Ashish Hemrajani: It Is The Survival That Counts.

“I am not a unicorn. I am a cockroach because we survive”

Be it a dessert or in a business, survival rules never change. Unicorn horn (Also known as an ‘‘alicorn) would be considered as an essential accessory for any prominent palace, monastery or even cathedral owing to a widespread belief in its magical properties. The entire quintessential charm of “Unicorn” is what compels the most powerful and rich to hanker after them. The term was first coined by Aileen Lee to dub (venture capitalist) in one of his blog posts in 2013 while analyzing companies that valued more than $1 billion. In no time, it did strike a perfect chord with the trend of the tech boom that continued witnessing an upward swing.

In the “Age of Unicorns”, unicorn hunting has already transcended beyond obsession engulfing the space across social media let alone talk about fantasy novels. To the ardent and faithful devotees of experimentation, even fresh start-ups are worth billions owing to their potential and impactful offerings. Nevertheless, “Unicorn” has gradually begun losing its sheen due to varied reasons. Investors and founders are more disconnected from reality than ever paving the way for the bursting of the tech bubble anytime soon thereby driving out all the illusion correlated to it.

Amidst all the “Unicorn Mania”, there are a few entrepreneurs like Ashish Hemrajani who discard the entire pseudo notion of “Unicorn”. He is one of a kind entrepreneur who rather seems to be fond of a cockroach than sharing a penchant for a species that looks more like a donkey instead of a horse with a single large, spiralling, pointed horn at its forehead.

Ashish Hemrajani is one of the co-founders of “BookMyShow” who continues to thrive despite being in survival mode since the time beginning of his entrepreneurial journey. Away from flashy headlines, his entrepreneurial journey that has navigated through sluggish and long trajectories over two decades has a lot to offer in the context of life and entrepreneurial lessons.

He is amongst those rare breeds of entrepreneurs who refuses to believe in the theory of fast-track business success devoid of real value. He believes that there is a different time and place for different environments. The vision of the firm transcends beyond the myopic revenue and personal goals. He opines that having a crystal clear inkling related to the geographical spread of ideal audiences is indeed the key that unlocks the candid business success and growth. Once a brand does nail that right, there comes a requirement related to grasping the nuances revolving around the life and mindset of the ideal customers. He believes that an authentic client-driven mindset that builds a unique kind of social layer empowered with result-driven communication has played a pivotal role in the success of “BookMyShow”.

When I came across such profound thinking of this man right, it did disrupt my entrepreneurial mind. I am less stressed about branding as I am out of the rat race to join “Unicorn Club” and I am more focused to offer authentic value to my ideal audeinces. Here have a sneak peek at a few highlights in his words:-

“You will feed a cow outside but you will not feed another human being, I mean it’s bizarre, right?!”

“Everyone eats on the same table. If an office boy is eating and a manager walks by, he is not supposed to stand up. That metric is very important to me.”

“There are no separate office toilets. As long as the toilets are hygienic and maintained clean it is ok. We do not have any executive toilets.”

His “BookASmile” is such an authentic philanthropic initiative that has continued to impact more than 35,000 lives so far and still counting. He firmly believes that if our personal and business goals are aligned with nature, a protection layer will always be around us. Moreover, he opines that there is nothing called “Failure” as he perceives it as learning. Not many know that that he logged out of his Facebook account permanently after losing a colleague to a heart attack who also happened to be his friend. The reason was that out of 1500 FB friends only 6 turned up at the funeral. This speaks volume of his heightened sensitivity.

For him, striking work-life balance embracing real conversations hold the key to the lead a meaningful life.
Have you ever heard people saying “What can we get in one rupee in today’s world?”. I too was amongst those ignorant souls who always underestimated the power of One Rupee, until I came across the vision of this gentleman. One Rupee collected by all “BookMyShow” users collectively comes across somewhere close to 8000 Crores. Jaw-dropping isn’t it? Someone has aptly said, “An idea can change your life”. This whopping amount then goes to fund an array of charitable activities.

His immense love for developing people who hold potential is truly at par. Amidst the artificially bloated unicorns, the reflective insights of Ashish Hemrajani act like an oasis of wisdom. The debates revolving around the “Unicorn Hype” does not seem to die anytime sooner but who cares anymore, after learning about the overwhelming survival traits of cockroach and the unique leanings of this undervalued creature.

We are grateful to you Mr Hemrajani for letting us discover the lesser know survival skills of the cockroach and wish him success in all his endeavours.

“Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking.”