I remind the team every time I'm addressing my team, we are in business due to two reasons. One of them is our suppliers, the other is our customer. We are in the middle. Don't ever forget you're an intermediary.
One thing which you would do differently when you started out.
Definitely. And I thought about that a lot. I have few regrets in life.
One is one more thing Rajes wanted me to ask you about is the IPO road. So you cheated you got Rajes to write your questions.
No not only Rajes I've got Ku Sachin Mohit Kabra I've got all of them to write.
What would have been one of the most difficult or toughest decision that you had to make? How did you go through?
I think that right sizing to be done in the nice way without having to fire people or anything that was a tough one.
Tell us about your stories. Early on on the secondass compartments and the train journeys and the travels.
Yeah. The best times for sure. So we always believed in fun at work.
Back in the day startups were not sexy. How was it? And how did your family support you back in the day?
You got to believe that yeah you can do this and then you got to have support at home. If you don't have support at home then it's very hard. And so yeah I had three kids within 3 years. One of them is make my trip in the middle. So 99 2000 and 2001. What necessitated the merger? Yeah, it was something which I think our hand was kind of forced in a sense because...
You know 25 years of trust. I think you're loved across company though all your hotels are only saying commissions come commissions come that's all we hear.
Tell us about Ashoka University your role there. One Ashoka should give rise to a 100 more similar places. You need really good colleges which are like you can give world class education on Indian prices. From a AI perspective where do you think that risks and opportunities lie?
AI today can completely destroy our business or could take us to the next orbit. It is that silver bullet but you better have that silver bullet otherwise it's a bullet. I just coined that.
What necessitated the sea trip uh buyout?
Today is an extremely special day. We have Mr. Deep Kalra, the chairman of Make My Trip. One of the nicest humans in the industry. Also, make my trip is the largest OTAA of India and has just closed a $3.1 billion round, which is more than any other funding which has happened in Asia over the past 5 years. In addition, I have my partner in crime and my younger brother Udit which is extremely special. So, so Rajes talks about the fact that how you guys met and how you got them on board. Can you tell us more about that?
It's a crazy story. My first VP finance quit within a year, and we were going through a tough time. He got a job with Enron, but Enron imploded. Meanwhile, I had made an offer to Rajes. The VP finance wanted to come back, but I had already committed to Rajes. I called Rajes and he confirmed he was joining. So Rajes joined as VP finance, later CFO, and we did the IPO together. He became COO and then CEO. He's doing a much better job than I was.
And so what about Sachin and Ku?
Very crazy stories for both. Sachin and I worked together at AMF bowling. When I started MakeMyTrip, he joined me. Ku was employee number six. I hired him after a sporadic call on a train. He became VP quickly. All three of them are co-founders and have contributed immensely. We celebrated our 25th anniversary with over 100 alumni.
Sabre came and we had this lovely warm fuzzy feeling. Many alumni came from around the world. It's great to have this kind of bond.
So one more thing Rajes wanted me to ask you about is the IPO road show experience. So you cheated you got Rajes to write your questions.
No not only Rajes I've got Cu Sachin Mohit Kabra, I've got all of them to write back.
A lot of work was poor. I was quite unwell, but I...
Well done. They should ask me themselves. But anyway, what about the IPO road show experience?
Oh my god, it's crazy. I got back from Botswana. We had dinner with Morgan Stanley. The same team that did our IPO 15 years ago did the biggest deal in Asia. We raised $3.1 billion. The IPO was in 2010, we listed on NASDAQ. We had a great response, oversubscribed 12x. We kept the price at $14 and cherry-picked investors. It was a phenomenal experience.
Was the 70 million tougher or the 3.1 billion?
The 70 million selling the story then was hard. People still believed India will happen one day. We had to convince investors. The 3.1 billion was easier because the story was well-known. But convincing Ctrip to sell down was tough.
Lovely. So one thing I always wondered is there one thing which you would do differently when you started out?
