RITESH
AGARWAL CEO OYO
PRESENTED BY : BHAVIK PATEL(IU1981810008)
ABHISHEK SHARMA (IU1981810001)
VISHAL RATHI (IU1981810064)
Introduction - OYO
OYO Hotels & Homes was founded by Ritesh Agarwal, the first
resident Asian to be accepted to the Thiel Fellowship (started by
PayPal founder Peter Thiel). Travelling across India at the age of
17, Ritesh stayed in more than 100 bed and breakfasts, guest
houses, and hotels to realize there was a massive dearth of
affordable and good-quality hotels in the unbranded budget hotel
category.
With this in mind, he started his entrepreneurial journey by creating
a listing platform for budget accommodations, only to conclude that
discovery alone will not solve this problem. Ritesh believed that
everyone deserves a beautifully designed, chic and comfortable
living space. And everyone deserves a better life. He believed that
he could change the way people live.
How it all started for
Ritesh Agarwal
Ritesh used to sell SIM cards when he was just 13.
In 2013, he was nominated for ‘Thiel Fellowship,’ a 2-year
program initiated by PayPal founder Peter Theil. Students are
trained by some of the revolutionary entrepreneurs like Mark
Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, etc.
He was also paid a fellowship of $100,000 during that period.
He was the first Asian to have received Thiel fellowship.
Though he had enrolled himself for the University of London’s
International Programme provided by the Indian School of
Business and Finance, he never really felt connected to the
course and rather attended a number of entrepreneurship events.
History of Ritesh Agarwal
Ritesh, at 17, when most of the children
don’t even know what to do, dropped out
of the college to pursue his dream of
becoming an entrepreneur.
Then came ‘OYO Rooms’ in existence in
January 2013. It’s an Indian hotel brand
that owns, operates and aggregates
standardized hotel rooms. The firm
operates in Malaysia as well in Nepal.
Started in just one city of India, his firm,
as of April 2017, has around 70,000
rooms in 7,000 hotels across 200 towns
of India.
Family - Ritesh Agarwal
Ritesh Agarwal was from a middle-class Marwari family
who resides in the state of Orissa. Ritesh Agarwal was born
and brought up in Bisam in Cuttack, Orissa.
Speaking of Ritesh family background, he comes from a
middle-class Marwari family who resides in the state of
Orissa.
His family is from a business background. However, prior to
he has become a multi-millionaire, they did not have a good
financial condition.
However, his family always supported Ritesh to become
what he is today and always trusted him with every decision
that he makes.
Education - Ritesh Agarwal
Ritesh Agarwal was born on 16th November 1993 in a small town
Bisam in Cuttack Orissa.
He completed his schooling and also spent his younger days in his
birthplace only. He went to Sacred Heart School in Rayagada.
Following the completion of schooling, he moved to the Indian School
of Business and Finance in New Delhi.
Ritesh Agarwal is one of the most famous and accomplished young
Indian entrepreneurs.
OYO’s Mission
Ritesh Agarwal, OYO Founder and CEO, says, "OYO's
mission
is to create and offer good quality living-spaces at the
right
price and location. To enable this, we intend to tap
existing
supply and repair/upgrade to add to the overall inventory
pool. We observed that locked homes represent a
significant
Supply opportunity across top holiday destinations in the
country. We are confident about the potential and our
teams
have a considerable head start in this direction.”
Ritesh Agarwal - Achievements
TiE-Lumis Entrepreneurial Excellence Award (2014)
The first resident Asian to win ’20 Under 20’ Thiel Fellowship (2013)
Named one of the Top 50 Entrepreneurs by TATA First Dot Awards (2013)
Finalist of Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards-India
One of the ‘8 Hottest Teenage Start-Up Founders in the World’ by
Business Insider (2013)
World’s Youngest CEO at 17(recognized at 16)
Forbes “30 under 30” in the Consumer Tech Sector
Business World Young Entrepreneur Award
At 17, he authored a best-selling book, ‘Indian Engineering Colleges: A
Complete Encyclopedia of Top 100 Engineering Colleges’
GOAL:-Ritesh Agarwal’s goal is to become
world’s biggest hotel chain by 2023
Oyo, which began with one hotel in Gurgaon in 2013, has grown to
over 330,000 rooms in 500 cities globally. While India was its first
playground, it now has more rooms in China.
In India, it operates in over 180 cities with 143,000 rooms. In China,
where it began operations last November, it has expanded to over 265
cities with 180,000 rooms.
"Our belief is that if we just keep opening 50,000 keys a month, then
by 2023 we would have opened roughly 2.5 million more rooms,
which will be at least 2 times of what the world's largest hotel chain is
today," Agarwal.
