3 Decisions That Helped a Young Indian Student Turn $100 K into Millions of Dollars
By: Massùod Hemmat
Tags: Startup, Startup Lessons, Entrepreneurship, Education, Business

In 2013, Ritesh Agarwal sold SIM cards in a small town in India. He made three decisions that changed his life and the lives of many Indians and people across the globe.

These decisions were so life-changing that turned him into a young billionaire.

Decision #1: Grabbing a Fellowship Opportunity that Guaranteed $100 K If He Left College

Peter Thiel, the German-American billionaire entrepreneur who co-founded PayPal, and was one of Facebook’s early investors, established the Tiel Foundation in 2011. The Tiel Foundation provides fellowships to young people to skip college and become entrepreneurs.

Based on the foundation’s website:

“The Thiel Fellowship is a two-year program for young people who want to build new things. Thiel Fellows skip or stop out of college to receive a $100,000 grant and support from the Thiel Foundation’s network of founders, investors, and scientists.”

If you’re under 23 years, you can apply for this fellowship too. Make sure not to quit college before obtaining the fellowship. The competition is tough, as only 20–25 fellows are selected annually.

The Tiel Foundation asked Ritesh to quit college for $100,000. It was this money that made him a millionaire at 22, and then a billionaire.

Not only Ritesh but tens of fellows from around the world established businesses and became successful entrepreneurs. They make billions of dollars, and their startups have had a substantial impact across the globe.

Decision #2: Quitting College

Ritesh already had entrepreneurship skills. He was working as a SIM card seller. Before establishing OYO Rooms, he launched another company. But nothing moved on until he quit college.

Should you quit college? No, and yes. No, because many jobs require formal education as their pre-requisite. Yes, because colleges don’t teach you skills that are needed in the 21st century. It’s not my words but those of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jack Ma, and tens of other successful business entrepreneurs.

Whether you quit college or not is a tough decision and requires critical and slow thinking. It’s also dependent upon opportunities in hand. However, most students need to establish a set of skills to become successful entrepreneurs.

Decision #3: Founding Oyo Rooms

After quitting college and obtaining the fellowship, Ritesh founded OYO Rooms, “a network of budget hotels and accommodation options in 2013.”

According to Bernd Debusmann Jr:

“The company is now present in 881 cities around the world, with 850,000 rooms in over 23,000 hotels. […] By 2023, it hopes to be the world’s largest hotel chain.”

In 2013, he didn’t know that a small startup would become a $5 billion company hotel chain in five years. He is the world’s second-youngest billionaire as of 2020.

Based on Forbes, he received the prestigious Business World Young Entrepreneur Award and is considered a super-successful entrepreneur for founding India’s second most valuable startups.

Ritesh believes that too many entrepreneurs give up ‘too early,’ even before making an impact.

Done with studies, still not an entrepreneur?

It’s fascinating to know that Ritesh Agarwal is the second richest young billionaire. That’s because he established OYO Rooms in his 20s. It’s equally fascinating to know that Reid Hoffman established LinkedIn when he was 35 years old.

What about 35+? It might surprise you:

In a survey of 2.7 million company founders “conducted by the Census Bureau and two MIT professors,” the average age for a startup founder was found to be 45 years. Based on Inc, “the most successful entrepreneurs tend to be middle-aged — even in the tech sector.”

But age is just a number. Leo Goodwin founded GEICO in his 50s. Harland David Sanders franchised Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) at the age of 62. There are tens of people in the world who became successful entrepreneurs at an older age.

What if he didn’t win the fellowship?

Even if he didn’t win the fellowship, he would have become a man of success, as is evident from his initial goals. According to an interview conducted by Business Insider, Ritesh said:

“I knew if I had gone to college, I would not have done well. And then my family would hate me. So I felt if my family was to hate me anyway, I would rather do what I feel very excited about!”

Building a hotel chain that has no international competitors was a tedious task for Ritesh. It was so challenging that he failed six times in establishing this venture.

It is hard to get an opportunity like Ritesh. It would help if you weren’t another ‘him.’ Be yourself. Maybe with a few hundred dollars, you can establish a business that is also a success story.

Whether you are in college now or done with studies and higher education, you might become an entrepreneur. All you need is a set of skills and a vision. You can turn the vision into goals and objectives so that it’s achievable. Once your immediate and long-term goals are clear, get up and start doing the job. Failure is part of the process. Don’t give up easily.

They were laughing at Elon Musk for two decades. When the right time came, he shocked everyone with his Space missions that became a reality.

“If you have not failed, you have not hardened yourself.” — Ritesh Agarwal

Final Thoughts:

Ritesh made three decisions that were life-changing for him, India, and the world at large.

— He secured funding of $100,000 with a condition to leave college.

— He quit college because he couldn’t focus on ‘two rabbits’ at the same time.

— He established OYO Rooms and became the second youngest billionaire.

Given that the average age for a startup founder is 45 years and that people in their 50s and 60s have also had successful startups, it’s always too early to establish your business.

Let’s end this article with an insightful quote: