Working The Room

A college dropout at 17 and a start-up millionaire at 23… Meet Ritesh Agarwal, who has built India’s largest branded network of hotels, OYO, which today has a presence in 200 cities across the country and over 70,000 rooms on offer to guests.

- Sneha Mahale

WHEN IT COMES TO SUCCESS, AGE IS REALLY JUST A NUMBER. Ritesh Agarwal started selling SIM cards at the age of 13. By 17, he had dropped out of college since he felt there was more to achieve by chasing his entrepreneurial dream. Today, at the age of 23, he’s a millionaire and the founder of India’s largest branded network of hotels, OYO, a start-up which has a presence in over 200 cities across the country.

Talking about his journey so far, he says, “I dropped out of college since I felt that continuing with studies meant I would lose out on time that could otherwise be utilised in building a business. I have also been fortunate to get opportunities such as the Thiel Fellowship, through which I received the mentorship and the guidance of a visionary like Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal. It has been among the most transformational experiences of my journey. I believe different things work for different people, and as long as you are sure about what you want to do, you should follow your convictions.”

At the start

Agarwal was born in Bissam Cuttack in Odisha and grew up in a small town called Rayagada. He belongs to a middle-class family and is the youngest of four siblings. He envisioned starting his own business since his school days. But growing up in a small town meant he had limited exposure to big businesses. Yet, his dogged determination saw him trying his hand at various things even as a kid, from selling SIM cards to fast-moving consumer goods.

He was also good in studies and simultaneously attended convent schools in town. Eventually, he moved to Kota in Rajasthan to prepare for his engineering entrance exams. That’s when he started travelling to Delhi to attend startup meets and mixers and understand the space. He ended up dropping out of college eventually, deciding to focus instead on starting something in the travel sector.

The spin-off