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Stepping Stones T The story behind Amsum & Ash founder Amit Gupta’s success. | BY LORI STORM
| Winter 2015
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANNY SIEPP
142 Artful Living
here are certain business basics for start-ups: create a plan, develop a product, come up with a name. It went nothing like that for Amit Gupta, founder of one of the largest manufacturing companies of natural stone products in the world with its flagship store in Minneapolis. “TAB and Amsum & Ash just started on a whim — there was no structure or plan,” he explains. “We first started marketing and then started trading. Then we said, ‘We can do all of these things, so let’s get into manufacturing.’” The engaging entrepreneur will be the first to tell you he’s not a planner. It’s just not his style. Gupta grew up in Jaipur, one of India’s most popular tourist destinations, before coming stateside in 1991. He studied at the University of Minnesota and landed in the Carlson School of Management’s MBA program. Around the same time, capitalism was beginning to take hold in India. Gupta was consumed with the idea of bringing his country’s goods to global markets and set out to find manufacturing and exporting partners. “I was 21 years old and had absolutely no idea,” he says. “When you’re young, you’re stupid — and that’s an advantage because you will take any risk without thinking of the consequences.” His “aha” moment came when a cousin happened to show him a stone tile. Gupta instantly assumed it was a piece of famed Italian marble, but that small wonder actually came from India. “I was so impressed with that little tile that I said, ‘Take me to these factories,’” he recalls. It wasn’t long before Gupta started making sales calls out of his St. Louis Park apartment. Many liked the idea of importing the stunning natural stone but weren’t willing to take a chance on him because he didn’t have any manufacturing or factories. Still, Gupta was able to convince his brother Sumit to come on board for six months. Together, they developed TAB in 1997, and today, Sumit heads up operations in India, overseeing its multiple quarries and processing plants. Its local arm, Amsum & Ash, also started small. The company now plays the role of international importer and wholesale distributor, known for sourcing some of the world’s finest soapstone, granite, marble, slate, onyx and sandstone. Designers and architects turn to Amsum & Ash to discover unique stone varieties and colors not found elsewhere. And thousands are on display at its local warehouse — that really isn’t a warehouse at all. “It’s a gallery,” says Amit, referring to the rows and rows of 5-foot-by-8-foot blocks. “When you walk in here, it’s like you’re going to a museum. This is beauty. If you don’t want to buy anything, I’m OK. Just come and engage and be inspired.” Good design is very important to Amit, who is an avid photographer and says he’d probably be in the fashion business if he weren’t doing this. Amsum & Ash’s other hallmark? Hard work. “I never started this company to play golf — I’m a workaholic,” admits Amit, who has to juggle between two very different time zones. The overall goal is to acquire more quarries, but don’t expect him to lay out a detailed three- or five-year plan. “We had no idea in the beginning,” says Amit. “I could have failed, but I never even thought about it. I just hit the ground running.”