From A Drunk Text to A Million Dollar Start-up – Success Story Of Ashish Hemrajani

Every time a new movie is released in theaters or there is a concert of your favorite musician, the first app which probably comes to your mind for booking the tickets would be BookMyShow. Right, isn’t it? Well, this is the kind of influence that e-commerce businesses have on our lives.

Over the time, BookMyShow has grown to be a well-known name in its field, especially for the young generation. Selling more than 15 million tickets every month, it has now become one of the most successful startups in India.

Ever wondered, how the co-founder of BookMyShow, Ashish Hemrajani, and his other two partners managed to gain success at such a huge level? 

Let’s talk about his story and the origin of the BookMyShow.

Who is Ashish Hemrajani?

Born in 1975 into a well-to-do family from Mumbai, Ashish Hemrajani is an Indian entrepreneur and the founder of Bigtree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., parent company of BookMyShow. Since his childhood, Ashish has been a disciplined, smart and hard-working guy. After completing his schooling from Maneckji Cooper Education Trust, Mumbai, he pursued his graduation from Mithbai College, Juhu and later MBA from the College of Commerce and Economics, Sydenham.

Ashish’s professional career kicked off when he started working for an advertising firm, J.Walter Thompson.

The Success you know, the story you don’t

In 1999, Hemrajani went on a trip to South Africa. At that time, he was working with J. Walter Thompson. During his road trip, Ashish got a chance to be a part of a wine tasting session, and what’s better than a free alcohol while backpacking. But it was only a matter of time that alcohol made him completely out of his senses and eventually he texted his boss that he was quitting. Hemrajani realized it the next day that he was jobless.

You would be surprised to know that Hemrajani got the idea of making an online movie ticketing app while listening to a radio program about the Rugby ticket promotion in South Africa.

Apparently, the silly decision of quitting a job, turned out to be a good opportunity for him. So, he started investing his time and efforts into launching an online ticketing platform in India. In a bid to start this app, Ashish even asked two of his friends to quit their jobs and help him in making his dream project a success. And that’s how Ashish, along with his two partners, Parikshit Dar, Rajesh Balpande, founded the company Bigtree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd in 1999. Initially, the company faced many ups and downs, but Ashish stood against all the odds, until his venture led to the favorable outcomes.

Things took a big turn for the company, when it has received its first major investment of Rs.2.5 crore from J.P Morgan. But Hemrajani’s happiness was short-lives as in 2002 the company saw a big downfall with only 6 members left at the Bandra house.

Fighting the rough seas, Bigtree Entertainment bounced back yet again in March 2007, when the Network 18 made a hefty investment in the company. 

Building BookMyShow

In August 2007, the Bigtree Enterntainment Pvt Ltd. officially launched the BookMyShow, which has now become one of the biggest online ticketing portals in India. With the growth of digital ecosystem across the country, the portal quickly gained the momentum and also became the first-choice of millions when it comes to reliable booking solutions for movies, sports, plays, music concerts etc.

BookMyShow was even awarded with the ‘The Hottest Company of the Year-2011-12′.

Later in 2013, the company managed to onboard PVR Cinemas by signing a five-year strategic partnership deal, adding 250 new cinema screens to their 1500+ cinemas which are currently handled by over 200 people and 150 outsourced employees.

“A pessimist says the glass is half empty, an optimist says it is half full. An entrepreneur looks at the empty section and adds some scotch either to enjoy the journey or be too drunk to bother,” said Ashish Hemrajani.

Secret behind the success of BookMyShow

From struggling to find the investors to becoming India’s leading online ticketing platform, BookMyShow indeed has come a long way. One thing that certainly drives the success of this company is the strongly-determined approach of Hemrajani and his two friends.   

Though Ashish has had seen a fair share of ups and downs in his journey to success, he never gave up on his dream of launching an online ticketing app in India. Despite all the obstacles and the difficulties, Ashish and his partners were stubborn and kept bouncing back.