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IN 2013, Rahat Kulshreshtha was just one other college student sharing a cramped dorm room, cluttered with textbooks, takeout containers, and an omnidirectional DJI Phantom One drone charging in the corner.
At the time, Kulshreshtha was an aspiring Bollywood filmmaker struggling to get ahead at his part-time job making music videos. He never imagined that the drone he rented to get a cool aerial shot of an Audi on the highway would one day grow to be the centerpiece of his potentially revolutionary sports technology company, Quidich Innovation Labs.
He founded it together with his then roommate, Gaurav MehtaWhat began as a school project has grown into a global broadcast technology company that uses cutting-edge drones to provide fans the closest stadium experience they’ll get from their couches.
The company, which pays homage to the fictional Harry Potter game Quidditch, enhances the viewer experience with a little bit of technical wizardry, Kulshreshtha explains. The pair recently debuted ICC Immersive cricket app, the second hottest sport after football, with over a billion devoted fans. VR extension for Apple Vision Pro, an app launched last month to coincide with the T20 Men’s Cricket World Cup (the first ever to feature an event held in the United States), allowing online viewers to look at matches in a virtual 3D space as if they were on the pitch with the players. The unique nature of 360-degree cricket, where players can hit the ball in any direction, including behind themselves, signifies that this app not only enhances the existing viewing experience but adds a whole latest dimension to it. For this reason, the technology is particularly well-suited to cricket versus other sports, although Quidich has partnered with major sporting events akin to Hockey World Cup in the past. They are currently working to expand the app to other platforms, akin to Oculus. The ICC Immersive app proves what Kulshreshtha has been saying for years: Society is bored with 2D broadcasts, and virtual reality is the next evolution in sports viewing.
Riddle: Creativity vs. Commerce
The decision to strike out on his own is difficult for any entrepreneur, but much more so for someone like Kulshreshtha, who had at all times dreamed of a creative life by making movies. Struggling between artistic expression and business pragmatism, he finished school and embarked on a ten-day soul-searching journey in the quiet of the Ladakh mountains in northern India. It was there, sitting alone on the shores of the serene Tso Kar Lake, that Kulshreshtha found the clarity to devote himself to Quidich.
“I realized it doesn’t have to be an either-or choice between entrepreneurship and creativity,” Kulshreshtha recalls. “It’s entrepreneurship and creativity.”
Since that epiphany, Kulshreshtha has embraced the symbiosis of creativity and commerce, not separation. He has learned that many of the skills he acquired as a filmmaker could be directly translated into the growth of his business. One example is the art of storytelling.
“When I look at the next big business opportunity, I think, ‘I need to co-develop a strategy and then present it as a compelling story to investors, customers, and our internal team,’” Kulshreshtha says. “There are so many stories that can be told with technology that aren’t available today, and once we identified that, we pivoted completely to a sports technology company.”
Commitment breeds confidence
With a newfound confidence that he could grow his business without selling his soul, Kulshreshtha’s confidence kicked into high gear. On his method to a conference in Las Vegas, he made an prolonged stop in Los Angeles, determined to pitch his drone-based VR innovations to Apple. The only problem? No one at Apple would meet with him.
After a few days of constant networking (and a little bit of “lucky coincidence,” as Kulshreshtha puts it), he finally managed to satisfy up with a friend at Apple who suggested they have breakfast together.
It wasn’t exactly a breakfast of champions. “We met for two hours, but I spent maybe 15 minutes talking business,” Kulshreshtha laments. “I never showed him the video we created to show everything we wanted to do with Vision Pro.” Kulshreshtha saw it as a learning experience, and he polished his presentation, hoping for a second likelihood.
Luckily, that chance presented itself just a week later. His contact at the breakfast in Los Angeles told him that the ICC had just approached Apple, which desired to popularize cricket viewing in the United States by offering a stunning, immersive experience. Kulshreshtha was on the next plane to Dubai, this time with the promise of high-level meetings with ICC executives. When he flew off, they agreed to collaborate on a Quidditch-based app.
Although Quidich has grow to be a global enterprise, Bundesliga AND Golf LIFE among her clients, Kulshreshtha and Mehta honor the principle of mixing creative and business success.
“People debate whether work has to be passion,” says Kulshreshtha. “But we strongly believe that when you connect the idea of your passion with your day job, work won’t feel like work. And the quality of your work will go up significantly.”