RITESH AGARWAL - BASIC ENGLISH NOTES - SEMESTER I - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

 

RITESH AGARWAL

Answer the following questions in a sentence or two:

1) Who is the founder & CEO of OYO Rooms?

Ans: Ritesh Agarwal is the founder and CEO of OYO Rooms.

 

2) What is current valuation of OYO Rooms?

Ans: 360 Crores is current valuation of OYO Rooms.

 

3) How does Ritesh look like?

Ans: Ritesh Agarwal with his common man qualities of whitish, tall, thin, scruffy look isn’t easy to find in a crowd.

 

4) Where was Ritesh born?

Ans: Ritesh Agarwal was born in Bissam Cuttack in Orissa.

 

5) What are fun elements of Ritesh Agarwal?

Ans: Ritesh Agarwal fun elements included screwing around with the computer, and trying hard to find opportunities to make mistakes, so that he could learn new stuff.

 

6) How did Ritesh quench his thirst?

Ans: Ritesh quenched his thirst; he borrowed his elder brother’s books on programming.

 

7) Where did Ritesh learn other than schools and books?

Ans: Ritesh Agarwal learned from Google other than schools and books.

 

8) Why did Ritesh go to Kota?

Ans: Ritesh Agarwal went to Kota to join IIT.

 

9) What is the name of the book attempted by Ritesh?

Ans: Indian Engineering Colleges: A Complete Encyclopedia of Top 100 Engineering Colleges is the name of the book attempted by Ritesh.

 

10) At what age Ritesh was chosen among 240 children to be part of TIFR?

Ans: Ritesh was chosen at the age of 16 among the 240 children to be part of TIFR.

 

11) What is B & B?

Ans: Bed and Breakfast is B & B.

12) What is SAT?

Ans: Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Scholastic Assessment Test.

 

13) What is Airbnb?

Ans: Air Bed and Breakfast is Airbnb.

 

14) Name the university Ritesh joined.

Ans: Ritesh had joined the University of London’s Indian campus.

 

15) When did Ritesh start his first venture?

Ans: Ritesh started his first venture in 2012.

 

16) Who funded 30 lakhs to Ritesh?

Ans: Venture Nursery funded 30 lakhs to Ritesh.

 

17) What fellowship was awarded to Ritesh?

Ans: Thiel Fellowship was awarded to Ritesh.

 

18) What does OYO mean?

Ans: OYO means “On Your Own” is the company offers accommodation room, dining, and fitness center facilities.

 

19 Who is the former CEO of Seventy MM?

Ans: Bhawna Agarwal is former CEO of Seventy MM.

 

Explain the following statements with reference to their context.

1) The journey of our hero began rather early than normal!

Ans: He teenage boy – Ritesh Agarwal is the young Founder & CEO of OYO Rooms – the fastest-growing branded network of hotels offline & online. A college dropout, who once wanted to sit for an engineering exam, Ritesh today heads among the most valuable start-up by a person who never studied beyond school. The journey of our hero began rather early than normal! Ritesh was born to a business class family in Bissam Cuttack in Orissa and attended the Sacred Heart School in Rayagada, Orissa. During the growing up days in Rayagada, Odisha, it was all about fun and learning for him but his ways were rather unconventional from those of other kids. His fun elements included screwing around with the computer and trying hard to find opportunities to make mistakes so that he could learn new stuff. And doing that he gained a keen interest in software!

 

2) To quench his thirst, he borrowed his elder brother’s books for programming.

