Inspiring Action, Innovation And Creativity For Start-Ups : In Conversation with Mr. Ritesh Agarwal, CEO, OYO

FLO organised an interaction with Mr Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & CEO of OYO Hotels & Homes on July 30, 2021. Ms Nisha Poddar, Editor & Anchor at CNBC-TV18 anchored the event.

The success journey of Ritesh Agarwal from a dropout to a billionaire is quite inspirational. He was not even 20 when he started his business with a vision of creating a solution for people looking for affordable hotels around the globe. Now, he is the second youngest self-made billionaire in the world, leading OYO Hotels & Homes to be one of the fastest growing hotel chains globally.

While addressing the members, Ritesh spoke about how OYO turned the crisis on its head to find opportunities even in these difficult times for businesses. Talking about digital transformation, he said, “In the New World we live in, I think that a lot of people talk about how important technology and product is, I think the most important is data and data science. In my view, at least in my journey at OYO, I’ve seen its value to be the most important.”

He also highlighted about OYO talent pool in terms of leadership, ,”Bringing in top quality talent allows the founder to be able to invest time in future problem solving, redesigning the company, rather than just managing daily affairs, which of course one needs to do anyway, but having a good leadership team, you know, reduces the complexity of it.”

National President Ujjwala Singhania said, “ It is imperative that we invest in creating entrepreneurs and give them an enabling and conducive environment for them to thrive. It is even more pertinent that this growth should be inclusive, and the women are taken along in this path of economic growth and sustainable development. “

“ This year, my focus at FLO is on empowering women by facilitating an enabling environment that promotes entrepreneurship, industry participation and economic development of women,” she further added.