has sellers exit the brand in 3-4 months post-acquisition, we like our founders to remain on board and be part of the journey to scaling up their brands.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Utsav: Any aspiring entrepreneur should read this article. While entrepreneurship is glorified, anyone looking to start their own business should peek behind the curtain and be prepared for lots of failure, hard work and toil before they see anything close to success. 

How do you define success?

Utsav: The freedom and ability to do whatever I want, whenever I want.

What is your favourite aspect of being an entrepreneur?

Utsav: Two aspects. 1) Seeing an idea come to life and grow from the ground up. 2) Building a team to do so.

What is your favourite book?

Utsav: Five Against One: The Pearl Jam Story by Kim Neely and Too Big to Fail by Andrew Sorkin

If you had the chance to start your career again, what would you do differently?

Utsav: I would probably learn to code. While I wouldn’t want to be a software engineer by profession, I think the skill and knowledge to talk to computers will be paramount in the coming days.

Share a story/experience about the impact of Evenflow that brought a smile to your face.

Utsav: We are in the business of acquiring e-commerce sellers and the day we signed our first LOI brought a smile to my face.