Archive · 22 Sep 2026
Ritesh Agarwal Reflects on Silicon Valley’s Scale of Impact
Ritesh Agarwal is an entrepreneur from India.
He started a company called OYO in 2013.
OYO helps hotels and other places to stay improve how they work and serve customers.
The company grew from a small network in India into an international business.
In a 2019 interview, Agarwal talked about the Bay Area.
He admired how people there often try to solve very large problems.
By “scale of impact,” he meant helping many millions or billions of people.
His quote describes the big ambitions often associated with Silicon Valley.
Ritesh Agarwal is the founder and CEO of OYO, a major hospitality and hotel-booking platform.
He founded OYO in 2013 to improve operations, branding, technology and customer experience for budget hotels.
OYO expanded from India into an international business working with hotels, homes and other accommodation providers.
Agarwal made the comment in a CNBC interview published on January 30, 2019.
He said the Bay Area’s ambition reflects a culture of building companies designed to affect billions of people.
- Who
- Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO of OYO.
- What
- He discussed the extraordinary scale of impact people based in the Bay Area aspire to create.
- When
- The interview was published on January 30, 2019.
- Where
- The discussion concerned the Bay Area and Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurial culture.
- Why
- Agarwal was explaining how his experience as the first Indian resident to win the Peter Thiel Fellowship influenced his entrepreneurial journey.
- Speaker
- Ritesh Agarwal
- Company
- OYO
- Role
- Founder and CEO
- Quote date
- January 30, 2019
- OYO founding year
- 2013
- Interview outlet
- CNBC
- Fellowship
- Peter Thiel Fellowship