4. RITESH AGARWAL
Karan
Summary
Ritesh
Agarwal is a young and successful entrepreneur from India. He is the founder
and CEO of OYO Rooms, one of the
largest hotel chains in the world. His life story is full of dreams, struggle,
and success.
Ritesh
was born in a small town in Odisha. From a young age, he was very curious and
loved to learn new things. He was interested in computers and the internet. At
the age of 17, he moved to Delhi to study. While living in different places, he
noticed that budget hotels in India were not always clean or well managed. This
gave him the idea to improve the way budget hotels work.
In
2013, he started a small company called Oravel
Stays, which later became OYO
Rooms. His idea was simple: partner with small hotels, improve their
services, and then offer those rooms to customers at affordable prices with
good quality and comfort. He used technology and apps to make bookings easier.
At
first, Ritesh faced many challenges. He had no big team or a lot of money. But
he believed in his idea and worked very hard. He learned from his mistakes,
improved his business model, and kept moving forward.
Soon,
his company started growing fast. Investors noticed his work and supported him.
OYO expanded across India and then to other countries like China, the UK, and
the USA. Ritesh became one of the youngest billionaires in India.
His
story shows us that success comes with smart thinking, passion, and never
giving up. Ritesh Agarwal is a role model for young entrepreneurs. He proved
that even a small-town boy with a big dream can build a global company with
courage and hard work.
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 CEOof Seventy MM.
20. What is the
first technology driven network of branded hotels?
Ans:
OYO Rooms is the first technology-driven network of branded hotels.
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 VentureNursery, 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 VentureNursery, 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.
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 realityBeing 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
VentureNursery.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 SeventyMM 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.
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
likeAIRBNB.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 SeventyMM 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.
Assignment
Topics
1. Imagine you
are starting a business inspired by Ritesh Agarwal’s story. You must prepare a
5-minute pitch, including a business idea, target market, revenue model, and
how you would solve a real-world problem like he did.
Ans: Hello everyone! My name is Anuj, and I am here to share my business idea
inspired by Ritesh Agarwal, the founder of OYO Rooms.
My
business is called "Study Stay", a chain of budget-friendly
hostels and rooms specially for students and exam-takers in big cities. Just
like Ritesh saw a problem in hotel quality and solved it, I want to solve the
problem students face when they come from small towns for exams, coaching, or
interviews and don’t have a safe and affordable place to stay.
Target
Market: Students aged 16–25 who travel for
competitive exams, coaching classes, or college admissions in cities.
Revenue
Model: Students can book rooms online
using an app. We will partner with PGs and hostels, improve their quality, and
list them under our brand. We will earn money through bookings, and the owners
will get more customers.
Real-World
Problem Solved: Many students don’t find clean,
safe, or low-cost places to stay. My business will ensure that each location is
checked for safety, cleanliness, and comfort—just like how Ritesh made hotel
stays better and more standard.
In
short, "Study Stay" gives peace of mind to students and parents. I
believe that just like Ritesh, with a simple idea and passion, we can solve a
big problem and build something useful and successful.
2.
Compare Ritesh Agarwal’s leadership style and strategies with another famous entrepreneur.
Students can create a presentation or an infographic highlighting their
similarities and differences, focusing on risk-taking, innovation, and
team-building approaches.
Ans: Let’s compare Ritesh Agarwal (founder of OYO) with Steve
Jobs (co-founder of Apple). Both are famous entrepreneurs, but their
leadership styles and strategies are quite different and also similar in some
ways.
Innovation:
Ritesh focused on solving a local problem—affordable and clean hotel rooms in
India. He used technology to organize and standardize small hotels. Steve Jobs,
on the other hand, changed the world with his innovative products like the
iPhone and Mac. Both believed in creating something new that makes life easier
for people.
Risk-Taking:
Ritesh took a big risk at a young age. He dropped out of college and used his
savings to start OYO. Steve Jobs also took big risks, including leaving college
and investing heavily in ideas that others thought were impossible. Both were
bold and believed in their vision.
Team-Building:
Ritesh focused on building partnerships with hotel owners and creating a strong
internal team to grow OYO fast. Steve Jobs was known to be a tough leader who
pushed his team hard but also motivated them to do their best. While Jobs was
more strict, Ritesh is seen as more friendly and flexible in his leadership
style.
In
summary, both Ritesh Agarwal and Steve Jobs
showed passion, vision, and the courage to take risks. They were different in
how they led their teams, but both achieved great success through innovation
and strong leadership.
