Entrepreneurial Attributes and OYO Rooms: An Interview Analysis Report

This report presents an in-depth analysis of an interview with Ritesh Agarwal, the CEO of OYO Rooms, focusing on his entrepreneurial attributes. The study examines Agarwal's ability to identify market gaps, particularly the lack of quality accommodations for the middle class, and how he leveraged this opportunity to launch OYO Rooms. The report explores key entrepreneurial skills such as risk management, leadership, and the importance of stakeholders, including customers and employees. The analysis connects the interview findings with established entrepreneurial theories, including innovation, stakeholder theory, and risk management. The report concludes by highlighting the significance of entrepreneurship in economic development and the need for governmental and corporate support for new ventures.

Running head: INTERVIEW OF A SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR
Interview of a Success Entrepreneur
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................2
Identification and selection of an entrepreneur:..............................................................................2
Request for an interview:.................................................................................................................3
Preparing the topic guide:................................................................................................................3
Consideration of ethics:...................................................................................................................4
Conducting and recording of interview:..........................................................................................5
Transcribe recording:.......................................................................................................................5
Analysis of data:..............................................................................................................................7
Relation to the theory:.....................................................................................................................8
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................8
References:......................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction:
An article published in the Harvard Business Review Ascend titled ‘The Skills Every
Founder Needs: An Interview with Ritesh Agarwal’ would set the perfect backdrop for the
paper (Hbrascend.org. 2018). Entrepreneurs, especially the sole proprietors generally face
challenges like scarcity of financial resources which catapults into scarcity of human resources
and material resources. The entrepreneurs who fail to tackle these challenges successfully are
compelled to close their ventures. However, there are also entrepreneurs who are face these
challenges, thus turning them into opportunities. These entrepreneurs emerge as torch bearers of
entrepreneurship, risk taking propensity and leadership. The paper would visit the
entrepreneurial skills of one such entrepreneur namely, Ritesh Agarwal, the founder and CEO of
OYO Stays Private Limited commonly known as OYO Rooms. OYO Rooms has emerged as
the largest hospitality company with a network of accommodations of both low and high budgets
in more than fifty cities. The facts that the company was founded as recent as 2013 and already
enjoys international presence in international markets like the United Kingdom, China, Malaysia,
Nepal and Indonesia only heralds about the entrepreneurial qualities of Agarwal
(Oyorooms.com. 2018). The research would uncover the entrepreneurial skill of Agarwal by
analysis of an interview of his published in the HBR.
Identification and selection of an entrepreneur:
The entrepreneur selected for the interview is Mr. Ritesh Agarwal, the founder and CEO
of OYO Rooms. The OYO Rooms which started its journey in 2013 with one property, today
holds more than 8500 properties in different parts of India as well as abroad. It can be pointed
out that by the time Agarwal launched his business venture in 2013, the hospitality market was

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already under the control of multinational hospitality companies like Thomas Cook (India)
Limited, the Indian arm of Thomas Cook based in the United Kingdom
(Economictimes.indiatimes.com. 2018). Thus, considering the facts the main competition which
OYO Rooms received was from these international players and that the company has emerged as
the leading hospitality company only speaks volume about the entrepreneurial attributes of
Agarwal. This makes it worthy of approaching the CEO of OYO Rooms for an interview to gain
deeper insights into his entrepreneurial attributes which can bear insignia for aspiring
entrepreneurs.
Request for an interview:
The first step to obtain an interview of Mr. Agarwal would be approaching his secretary
for an appointment. The secretary would be consulted for a tentative date and time which
Agarwal would be available to taking the interview.
Preparing the topic guide:
The topic which would lead the interview would be entrepreneurial attributes which help
Agarwal to steer the business of OYO to the top position in the Indian hospitality in spite of the
stiff competition. The questions would not include any question related to the personal life of
Agarwal and should stress on his entrepreneurial skills as well as the journey of the company he
leads. The following are the questions which would be put forward before Mr. Agarwal at the
interview:
Consideration of ethics:
The interviewer while giving interview to Mr. Agarwal should maintain certain ethical
codes. The first ethical code which the interview has to ensure is not to ask any question related