Definitely. I would have a co-founder with complementary tech skills. We set up a tech company without a tech co-founder, which is crazy. Two founders with clearly defined skills would be a great formula.
Tell us about your stories early on on the secondass compartments and the train journeys and the travel.
The best times for sure. We always believed in fun at work. We did offsites like rafting, which built strong bonds. We traveled in non-AC compartments, did crazy stuff. I encourage teams to do outdoorsy stuff.
Sachin talks about the fun which you had while setting up ebookers. Can you tell us about the entire journey?
We didn't have space, so we set up a cabin on the terrace. I was moonlighting. The build-operate-transfer deal with e-bookers paid our salaries. It was a cash cow that kept MakeMyTrip alive. The toughest days were 2001-2003, with only enough money for 2 months of payroll. I went 18 months without a salary. The team stuck together, and 70% had stock at IPO. It was worth the sacrifice.
Back in the day startups were not sexy. You were in a corporate job, maybe about to have children. How did your family support you?
I was impulsive and got bored easily. I knew I couldn't be a banker. My wife supported me, saying I should be happy. I had self-belief and a degree to fall back on. For any entrepreneur, perseverance is key. You have to hang in there for at least 4 years.
Has it come at a personal cost?
No, I couldn't think of a more rewarding journey. I'm not driven by money. The journey, experiences, friendships, and respect are what matter. I still get bothered by customer issues and ensure we learn from them. Technology and automation are key to reducing errors.
I'm going to take you back to your more difficult days with MakeMyTrip and talk about your almost near sale with Zuji.
Wow, you've done your homework. It was 2004. Zuji offered $5 million, we wanted $10 million. We met at a restaurant called Waves. They went up to $8.5 million, but I dug my heels in. I was relieved they didn't accept $10 million because I didn't want to sell. We ran back to the office and everyone was happy.
Looking back at your early days, what would have been one of the most difficult or toughest personal or professional decision that you had to make and how did you go through it?
The buyback was really hard. I had put in my own money. E Ventures wanted their money back within a year. I had to raise money and not draw a salary for 18 months. The second tough part was right-sizing the team. I told everyone to go home and think about it. We shrunk from 42 to 24 people. That was the toughest phase.
So from a AI perspective, where do you think that risks and opportunities lie and what is MMT doing about it?
Risk and opportunity is the right metaphor. AI can completely destroy our business or take us to the next orbit. It's the internet plus smartphone plus app moment all together. It's a silver bullet, but you better have that silver bullet otherwise it's a bullet. We are going all in, but doing it smartly. The backend is ready, but the frontend agentic flows are complex. Our CTO is consumed with getting the architecture right.
Everyone knows it. So you just have to be fully invested and fundamentally believe that this can make or break your business. If we don't do it, someone else will. My dream state is just talking to something you don't even see, getting two or three relevant options that are already priced and tested, and you can do everything. Let's face it, everyone's a bargain hunter, not just Indians. You've done all that and now you're saying these are the best three options for you, Anand, because I know how you travel. I know what you like. I know your preferences. All that is a given. Personalization is 1.0. This is personalization on steroids. We're all playing with AI and seeing its power every day. Every day someone says, 'Oh wow, this was AI done.' You say, 'Seriously, no human behind it?' No, there were humans who built the AI, but not in rendering this.
I think one of the big parts of your success, at least from where I see it, has been the hiring and the longevity of the senior leadership. Even people who left at the senior leadership level left after maybe seven, eight, ten years. They gave more to the industry and to MakeMyTrip than they took. How do you build that culture? Whether it's Arit, Mohit Gupta, Vishek, Loani, Sanjay Moan — you can go on and on. I think that's probably your greatest skill: to identify and nurture them.
