uTorrent not starting as "minimized" even though settings have been set appropriately

Use the Minimize to tray option in the UI Settings section, it has the side-effect of starting minimized (to the tray):

Make a shortcut to utorrent, then right click on that shortcut, and click properties. Click next to "Run:" and set the dropdown to "minimized", then click apply. When you open that shortcut, it will open minimized.