Episode XLii of #DamaniTalks featured Prashant Pitti, co-founder of EaseMyTrip.
Prashant graduated from IIT Madras worked with HSBC and Capital One in the United States before coming back to India and co-founding EaseMyTrip in 2008.
Initially, a B2B travel brand, EaseMyTrip became a household name in the mid-2010s with its no-fee pricing and superior customer service. EaseMyTrip went public in 2021 at its current market cap is ₹4,500 crores (~$750m). EaseMyTrip provides a comprehensive range of travel-related products and services for end-to-end travel solutions. This includes airline tickets, hotels and holiday packages, rail tickets, bus tickets, and taxis.
Key takeaways from the episode:
- What was the personal motive behind quitting leading banks like Capital One or HSBC and starting a travel portal?
- What was the EaseMyTrip USP that gave it an edge over its much better-funded competition?
- How did EaseMyTrip's marketing strategy significantly reduce CAC while multiplying its AOV?
- How did empowering the front-line CSR agent increase customer loyalty?
- Why did EaseMyTrip choose to run a business on customer capital, refusing VC investment offers?
- Why did EaseMyTrip founder go public? They did not take any primary capital infusion in the IPO. Instead, they choose to sell their secondary stake in the company – why the aversion to outside capital?
- What is it like working with your own brothers? How does Prashant maintain a balance between his professional and personal life?
- If Prashant could turn back time, what are the 2 things he wishes he could have changed in this journey?
