Skift Take

Oyo CEO Ritesh Agarwal talked candidly about his dramatic past year. He saw his business thrive and became a judge on the popular TV show Shark Tank India. However, he also suffered personal loss and saw an IPO filing stall.

Rashaad Jorden

Ritesh Agarwal launched Oyo with the ambition of becoming the world's largest hotel chain. After experiencing some pandemic-era struggles, Oyo has seen the hotel business rebound strongly. Its vacation rental subsidiary in Europe has also done well.

Agarwal discussed a wide variety of subjects with Skift CEO and founder Rafat Ali during the recent Skift India Summit 2024. Here are Agarwal's thoughts on, India's surging economy, Oyo's growing portfolio, and personal highs and lows from the past year. Watch the full interview below.

https://youtu.be/Lk_PMNxst9A OYO's Post-Covid Journey

Agarwal: I think first off, I'm very excited about where I am today. I think that in life, there are always certain moments or certain situations — a journey that leaves a lasting effect on you. So I think the last two or three years have left a lasting effect in me. During Covid, a lot of people tried to anticipate that Oyo probably would not be around a couple of years later. And I think I'm happy that that gave us an opportunity to sort of hunker down, focus on what we know best, and just focus on it. And I think that's why three years out, we are today at a place where we are.

Thankfully, we talked about three things — then rooms, hotels, revenue slash margins. We did not talk about profits and cash flows because (at) that point in time, that was not the key focus. But I think now we have profits, we have cash flows, and we recognize that next time there is a challenge or an opportunity, we'll be far better placed to take advantage of it.

So I think I'm happy about the last three years — it has transformed us as individuals, transformed us as a company and I think the ambition is still there. But the ambition has evolved. The ambition has evolved to sort of say that we have to just be better than what we were yesterday, every single day. So it's a more relative ambition than that of an absolute ambition.

Finding Balance in Business

Agarwal: I think I have learned that one of the most critical things as you grow your business is balance. I actually have a picture in our office, and a lot of people ask me why it is there. In India, if you go to a lot of fairs, you'll find two sticks, a little rope, and a little girl trying to walk on it from one end to the other.

I feel like running a consumer brand is sort of like that. You have to deliver great customer experience – that is critical, that