Bhavish Aggarwal, the Co-founder and CEO of Ola Electric and Ola Cabs opened up on his journey of becoming the first Indian ride-hailing company and being referred to as the 'Elon Musk of India' at the second edition of ABP Network's Ideas of India on Saturday. Aggarwal, who hails from Ludhiana, candidly narrated his journey on how he went to Kota to study and prepare for IIT and failed in his first attempt. Aggarwal returned to his hometown Ludhiana, locked himself in a room and studied hard by himself as there were no coaching institutions in the city. He got through IIT Bombay in his second attempt with an all-India rank of 23.
After studying at IIT Bombay, Aggarwal landed a job at tech giant Microsoft, which he quit after a year.
"I had a lot of fun at IIT Bombay. I studied as well. I also met my wife Rajalakshm at IIT-B. We met at a rock climbing camp of all places. Through those 4 years at IIT-B, I was very clear that I won't be satisfied with a regular job. I felt I wanted a more creative outlet to build what I wanted to build, in terms of a company. Even though I am from a 'Baniya' family, my parents are doctors, and it came to me that 'tumhe dhanda kholna hai' (you've to start a business). I always wanted to start a business of my own," Aggarwal narrated.
How Olatrip.com became Ola Cabs
Ola Cabs, India's first cab aggregator, wasn't a ride-hailing platform in the beginning. "Ola started as a website to book tours. We started as a website to book tours. For example, if you want to go to Agra from Delhi, and want to book a tour guide, that's when you would visit our website that was called Olatrip.com."
Olatrip.com, which advanced package weekend trips, came into existence in 2010 and according to Aggarwal, the tour booking business seemed promising back then. "I used to market my website all by myself as I was the only employee. I would work on the website at night and go to the Commonwealth Games venue (Jawaharlal Nehru stadium) in the morning to distribute pamphlets of Olatrip.com," Aggarwal added.
"The response to tour booking via a website was lukewarm. People would say we can book our tours, you take care of the cab rental. That's how Olatrips became Ola Cabs. That's when I pivoted to only offering cabs. Ola Cabs would only offer inter-city cabs. In due course of time, we added the ability to hire cabs via an app," Aggarwal explained.
Asked what prompted him to name his company Ola, Aggarwal replied: "Ola is a young and youthful brand name. Ola also means 'Hello' in Spanish. It's definitely young and nice. Moreover, the domain name was easily available at that point in time. I didn't have a lot of money to buy a fancy domain name - I bought the domain name 'Ola' for Rs 1000. Ola may have been something else, had I not got the domain name back then."
Tesla is for the west, Ola is for the rest, says Bhavesh Aggarwal
During the ABP Ideas of India flagship event, Aggarwal was asked why he is sometimes referred to as 'Elon Musk of India', to which is wittily said: "Tesla is for the west, Ola is for the rest."
Asked if the automobile industry is the 'toughest' to survive in, Aggarwal responded, "Yes, not just the toughest, but it is also the cornerstone of an industrial society. India's industrial base depends on the automotive industry. it is a core part of a future industrialised society. It is very challenging too. I have faced a lot of challenges in the past 18 months or so."