Ans: At the age of just 8 years, he started coding. To quench his thirst to know more he borrowed his elder brother’s books for programming. Some of the fun languages like Basic and Pascal were taught in the school itself, and rest he managed to learn from Google. At the age when most of the teenagers are dating or swiping right on tinder, and enjoying the most comfortable zone of their life. He innovated something which no one had ever thought of at such a young age. In 2011, he packed up his bag and moved to Delhi with a concrete dream to start something of his own. Ritesh always felt that the budget hotels in India didn’t even meet the very basic needs of a budget traveler. Hence, capitalizing on this opportunity, he started his first venture in 2012 and called it Oravel Stays. It was an aggregator of bed and break for stays across India. In a matter of no time, he pinned to his wallet funding of Rs. 30 lakhs from Venture Nursery, an accelerator firm which brought together a bunch of investors to nurture startups. This started with the idea of it, moved on to know about it and then the hunger just went on increasing. To quench his thirst, he borrowed his elder brother’s books for programming. Some of the basic languages like Basic and Pascal were taught in the school itself and the rest he managed to learn from Google. He even sold sim cards to survive, afraid his family would end his entrepreneurial dreams and summon him back home to Odisha if they knew of his struggles.

 

3) This book turned out to become huge on Flipkart and was sold out in a while too.

Ans: n 2009, Ritesh left for Kota to join IIT and in no time he figured that Kota was anything but a place where one could learn coding. Hence, his dream of coding took a backseat and as he had a lot of time to spare, he started attending Bansal Tutorials that his dad had got him enrolled into. The rest of the time he used to just chill and travel around a lot. He even started writing a book and ended up inscribing – ‘Indian Engineering Colleges: A Complete Encyclopedia of Top 100 Engineering Colleges’. This book turned out to become huge on Flipkart and was sold out in a while too. In fact, the tutorials he went to also had this book and his picture was right on the cover.

 

4) He used to do nothing but meet and read about entrepreneurs, start-ups, businesses, and especially Airbnb!

Ans: In 2011, Ritesh moved to Delhi with intentions of starting up something of his own and at the same time to prepare for SAT to move to the US for further studies.
Now, money back then was not a problem for him because he had savings from Kota and the pocket money was good; roughly Rs.15,000 for a month. But fortunately or unfortunately, SAT never happened. Hence, he used to do nothing but meet and read about entrepreneurs, start-ups, businesses, and especially Airbnb! Now, Ritesh during his days had seen and always felt that budget hotels in India didn’t even meet the very basic needs of a budget traveller. Hence, capitalizing on this opportunity, he started his first venture in 2012 – Oravel Stays! It was an aggregator of bed and breakfast stays across India.

 

5) He managed to reach amongst the top ten winners who received a sum of $100,000.

Ans: In simpler terms, it was meant to be destination for short and midterm rentals for bed and breakfast joints, private rooms and serviced apartments. In a matter of no time, he also secured funding of Rs 30 lakhs from Venture Nursery, an accelerator firm which brought together a bunch of storied investors to nurture start-ups. With sufficient money in his pockets, he started working on his new found interest and at the same time, he also presented his idea at the Thiel Fellowship – a global contest intended for students under the age of 20. He managed to reach amongst the top ten winners who received a sum of $100,000 [over two years (about Rs 2.7 lakhs / month)] as well as guidance and other resources, to drop out of school and create a start-up, from PayPal co-founder and Facebook investor – Peter Thiel.
With the new found confidence, he started working even more rigorously but to his hard luck, their business model didn’t seem to be picking up. And as much as he tried, things just weren’t falling in place.

 

6) The app ranks amongst the  best-rated apps on Google Play Store.

Ans: OYO Rooms mobile app has been downloaded more than 160,000 times and more than 20,000 bookings have been made so far. The app ranks amongst the best-rated apps on Google Play Store and has also been listed as one of the top three apps in the ‘Travel & Local’ category. More recently, the company has also raised another $25 Million from Light speed, Sequoia and others.

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7) World’s Youngest CEO at 17 (recognized at 16).

Ans:  The teenage boy – Ritesh Agarwal is the young Founder & CEO of OYO Rooms – the fastest-growing branded network of hotels offline & online. A college dropout, who once wanted to sit for an engineering exam, Ritesh today heads among the most valuable start-up by a person who never studied beyond school. The journey of our hero began rather early than normal! Ritesh started his entrepreneurial journey when he was 17 years old. He dropped out of college and launched his first start‐up Oravel Stays Pvt. Ltd. in the year 2012. Oravel was designed as a platform to enable listing and booking of budget accommodation. Being an avid traveler, he soon realized that the budget hospitality sector lacked predictability. Ritesh Agarwal was selected for the “20 under 20” Thiel Fellowship in 2013. The Thiel Fellowship is a two-year program wherein fellows receive $100,000 and mentorship from the foundation’s network of tech entrepreneurs, investors, and scientists. With a current valuation of nearly $10 billion, OYO Rooms do nothing out of the box but provide travelers with the coolest yet cheapest efficient, young, standardized rooms with no add-ons attached to it!