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to the personal life of the CEO. The second ethical code which the interview should ensure is
that he should use the responses only the purpose of preparing the report. The interviewer should
ensure that the responses of the CEO are securely preserved and should restrict access of any
unauthorized person. The interview should clearly point out to the CEO that the responses would
be used for conducting research in the paper in question and obtain his due consent. The
interviewer should not any content if the CEO objects recording. Lastly, the interviewer should
not record any personal comment of show of any sort of emotion which the CEO might express
during the commencement of the interview.
Conducting and recording of interview:
The interviewer should limit the time of interview to half an hour to three quarters of an
hour. He should adhere to the timing allotted and ask straightforward questions so as to capture
the maximum possible responses within the allotted time. The interview should be recorded and
submitted in the directed
Analysis of data:
The analysis of the interview of Ritesh Agarwal, CEO, OYO Rooms brings to light
several entrepreneurial attributes which can ensure success of the entrepreneurs. The first
attribute which Agarwal revealed was that the power to recognize the gaps and issues in the
existing market and using them as opportunities to enter the market. He revealed that there were
very few hospitality companies in the Indian market to cater to the needs of the middle class
tourists. The existing accommodations which the middle class tourists could afford at that time
were not up to the mark. OYO used this gap as an opportunity to enter the Indian market with
budget hotels and accommodations which the middle class tourists could afford. Davidsson and
Gordon (2016) point out that entrepreneurs in order to locate market opportunities, should have

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profound knowledge. They should have a strong knowledge about the changes like political,
socio-economic and technological changes taking place in the global market. Thus, the analysis
of the interview of Agarwal where he reported that he recognized the void in customer services
which the multinational hospitality companies did not fill showed that he has a deep knowledge
about the macroeconomic environment. It can be pointed out that the macroeconomic knowledge
of Agarwal is one of his entrepreneurial attributes.
The second findings of the interview was that risk is an indispensable part of business
ventures and the entrepreneurs should accept them. Brustbauer (2016) mentions that risks are
inseparable parts of businesses. Cole, Giné and Vickery (2017) add to the discussion pointing out
that the risk factor depends on several other factors like size of the firm, its financial capability
and rate of adaptability to the market conditions which result in the risks. The firms having large
financial resources are in a stronger position to manage market risks. However, firms with less
financial resources are not able tackle risks effectively. It can also be pointed out that the tone of
Agarwal while speaking about risk was more of caution than a simple comment. However,
considering the market position of OYO and its private limited status, it can be pointed out that
Agarwal is an entrepreneur shows a great risk management capability. The entrepreneur clearly
pointed out that risks before new business ventures can crop up due to existing powerful players
and limited resources. However, the entrepreneurs in order to manage these risks should make
strategies to counteract them.
The third finding which the interview brings to light was that leadership plays a very
significant role to ensure success of the entrepreneurial ventures. The proprietor has to provide
continuous leadership and act in various roles to support the staff in the initial days.

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The fourth finding which the interview uncovers is that entrepreneurs should consider
their employees important. They, right from the initial phase should be selective about
employing human resources.
Relation to the theory:
The interview can be related closely to the entrepreneurial theory. The entrepreneurs
should be prepared to take steps to manage risks and manage them. Drucker (2014) mentions that
entrepreneurship is closely related to innovation. The entrepreneurs recognize the gaps in the
market which they capitalize on to introduce innovative products. This is evident from the
interview of Agarwal. He revealed that there was dearth of quality accommodation in the Indian
hospitality market. The existing leading hospitality companies limited their services to the upper
class customers. OYO Rooms recognized this need of quality accommodation among the middle
class customers as the opportunity as the opportunity to introduce the innovative budget holiday
which enabled the middle class customers avail quality accommodation.
The second theory on which the interview of Agarwal is based is the stakeholder’s
theory. Mr. Agarwal throughout the interview used terms like customers, employees and
competitors-all of which point out to the term stakeholder. Vargas-Hernandez and Gonzalez
(2018) mention that business organization through their operations impact both individuals as
well as groups which are collectively called stakeholders. The entrepreneurial venture of
Agarwal is heavily based on stakeholders’ theory. In fact it can even by pointed out that the
stakeholders;’ theory forms the very base of the venture. The interview reveals that Agarwal
launched OYO in order to offer the middle class tourists quality accommodations. Thus, it can
be pointed out that in other words, the needs of the customers catapulted the venture of Agarwal.
Bridoux and Stoelhorst (2014) add to the discussion by mentioning that the revenue generation

