‘I personally don’t like to call myself a shark,’ says OYO’s Ritesh Agarwal

‘I personally don’t like to call myself a shark,’ says OYO’s Ritesh Agarwal

As Shark Tank India Season 3 continues to gain momentum amongst audiences, the ‘sharks’ are having their moments on the show. Especially, the new ‘sharks’ joining this season, have been getting a lot of attention. While Deepinder Goyal has been lauded for his laser-sharp focus, Ritesh Agarwal has been appreciated for his pleasant demeanor on the show. And recently, when Indianexpress.com spoke to Ritesh, the CEO of OYO Rooms, not only did he tell us about his success story with OYO, but also shared how he didn’t identify very much with being called a ‘shark’.

Talking about how his success story with OYO began, Ritesh shared, “I was just 18, right out of high school when I was starting. So naturally people did not take me seriously at first. They thought a young person was very interested in trying to make a positive difference, but they were not sure if I would be able to do it. Back in the day when I wrote cold emails, nobody would respond or was not willing to invest. I finally got a big investor in 2015. Before that, in June 2013, I started with one hotel in Gurgaon. It had 20 per cent occupancy before OYO came about, but in a few months, the occupancy grew to 80 to 90 per cent. That was the starting point. Today we serve 17,000 hotels and 1,50,000 homes, so it has grown. Over the years, I have learned that consistency matters. I did not give up, and slowly more critics started becoming believers.”

Ritesh Agarwal hails from South Orissa and was preparing for his engineering, but he was a boy who loved to travel, and one such experience is what led to the inception of his company. But when asked if he wished to have a platform like Shark Tank India back then, he said, “I wish there was something like Shark Tank back when I started. Some people may see Shark Tank as a show for founders and sharks to meet and get an investment. But I think the show makes a bigger difference beyond this. Crores of people now see entrepreneurship as a legitimate opportunity. People are learning how to become founders in their living rooms. Risk-taking is encouraged and that can make India a developed economy.”

Ritesh also shared his approach as a ‘shark’ and explained, “I personally don’t like to call myself a shark. I am more like a dolphin probably. When I was coming to the show, my motivation was very simple, I want to support founders. This has been my goal and Shark Tank has not disappointed me. Great ideas are valuable, but more than that it is the founder and person behind the company that matters. I believe the jockey is more important than the horse.”

With the business market being precarious today, Ritesh even dished out some words of wisdom for entrepreneurs to break even. He said, “In the startup ecosystem, companies that were on EBITDA losses are trying to become profitable. Our own company is having its maiden year of profitability this year. Firstly, focus is the name of the game, so prioritizing is important. Secondly, ensure you innovate as much as possible. Thirdly, try and make sure to be as close to your customers as possible. Entrepreneurship is an endless race, but the Indian economy is the few bright markets around the world. You can build a start-up in India.”

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