When the Internet came to the world, everyone was inspired. A whole new world of possibilities. Deep Kalra was one of these people, who saw the possibilities of the Internet. His first foray into entrepreneurship had failed, but he’d learnt how the business of entrepreneurship works through it. So while he was back in a corporate role, he wanted to explore what could be created with the Internet and begin his journey as a founder once again.

Deep saw two areas of possibility – trading stocks and travel – and trading stocks on the Internet could be conquered by the financial giants. Now, travel, that he knew and loved. And the key here was to convert the calls we made to a travel agent we didn’t see or meet, into an online transaction. Deep spent months researching and understanding the product he wanted to build, after his day at a corporate role. And finally took the plunge back into entrepreneurship. That was the beginning of MakeMyTrip.

Since 2000, MakeMyTrip under Deep’s leadership has survived the dot com crash, the SARS outbreak in the US which was their main market at the time, 9/11 which halted all travel, recessions, and more recently the COVID pandemic. And more importantly, they’ve thrived to become the leading player in travel, valued at 8.71 billion dollars as of today, and still going strong with Deep now as Chairman and CEO Rajesh Magow guiding the way. 

In our exclusive afternoon at MMT HQ, where our Titan members and Deep spent the afternoon discussing the challenges and lessons of entrepreneurship, we learnt:

• Less than 1% of all businesses that begin go on to be successful. If Deep had known this, he may have never tried to build MMT. There’s no magic formula to success, and it’s not a roll of the dice, but hard work and persistence that takes you a long way. 
• MMT was the last Internet based business to receive funding before the dot com crash, and due to the crash, they had to choose between shutting down or buying out the investors. Deep chose to keep going, with his belief in the product and knowing he had first mover advantage in the space.
• In the face of what looks to be impending failure, which does bring depression, take it month by month. Face the challenges head on. Re-evaluate and reassess your goals and where you are, and decide if you want to keep going. 
• Even the most complicated of issues can be solved using ‘First Principles’ ​​which is the practice of questioning every assumption you think you know about a given problem, then creating new solutions from scratch.
  
• Learn to pivot. Be open to change and new ideas, because the vision and goal is more important than how you get there. It’s important to have like-minded leaders in your team, who aren’t afraid to shut down an idea if they believe and know it won’t work, and offer other solutions instead.
  
• You may know your customer but it’s equally important to understand consumer behaviour. That is the key to understanding and fine-tuning your product and communications with the consumer.
  
• Branding is key to remain top-of-mind for your consumer. You’ll fare better by aiming for the top 10%-20%-30% of your consumer pyramid. Your consumer, as they progress in life, will eventually become a higher level consumer, and they will come back to you then, because you’ve remained the leader in your space in their mind.
  
• Becoming an entrepreneur is a choice you make as an individual, with an impact felt by your family, so it’s important to be mindful of how this choice impacts them and their lifestyles as well as your own. After all, they would be your biggest supporters through it all.
  
• The tough years prepare you for what is yet to come, because you never learn from winning. It’s the tough choices and situations which make you a wiser leader. And on success – you never know when that peak of success will hit. And the only way to get there is to keep going, make the product and brand experience of high quality for your consumer, and be committed to your final goal through it all.
  
  

Most founders today consider IPO to be the ultimate goal, however, that’s where the journey begins. To remain at the top, improve the experience, create new product lines, succeed further – that’s when the fun begins.

Deep Kalra’s journey with MakeMyTrip embodies the spirit of resilience and determination in entrepreneurship. It’s a testament to how vision, perseverance, and a drive for constant improvement can turn formidable challenges into pathways for growth and innovation. The story inspires us to embrace change and strive for excellence, knowing that even in adversity, success is attainable with the right mindset and unwavering dedication.