Kamal Hotchandani
Entrepreneur, investor and media founder
Kamal Hotchandani is the co-founder of Haute Living. His career has taken him from an early internet venture to a media business spanning luxury, watches, aviation, real estate, beauty and wealth. In this interview, he reflects on starting his first business at nine, finding his place in print, building specialist communities and making more time for the people closest to him.
Where did the instinct for business come from, and how early did it show up?
My instinct from business came from my family and roots as the community i am from are bred as entrepreneurs. I feel I was an entrepreneur from birth but realized it was my calling when I had a business at 9.
AMG was founded straight out of Boston University in 1996, raised twelve million and reached a forty million dollar valuation during the internet boom. How did that chapter end?
Out of school and being able to get 8 figures in capital at a young age was an amazing learning experience and riding the waves of a market crash was my PhD and fortunately came out on alive and growing.
Starting a print magazine in 2004, when everyone was declaring print dead, was a strange move for someone who had just come out of an internet company. What made it the right bet?
I wanted to be the Rolls Royce of Media and I saw Rolls Royce supporting print media. I knew we would be able to put our brand next to big brands in print to start and evolve to digital , social and experiential. The evolution was coming but wanted our brand to touch all formats
Haute Living has grown from one Miami title into a group covering watches, jets, real estate, beauty and wealth. Which of those was hardest to get right?
All of verticals we built are like my Childeren and each have unique characteristics in growing them. The hard part was building the community which we had, the second hardest part is learning all the nuances in each industry and the third hardest part is finding great talent to work and collaborate
Interviewing very wealthy people is your day job, and now you are on the other side of it. What do you notice about them that never makes it into the profiles?
The relentless pursuit of excellence, the drive and never give up mentality. Always with an attitude of gratitude
Looking at the next decade rather than the last two, what are you building toward?
Looking forward is more control of my time, spending it with loved one and also laying the foundation for the next generation to grow and learn from our experiences
What is your motto for life?
My motto and attitude for life is having an Attitude based on Gratitude, I am grateful and thankful for all the experiences I have had the good the bad and the ugly and just grateful to wake up smiling everyday