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Bhavish Aggarwal is choking Ola
Aggarwal’s cab-hailing giant is in the doldrums, while his EV venture is off to a shaky start. Insiders blame a toxic culture and a distrustful CEO who can’t let go.
2 December, 2021•20 min
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2 December, 2021•20 min
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Editor's note: Ola has a massive problem. It is called Bhavish Aggarwal. On the one hand, the 36-year-old co-founder and CEO of Ola and Ola Electric is one of India’s sharpest and most ambitious young tech entrepreneurs, who has more energy than the Duracell bunny and the uncanny ability to dream and execute mega projects. By all accounts, the way he absorbs knowledge and learns things, his attention to detail is a sight to behold. On the other hand, insiders also say he is distrustful, insists on signing off on the smallest of details, can’t focus on one thing for too long and keeps moving from one project to another. Aggarwal pushes unrealistic deadlines on social media, creating hype and stalling, giving the world the impression that things are much closer to completion than in reality. At Ola’s office in Bengaluru, he breathes fire, breaks laptops, bashes his head in anger and fires people if the same unrealistic deadlines are missed. The launch of Ola Electric’s scooters is a case in point. An apology, several missed deadlines—from the launch of the booking …
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