Tech Icon Spotlight:
Ujjwal Singh
CTO/CPO, Multiverse.io
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Ujjwal Singh shares insights into embracing uncertainty, challenging incrementalism, and removing constraints to drive meaningful innovation.
Ujjwal Singh jokes that he had two career choices growing up: “When we first came to the US, my parents said I was going to either be an engineer or that I was going to be an engineer. But I remember the first time I saw a TV and thought it was completely magic. That’s what really drew me to technology; the desire to explain the magic.”
From developing surgical robots to leading product innovation at YouTube, Meta, and Multiverse, Singh has always been drawn to hard problems and bold ideas. Riviera Partners spoke with Singh to gain his insights into tackling the unknown, overcoming incremental thinking, and building products that produce real impact.
Start before you’re ready
While some people leverage their expertise in a specific field to advance their careers, Singh knew early on he would take a different approach. “I’m driven by hard problems that I don’t necessarily know anything about,” he said.
By approaching hard problems with a learner’s mindset, Singh has had the opportunity to launch a new approach to instant messaging, create a new music streaming service, and incorporate AI into education. The key is not to work backward from a specific destination, but to instead run toward the problem and let the destination unfold.
“You learn by doing. When I approach a new space, I approach it with very strong opinions held loosely. With YouTube, I decided to go build a YouTube music app in a certain way that would allow me to learn about leveraging content at scale. As a side effect of that, if I build it correctly then we’d have a successful YouTube music app,” Singh said.
“If you approach it with an end goal in mind, then you get everyone telling you why you can’t do it. ‘Why would you want to build YouTube Music when there is already Apple and Spotify?’ But the act of making something can lead to interesting and unexpected outcomes.”
You learn by doing. When I approach a new space, I approach it with very strong opinions held loosely.”
Don’t confuse incrementalism for progress
As the saying goes, Henry Ford would have built a faster horse if he had stopped to ask what people want. Throughout his career, Singh has similarly opted for innovation over incrementalism.
“At Multiverse, we have a well-established and successful services business model. When I joined, I certainly could have focused on the services model and worked to iterate that. Instead, we are looking at the kinds of problems that Multiverse can solve and exploring how to leverage AI and other technologies to do that.”
“I always look out for incrementalism, whether that is in the teams I work with, the ideas, or the companies I want to be associated with. It’s antithetical to how I look at things,” Singh said.
I always look out for incrementalism, whether that is in the teams I work with, the ideas, or the companies I want to be associated with. It’s antithetical to how I look at things.”
Reward failure
Incrementalism is good for one thing: avoiding failure. It’s much easier to predict the outcome if you’re taking a single step than if you’re making a giant leap. To embrace innovation, you have to also embrace failure.
“Your ego can’t be tied to mistakes. Being proven wrong isn’t a negative thing,” Singh said. “It’s more negative to not take a stand. Incrementalism is a side effect of protecting from failure.”
To support innovation, tech leaders must build a culture that incentivizes big swings. “Failure should be rewarded. If you take a risk and fail, there should be a bigger reward than if you are incremental and successful. While incremental improvement can certainly add up, that’s not what draws people to tech. As technologists, we exist to do non-incremental things.”
Your ego can’t be tied to mistakes. Being proven wrong isn’t a negative thing. It’s more negative to not take a stand.”
Roadblocks are meant to be removed
If you want to solve big problems, you have to work for big companies, right? Not necessarily. While tech giants like Google or Meta offer vast resources and global audiences, the reality is that size often slows innovation.
“At Google, you can launch a product and get a million users without doing any work all because of the Google brand. But at a smaller company, if you build something that attracts a million users, that’s a real signal that you are adding value to people’s lives,” Singh said.
In either case, success often comes down to your ability to understand the constraints of your specific business, and how they can be removed.
“For the most part, my job ends up being about identifying the big idea, identifying the constraints, and then removing them. I don’t think it’s any more complicated than that.”
For the most part, my job ends up being about identifying the big idea, identifying the constraints, and then removing them. I don’t think it’s any more complicated than that.”
