Ritesh Agarwal reveals he still cleans washrooms in his hotels: ‘Role-modelling’

The OYO CEO said fear, embarrassment, pride and arrogance are the biggest enemies of entrepreneurial success.

OYO CEO Ritesh Agarwal revealed during a conversation at the Mumbai Tech Week that he still cleans washrooms at his hotels. “I still, sometimes, clean washrooms as a role modelling exercise,” he said on Saturday, March 1, Moneycontrol reported.

Ritesh Agarwal was speaking at Mumbai Tech Week on March 1(Bloomberg)

He went on to add that according to him, fear, embarrassment, pride and arrogance are the “biggest enemies of entrepreneurial success” and thus entrepreneurs must leave them.

Agarwal said it is very hard for people to accept these things because upbringing does not teach us that.

"You have to leave 'sharam' (embarrassment) and 'ye kaam mera hai ye kaam dusre ka hai' (this is my work and that is yours)…Are you looking to pride seeking or are you looking to be wealth seeking? I am very clear that I want to create a big impact," the billionaire further added.

He was responding to a question on what would be his advice to budding entrepreneurs on fear of failure.

Ritesh recalls funny incident linked to washrooms

Agarwal had once recalled that a couple of people had once pitched their startup ideas to him when he was waiting in line to use a washroom on an international flight. He said that he began talking to the first person “out of respect” and was stopped from using the washroom by the second person.

“I finally requested them that I want to use the washroom as it is urgent,” he humorously remarked during an interaction that went viral on social media.

Several social media users have called him humble and an “amazing entrepreneur”.

Ritesh Agarwal made it to the Top 10 youngest Indian billionaires in the Hurun Rich List of India 2024. The founder and CEO of OYO Rooms, a hospitality chain, ranked sixth with a net worth of ₹1,900 crore at the age of 30.