You're 100% right, Anand. We are what we are today because of the team. I said that upfront. There are three other co-founders you know about, but all these names you mentioned — our chief product officer, the guys who run RedBus, our CFO — they've all done 10, 14 years. Everyone works like a mini entrepreneur. My style and Rajesh's style is to let people play on the front foot. Go ahead, take decisions. You'll make mistakes; doesn't matter. Let's figure it out. We agree on the strategy, then go do it. That's the whole game in management. I give a lot of credit. We've had people like Amit Sanmani who did amazing stuff for product. There have been people along the way who gave so much to the company that I don't think I can ever make it up to them. On our 25th anniversary, I called them back to thank them. I won't get into naming them. In the early days, people gave their lives to the company. They would live there, work nights dealing with NRI clients, and never asked about pay. That culture really helped. The toughest thing is hiring. It's worth spending a ridiculous amount of time to get hiring right. The first year, people are just getting to know the company, and you're getting to know them. Then after six or seven years they start firing. I love what people bring their own X-factor, as long as core values are the same: build a great company and great brand; personal interests second. I delegate a lot. If we fail, we fail together. I give credit to the team. We have made mistakes. Many people didn't work out. One big lesson: if you have second thoughts in six months, it's a bad idea. The quicker you do the tough work, the better. Bad people at senior levels upset good people. There has been regretted attrition. People like the names you mentioned, I wish they were still around. But when people leave to do their own thing, I can't stop them. It's satisfying to see them succeed.
Mohit mentions: how do you keep your composure in adversity and hold back from trying to impose your views? This is across Mohit Kabra.
Kabra, okay you've spoken to everyone. I think I've learned. I used to be far more excitable. Mo probably hasn't seen that side of me.
This, I think everyone in the company knows.
I think in the early days I would lose it. I've held myself back. It's wisdom that you realize you don't get anything done by losing your temper. I've worked with great bosses with bad tempers and thought, imagine if they removed that part. In meetings with amazing leaders, I've seen calmness. I spent an hour and a half with Jeff Bezos in a small group, and with Bill Gates — the sense of calm was inspiring. I know Nandan Nilkeny well; his ability to zoom in and out when building Aadhaar was unbelievable. The common thread among these people was total calm. They probably worried inside but didn't show it. Steve Jobs had a different style, but you can only be like that if you're one in a billion. For the rest of us, good people and good managers want to be motivated. One of the biggest demotivators is pulling people down in public. Give feedback, but if harsh, give it one-on-one. People forget that if you give feedback in front of others, they're not listening. I've made that mistake in the past. Give feedback with a view to help. People give 100% only if they love what they do and get respect. Everyone wants to be recognized, appreciated, and respected. Good leaders don't want someone looking over their shoulder. They want to be mini entrepreneurs. That's the culture we try to reinforce. But thank you for picking that up.
Entrepreneurs and professionals face different challenges when things are going well and when they're going wrong. Have you ever dealt with imposter syndrome, and if so, how do you handle it?
Quite a bit of it happens all the time. With wisdom and gray hair, you pick up signs quickly in interviews and meetings. People trying too hard, not being genuine. Genuineness is important to pick out. Everyone has flaws; let people be comfortable with them. We have a week-long immersion program for new hires. I always tell people this is a true meritocracy. We give examples of people who joined as interns and rose to senior levels. It's entirely up to you. We don't care where you come from. If you come from a small part of India and speak with a different accent, own it. What matters is what you bring to the table. That's an advantage in a retail business. One area we have failed is women at the top. We have had one woman on the leadership team, now not with us. We have another in the extended team, but that's not enough. The real difference happens with at least two women in leadership. I bring it up with Rajesh and our CHRO constantly. Three reasons: half our consumers are women, and the decision maker for holidays is probably 70% women. Second, we have about 35% women in the company. Third, women bring more sincerity and loyalty. It improves the culture. I see ad films and ask who it was shown to. I say show it to women colleagues. I can't think like a woman. My wife always gives a different point of view. Women are more intuitive. So we have failed there. But for imposter syndrome, you figure out quickly and move on.
So, what does a perfect off day look like to you? No meetings, no agenda. What's your perfect day?