 

Answer the following questions in 300 words.

1) Bring out the entrepreneurial qualities of Ritesh Agarwal.

Ans: One such successful entrepreneur is Ritesh Agarwal – who founded OYO Rooms when he was 19 years. His story, full of passion and perseverance, is worth reading.  Today OYO Rooms is the world’s leading chain of hotels, homes, and spaces. Ritesh is been named the youngest Indian in the rich list with a net worth of $1.1 billion (Rs 7,800 crore) according to Hurun Global Rich List 2020. "It is about having a passion for solving a big problem and leaving a huge impact. Once you have that, everything else falls into place. You take ownership, build conviction, and build capabilities to transfer that belief to investors, employees, and customers. You must be willing to stretch out of your comfort zone, take risks, and be emotional (in a good way) about your venture and the stakeholders involved."

"Thinking big is an important factor. Initially we used to think that we will have 10 properties, but over time, our aspiration grew – to aim to become one of the world’s largest hotel chains. This has brought us to the present scale where we are India’s largest and world’s 14th largest hotel network today. We have a clear direction to become the world’s largest hotel chain especially because of the capabilities we are building." "To be a successful entrepreneur, the first thing is building a great team of people. Most entrepreneurial ventures in India are run by the founders and their friends. I spent close to a year trying to bring some of the smartest people into our team, who were not only sharp but could also roll up their sleeves when required." "At times, we tend to get carried away by what we think are good ideas, but in reality, they may not serve the customer’s purpose in any way. It is crucial that we understand the customers’ requirements and direct our efforts towards providing the best possible solution to their requirements." "It is extremely important to build something that a 100 people absolutely love using rather than make something that a 1,000 people would just, kind of, like." "Your brand reflects your culture, purpose and identity. It’s never too early to start thinking about it. In the quest to grow fast, the foundation may often get ignored. Why do we exist? What do we stand for? Make sure you answer these questions and communicate them internally and externally."  "Founders often find themselves lost in a fog of activity, and need to step back and focus on a subset of decisions. "I aim to keep innovating for my customers. Learning to unlearn and learn again is my mantra of success."

2) Discuss the zeal and passion of Ritesh.

Ans: Ritesh Agarwal story has changed this age bar scenario. As he is 25years old with a net worth of 3500 crores. You must be wondering that, what has he done? Or who is he, with such an immense net worth? Well, you must have heard of OYO rooms? Do you know what OYO means? It means “on your own”. Oravel Stays Private Limited, parent company of OYO, was founded by Ritesh Agarwal in 2013 when he was just 19 years old. 19 years old, was the age of OYO rooms owner!! Yes.  But as they say, “Everyone can rise above the circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.” Having dreams, and being passionate about fulfilling them is what lead to good stories. And that is the reason why Ritesh Agarwal's passion has made him the icon for millennial. 

Converting passion into reality Being an entrepreneur, starting something of your own may get a bit risky, but also exciting. Ritesh Agarwal once said, that, “As an entrepreneur, you are wired for being optimistic, as, if there's a 5% chance, you'll have to take that chance”.

Therefore, capitalizing on this opportunity, he started Oravel Stays in 2012.  Oravel Stays was meant to be a destination for short and midterm rentals, for bed and breakfast joints, private rooms and serviced apartments. This startup was such an amazing idea, that in no matter of time, they received funding of Rs30 lakhs from the Venture Nursery. Also, being then First Asian Resident to apply and be selected for The Thiel Fellowship, he received a funding of $100,000. You must be wondering, that what is a Thiel fellowship? Well, Thiel Fellowship is like a global contest for students under the age of 20. This fellowship was sponsored by Peter Thiel, who is a co-founder of PayPal and the early investor of Facebook.

