Quote of the Day by Ritesh Agarwal: 'The reality of a startup is you have failures very often'

"The reality of a startup is you have failures very often,” a quote by Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO of OYO.

Failure is a normal and frequent part of the startup journey, according to OYO Rooms founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal.

Who is Ritesh Agarwal?

Ritesh Agarwal (born November 16, 1993) is an Indian entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of OYO, one of the world’s largest hospitality and hotel-booking platforms.

He founded OYO in 2013 with the aim of transforming the fragmented budget-hotel sector by helping hotels improve their operations, branding, technology and customer experience.

Agarwal became one of India’s youngest entrepreneurs to build a major technology company. Under his leadership, OYO expanded from a small hotel network in India into an international hospitality business with a presence across multiple countries. The company has worked with hotels, homes and other accommodation providers through its technology-driven platform.

When was this quote said by Ritesh Agarwal?

Ritesh Agarwal said this on September 3, 2015.

He commented during an interview with Pankaj Mishra for The Economic Times "Founder Stories" series. At the time of the interview, Agarwal was just 21 years old, and his company, OYO Rooms, had recently raised a major $100 million funding round from SoftBank.

What does this quote mean?

Ritesh Agarwal’s quote means that setback and disappointment are regular, expected parts of building a business rather than rare exceptions.

In the volatile environment of a startup, founders must constantly navigate product defects, lost deals, and strategic missteps. Agarwal is highlighting that success is not a smooth path, but a continuous cycle of making mistakes, learning from them quickly, and adapting to survive.