Ola’s secret to success? Work hard, shop hard

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Hi readers,

Everyone’s heard of Elon Musk, the workaholic genius. Sleeping at the office and the never-ending hours of work at first seemed like the only way to build a successful company.

I used to admire that, but then I realized that most employees can’t sustain that kind of lifestyle. Generally, this type of founder expects the same hustle from their employees, which ultimately leads to higher attrition.

Of course, Musk’s businesses thrive and rake in the billions. Does the end always justify the means? That’s a tough question.

Now, there’s this rising star in India, Bhavish Aggarwal. He founded ride-hailing firm Ola, and it’s way more than just another Uber competitor.

Ola is profitable in its core biz: Ola Mobility, while Ola Electric is leading the country’s electric scooter market. The group even has its own foundational AI model. It makes you wonder how it keeps expanding so fast.

First, Aggarwal brought Musk’s hustle culture to India, making statements such as “our generation is destined to toil” and weekends being a Western import. (Ola Electric’s 47.5% attrition rate might be a side effect of this, though.)

Moreover, Ola doesn’t build everything from scratch. Its secret weapon is buying up other startups.

Need electric scooters? Acquire the best e-scooter company. Need a mapping system? Buy the best one out there. Want to add food delivery? Find a thriving food delivery app and make it yours.

That’s how Aggarwal, India’s version of Elon Musk, gets things done.

— Lokesh Choudhary, journalist at Tech in Asia

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Image credit: Timmy Loen

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Ola co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal has employed a unique playbook from other ride-hailing giants that has helped the firm expand into EVs and genAI.

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