Ritesh managed to be in the top ten winners, who received a sum of $100,000 for two years. Along with that, the only condition for Thiel fellowship was that the person should be a dropout and should have a brilliant idea for a startup.

3) Discuss the business journey of Ritesh.

Ans: Ritesh felt a bit low, but he kept himself motivated.  As, in life, there is always a low point which tries to back us down, but if we still plan to be motivated and focused, we'll reach the heights. That’s the reality of life. Well, he once again bagged himself with confidence and was geared up to fly high. Ritesh realized that the biggest struggle for a traveller is to find a good and affordable hotel. As he wanted to make the experience of a trip worthwhile for people. It’s quite common, like when you are planning to travel somewhere, you aim to have a good and memorable trip. But wait, what makes a trip memorable?

Quality time with your loved ones, visiting new places, eating amazing food, but the main thing is the hotel rooms. As this is the main thing which we focus on. Isn’t it? We see if the washroom if nice or not, beds are soft or not, is the hotel providing complimentary breakfast and also what all other facilities the hotel has? This is what made Ritesh thinking, and thus he reached the consensus of making such an online platform, where you can get all these sorts of information in a single platform. Incredible idea. Isn’t it? Therefore, Ritesh re-launched his business model in 2013 and there came the OYO Rooms. OYO rooms became a mission to create great living spaces for the common man In India with affordable prices. It reached out to prospective hotels or hotel owners could also reach out to them, and then the OYO’s team would visit the place. They used to audit the hotel, to understand the changes that would be required to standardize the property as per OYO standards, and shares the same with the hotels. After the launch, Ritesh even got on board with Bhawna Agarwal, former CEO at e-commerce firm Seventy MM for critical business advising. Ritesh decided to play it smart & safe and made sure to leave no stone unturned. Oyo rooms tied-up with a dozen numbers of hotels and with their help offered rooms to its customers. Things started to get better for them and to meet the demands they eventually had to increase their team of two to fifteen and then twenty-five, and so on. The business was reaching its height.
 In 2014, the company raised Rs.4 crores from Light Speed Ventures, who was the company's first institutional shareholder. Bejul Somania, managing director of Lightspeed Ventures, and Ritesh became good partners. Bejul was the one, who told Ritesh that getting the right set of people to join the company, who have the same ambition, will create a crucial impact. And, thus he OYO got his new COO, Abhinav Sinha, 2014. Also, In May 2014 it received funding of about $650,000 from Sequoia Capital and LSVP at a pre-money valuation of $60 million.

 

4) Explain the early education of Ritesh.

Ans: The journey of our hero began rather early than normal! Ritesh was born to a business class family in Bissam Cuttack in Orissa and attended the Sacred Heart School in Rayagada, Orissa. During the growing up days in Rayagada, Odisha, it was all about fun and learning for him but his ways were rather unconventional from those of other kids. His fun elements including screwing around with the computer, and trying hard to find opportunities to make mistakes, so that he could learn new stuff. And doing that he gained a keen interest in software! This started with the idea of it, moved on to knowing about it and then the hunger just went on increasing. To quench his thirst, he borrowed his elder brother’s books for programming. Some of the basic languages like Basic and Pascal were taught in school itself and the rest he managed to learn from Google baba. Interestingly, he had started coding when he was just eight years old. So software had obviously become his love. And by the time he reached his 10th grade, he had made up his mind that he wanted to take up coding for a living. In 2009, Ritesh left for Kota to join IIT and in no time he figured that Kota was anything but a place where one could learn coding. Hence, his dream of coding took a backseat and as he had a lot of time to spare, he started attending Bansal Tutorials that his dad had got him enrolled into. The rest of the time he used to just chill and travel around a lot. He even started writing a book and ended up inscribing – ‘Indian Engineering Colleges: A Complete Encyclopedia of Top 100 Engineering Colleges’. This book turned out to become huge on Flipkart and was sold out in a while too. In fact, the tutorials he went to also had this book and his picture was right on the cover.