Agarwal, a 24-year-old college dropout, founded OYO in 2013 after
travelling around India on a shoestring budget. The company has also
expanded into Malaysia, Nepal and Britain.
GOAL:-Ritesh Agarwal’s goal is to become
world’s biggest hotel chain by 2023
Ritesh Agarwal, the young CEO and founder of OYO Rooms, won
the award for New Age Business at the Achievers Awards
On receiving the award, Agarwal highlighted how mission-
orientedness and not profits were driving entrepreneurship and
organisation-building in India
He put forth a quite extraordinary goal for his company which is to
become world’s biggest hotel chain by 2023.
Ritesh Agarwal, the young CEO and founder of OYO Rooms, won
the award for New Age Business, which honours emerging
businesses and individuals whose innovative ideas are steering the
nation towards development and prosperity, at the Achievers Awards.
OYO’s Evolution
OYO’s journey started five years ago with a single hotel in
Gurugram with a handful of employees with a clear focus in their
mission to create a perfect space in every place.
Today, they have grown to become South Asia’s largest, among
China’s top five and the world’s fastest growing chain of hotels,
homes and living spaces.
At OYO, we have a varied talent pool with capabilities ranging
from technology to civil engineering; operations to data analytics
and hotel management experts to designers who are working
tirelessly to achieve the goal of adding value to every form of real
estate.
Problem which lead to the rise
of OYO
Speaking about the concept of 'agility' - a hallmark of the most
successful startups – Ritesh Agarwal recounted his own story and
expressed the idea that low cost doesn't have to entail low quality: "I
came from Odisha to Delhi at the age of 19 and we thought that low
cost doesn't have to be low quality. Why can't low cost be good
quality in hospitality?", Agarwal asked.
“Over 75-80% of the population travels from one town to another, be
it for pilgrimage, holiday or work but no one ever thought how to
improve their life. I come from a middle-class family, holidays for us
was always a pilgrimage, and the question of where to stay was the
hardest thing in that trip.
This is not a problem of India alone, but around the world, finding a
better living space for middle-class is a huge challenge and I wish to
OYO’s Marketing Strategy
To maintain its ranking and perform above all its competitors, OYO
focuses mainly upon mass retention and acquisition.
It is using Digital Marketing section very aggressively for customer
acquisition and lead generation.
Oyo knows the power of Social media. Hence, it is very
strategically using all the platforms available for social media
coverage.
They target mass potential customer based on their behavior,
interest and many other factors which are readily available via
Digital Marketing.
Growth of OYO
Oyo Rooms founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal talks:
Oyo's revenue grew 350 percent year over year in fiscal
year 2019 to $951 million, but losses totaled $335 million
Focusing in 2020 on improving customer and partner
relations, and on growth that increases gross margins
Oyo launched in the U.S. in June 2019; U.S. revenues for
2019 were $178 million
Oyo also will target opportunities to grow its U.S. business
travel segment
FINANCIAL FACTS AND
FIGURES
Categories -Hospitality, Hotel, Leisure, Reservations, Travel
Founded Date – May 21, 2013
Founders – Ritesh Agarwal
Last Funding Type – Series E
Number of Employees – 1001-5000
Legal Name – Oravel Stays Private Limited
OYO has got 12 funding rounds until now.
In which it has raised for about $ 1.7B.
They got their latest funding on Apr 1, 2019, from a Series
E round.
Airbnb Invested for about $ 75 Million in OYO.
Qualities of a Leader –
Ritesh Agarwal
Think Big:-"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.“
Hire the Right People:-"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.”
Remember You are Doing it for Customer:-"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
Qualities of a Leader –
Ritesh Agarwal
Stay Relevant:-"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.“
Build Your Brand:-"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.“
Final Words:-"I aim to keep innovating for my customers.
Learning to unlearn and learn again is my mantra of success."
Important Lessons from –
Ritesh Agarwal
Learn something by doing it: You should be focused on your goals, and learn
whatever helps to achieve your goals by practically doing it.
Follow your passion: Mr. Ritesh Agarwal said that if you follow your passion,
you can achieve your dream faster than others.
Create an opportunity to work with entrepreneurs and startups: Getting
the opportunity to work with entrepreneurs and startups can provide you
various kinds of new and innovative ideas.
If you have advantages, use it: If you find any kind of advantages that our
society I providing, use it, do something wild and create a career of your
choice.
Create a strong network: The most important thing for becoming a
successful entrepreneur is to create teams who have the same passion as you.
Always be restless: Once you achieve your goal, don’t take a rest, set higher
goals, and try to achieve it