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and the business growth of OYO Rooms have earned it the leading position in the Indian
hospitality market. It can be pointed out that this business generation would not have been
feasible without the support of stakeholders like customers and partnering hotels. Thus, the
entrepreneurial of Agarwal draws heavily from the stakeholders’ theort.
The third theory which comes into play throughout the length and breadth of the
interview of Agarwal is risk management, especially pertaining to entrepreneurial venture. Risk
is an indispensable component of entrepreneurial ventures. Seilov (2015) mention that
entrepreneurs have to face risks in the market due to scarcity of financial resources, scarcity of
human resources and already existing competitors. The interview of Agarwal clearly highlights
the important role which risks play in case of entrepreneurship. The CEO pointed out that
entrepreneurs should be ready to face the risks in the market. They should form strategies to
manage the risks in order to sustain in the market.
Conclusion:
It can be concluded that entrepreneurs play a very significant role in the development of
economy. Entrepreneurs create new products and revenue generation sources on launching their
business ventures. They also create employment opportunities in the market besides generating
revenue. However, it can be pointed out that in the initial phase, they suffer from challenges like
dearth of funding and challenges from existing companies. The government should come
forward to support these ventures. The banks, especially the banks owned by government and the
government bodies should provide these entrepreneurial ventures with financial capital and
human resource training to enable them to establish their businesses strongly in the market. The
large corporates can also provide entrepreneurial supports like incubation to new entrepreneurial
ventures to promote the development of the latter.

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Appendix: Transcribe recording:
1. How is a typical working day in the life of Ritesh Agarwal?
CEO: A typical working day of mine at OYO starts with holding a brief discussion with the top
managers. We discuss the business which can be achieved for the day. If any challenge crops up
while discussing the business achievement, we also form a brief discussion on handling the
situation.
2. Considering the fact that the Indian hospitality market was already very competitive in 2013,
what pushed you to launch the venture?
CEO: I accept that there were several challenges in the market when OYO entered the market.
There were several hospitality companies in the market but most of them catered to the
customers who could spend. As far as the middle class is concerned, there was hardly any quality
hospitality company. The accommodations which the existing low budget packages available to
the middle class were not at par with the expectations of the customers. OYO recognized this gap
in the market as the opportunity to cash on (Smiles).
3. What are the skills according to you, entrepreneurs should have in order to succeed in the
market?
CEO: Courage, multitasking and the knowledge of the risks which they would face upon
entering a certain market. I can still reflect that I myself played various roles right from a
housekeeping to babysitting in the initial days. And, ya did receive some bad treatment from
guests and have learnt from them too…(Laughs loudly)
4. Enlighten us about the way you lead OYO.

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CEO: Ambition to achieve more and cater to more number of customers. You should be open to
criticisms and learnt to locate areas on which you need to improve.
5. Could you tell us about some upcoming plans of OYO of entering new markets or getting
listed?
CEO: Yes… We have certain business plans in the pipeline and some of them are really really
very crucial. But the time has not ripened to speak about them. Just wait and watch what
happens.
6. How do you handle the pressure considering that you are leading such an immense
organizational machinery as such a tender age?
CEO: I am supported by an extremely skilled and supportive staff members. They absorb half the
stress….
7. What advice would you give to the aspiring entrepreneurs?
CEO: Be ready to take the stress which comes with a new business venture. Know your own
capability of facing the stress. Choose appropriate people whom you can trust shouldering some
major responsibility. Hold your employees important and they will do the rest.
8. What are the upcoming market trends in your opinion as far as hospitality market in India is
concerned?
CEO: New companies entering the Indian market every year and it is growing by leaps and
bounds. Really very competitive but more profitable, so worth taking the risks associated with it
(smiles heartily).
9. What are the challenges which you face at this stage when you have cemented your position?

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CEO: Challenge from existing hotels, hospitality companies and even threats (appears worried).
10. How do you handle rumors?
CEO: I take them with a pinch of salt..(Smiles and signs off)

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References:
Bridoux, F. and Stoelhorst, J.W., 2014
Bridoux, F. and Stoelhorst, J.W., 2014. Microfoundations for stakeholder theory: Managing
stakeholders with heterogeneous motives. Strategic Management Journal, 35(1), pp.107-125.
Drucker, P., 2014. Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge.
Economictimes.indiatimes.com. 2018. Retrieved from
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/thomas-cook-india-ltd/stocks/companyid-12897.cms
Hbrascend.org. 2018. Retrieved from https://hbrascend.org/topics/ritesh-agarwal-skills-every-
founder-needs/
Oyorooms.com. 2018. Retrieved from https://www.oyorooms.com/about?oyocorporate=
Seilov, G.A., 2015. Does the adoption of customer and competitor orientations make small
hospitality businesses more entrepreneurial? Evidence from Kazakhstan. International Journal
of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(1), pp.71-86.
Vargas-Hernandez, J.G. and Gonzalez, D.C., 2018. The Discussion on Stakeholders in Contrast
with the Shareholders Theory: Reconciliation to a Conscious Capitalism. SAMVAD, 14, pp.55-
57.