 

5) Discuss Ritesh as an entrepreneur.

Ans: Inspired by the word "entrepreneur", Ritesh indirectly developed an interest in something, which he never thought would happen. Have you ever thought of becoming or doing something else in your life? But at some point of time, you suddenly develop an interest in something, and then you are like, "Wait! This is what I wanted to do”. These situations, generally occur in one’s life. It can be reversed also. As, many of us dream of something, but, might find it difficult to achieve, or we somehow lack passion in that.

Being in Kota, Ritesh had quite a free time. And because of which he started travelling to Delhi, as he found it more interesting. So, he used to stay in PGs, budgeted hotels. Who would have thought, that just by staying up in different budgeted hotels, he would develop an idea out of it? Amazing, isn’t it? Delhi, for him, became land for his passions. In other words, by making weekend plans to Delhi, he started covering conferences by entrepreneurs. He also attended various events by them. He used to see and get ideas regarding, doing something of his own. By 2011, he finally moved into Delhi. He came here to do the preparation of SAT, for moving to the US for further studies. But something was missing in his life. He didn’t find joy in the preparation and unfortunately, SAT never happened.  As his interest was shifted in the direction of entrepreneurship, business and on startup like AIRBNB. He even joined The University of London, India’s campus. But just after three days of joining, as it was not his cup of tea. So he left the university and never came back and focused on starting his venture in hospitality. Ritesh, during his days of travels and stays in a hotel, noticed that budget hotels in India didn’t even meet the very basic needs of a budget traveller. This opportunity strikes him a lot. And as he says, “Opportunities are everywhere, but are you ready to catch hold of them?” He discovered that hotel line is a big and a great opportunity to work, and hence, he did. And, he became quite passionate to kick start his venture.

 

6) Explain Ritesh’s journey from Oravel to OYO.

Ans: Ritesh felt a bit low, but he kept himself motivated.  As, in life, there is always a low point which tries to back us down, but if we still plan to be motivated and focused, we'll reach the heights. That’s the reality of life. Well, he once again bagged himself with confidence and was geared up to fly high. Ritesh realized that the biggest struggle for a traveller is to find a good and affordable hotel. As he wanted to make the experience of a trip worthwhile for people. It’s quite common, like when you are planning to travel somewhere, you aim to have a good and memorable trip. But wait, what makes a trip memorable?

Quality time with your loved ones, visiting new places, eating amazing food, but the main thing is the hotel rooms. As this is the main thing which we focus on. Isn’t it? We see if the washroom if nice or not, beds are soft or not, is the hotel providing complimentary breakfast and also what all other facilities the hotel has? This is what made Ritesh thinking, and thus he reached the consensus of making such an online platform, where you can get all these sorts of information in a single platform. Incredible idea. Isn’t it? Therefore, Ritesh re-launched his business model in 2013 and there came the OYO Rooms. OYO rooms became a mission to create great living spaces for the common man In India with affordable prices.

It reached out to prospective hotels or hotel owners could also reach out to them, and then the OYO’s team would visit the place. They used to audit the hotel, to understand the changes that would be required to standardize the property as per OYO standards, and share the same with the hotels. After the launch, Ritesh even got on board with Bhawna Agarwal, former CEO at e-commerce firm Seventy MM for critical business advising. Ritesh decided to play it smart & safe and made sure to leave no stone unturned. Oyo rooms tied-up with a dozen numbers of hotels and with their help offered rooms to its customers. Things started to get better for them and to meet the demands they eventually had to increase their team of two to fifteen and then twenty-five, and so on. The business was reaching its height.  In 2014, the company raised Rs.4 crores from LIghtSpeed Ventures, who was the company's first institutional shareholder. Bejul Somania, managing director of Lightspeed Ventures, and Ritesh became good partners. Bejul was the one, who told Ritesh that getting the right set of people to join the company, who have the same ambition, will create a crucial impact.
And, thus he OYO got his new COO, Abhinav Sinha, 2014. Also, In May 2014 it received funding of about $650,000 from Sequoia Capital and LSVP at a pre-money valuation of $60 million.