Chirag Gupta

CEO of Deyor Camps

(Forbes 30 Under 30)

22 November 2019 10 Min Read

Chirag Gupta: Elevating Indian E-commerce with Customer Focus

I welcomed Chirag Gupta, the CEO and co-founder of Deyor Camps, India’s largest experimental travel company that connects campsites, lodges, and cottages with customers interested in booking alternative accommodation. The business is available in six countries but is yet to expand.

The dedication and hard work behind Deyor Camps put Chirag Gupta on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Asia 2019: Retail & eCommerce list, which was a well-deserved achievement. But before establishing his business, he was also an IREO Management Pvt Ltd intern and an Investment Manager at Redcliff Capital.

I enjoyed hearing his story and how Deyor Camps came to be in the first place. He is young and successful, yet he has much to teach, especially regarding the customer experience. So, let’s see what he has to say!

The Logician

Hi Chirag, and welcome to this interview! First off, I would like to thank you for taking the time to join me in this mission of mine! Do you mind introducing yourself? Who is Chirag Gupta? How and why did you choose your current career?

Chirag Gupta

Hi, thank you so much for having me as part of your mission.

I am the CEO and Co-Founder of Deyor Camps.

My family has their own businesses which I was always clear to not be a part of.

It was a fortunate turn of events for me when I decided to drop out of my MBA within a month into it, and met Dheeraj Jain who runs an LBO and hedge fund in London.

He was looking to set up his angel investment office in India for Indian startups and gave me the opportunity to take the lead in helping him on this mission.

The amazing journey over 2 years made us invest in over 22 companies and being called the most prolific angel investment fund in India.

These 2 years were an amazing learning curve for me since being a sector-agnostic fund, I got a chance to meet capable entrepreneurs from different sectors and industries hustling their way to raise capital for their respective startups.

The goal was always clear for me that I want to be a first-generation entrepreneur and this experience helped me get clarity on how to pursue this dream.

Being a hostel kid, I have always had a passion for offbeat and outdoor travel compared to luxury and vanilla travel.

After meeting over 350 startups in various verticals and literally reading and studying in-depth about so many industries, I saw that huge challenges existed in a niche in the otherwise very well organized travel industry in India.

I am referring to the experiential and adventure travel industry in India.

I was fortunate to have Dheeraj as my lead investor and mentor in this journey and to have found an amazing founding team in Himanshu Agarwal and Gautam Yadav who have hustled their hearts out into helping us get to the position we are at today.

The Logician

I would also like to take this opportunity and congratulate you on being among Forbes 30 under 30! Was your childhood dream to be where you are today? What do you think most contributed to such a success?

Chirag Gupta

Thank you! It is an absolute honor to be on this prestigious list.

As I said earlier, I come from a business family and whenever I would spend time at home with my parents, my Dad would ensure he talks as much about his business, achievements & failures, how he coped up with the most difficult struggles and the overall approach to running a successful business.

I believe these tutoring lessons would have begun when I was just 15. Even during my college days when I had a relatively free schedule, he would ensure that he gives me some work from his business so that I could interact with more people and learn as early as possible.

I still remember striking a $10,000 deal for my Dad’s business in the first year of college and although it was not a significant amount for the business, the way I was made to feel gave me the first taste of success and how amazing a feeling it is.

At that point in time, I became certain and completely motivated to becoming an entrepreneur, striking my own deals, hustling my way.

Dad has been kind and supportive and always says that you follow the principles I’ve taught you and if you fall, I’ll be there to pick you up. This keeps me going and I’m happy I’m able to make him proud today.

The next biggest contributors are my mentors in the business. Like many startups, we have pivoted multiple times, had fund crunches and my mentors have always supported and helped in reincarnating the business with a tweaked model to help us sustain and grow.

They have been true believers and continue to motivate me and helping in achieving what we are trying to do with Deyor.

The Logician

Now, I would like to talk more about Deyor Camps. Can you tell us what the mission of Deyor Camps is? How was the business born? What are the core values of your business? Why?

Chirag Gupta

Deyor is India’s largest experiential travel company. We started out by curating our own experiences for millennials to understand their travel habits and expectations.

We have successfully curated these travel experiences across 6 countries now. At this time we are confident of taking the business to the next step.

Having understood the SOPs (standard operating procedures) most liked by our traveler audience, we ventured out to sign up similar businesses around the globe to stick with our vision of becoming a global brand.

We have successfully tied up with 45,000+ ATAs (attractions, tours, and activities) around the globe with LIVE inventory and dynamic pricing, something not many have been able to achieve.

We have also been able to do this swiftly with the involvement of tech which once launched will be truly disruptive to this $183 Billion industry. For now, I’ll keep that under wraps as we are still testing in beta mode.

The Logician

What would you say is the hardest part of your job? How do you deal with difficulties and stress? How do you calm yourself at stressful times?

Chirag Gupta

No job is easy. It is very important for an entrepreneur to analyze carefully and have an understanding of the problems that may arise in the future and take necessary steps to tackle them rather than waiting for the problem to arrive and then embracing/finding solutions.

We are not perfect and we do not forecast some problems at times, but we ensure that we face and tackle these problems with utmost priority instead of lingering them on until they become a storm in a teacup.

Stress is definitely high while on the job. I am an advocate of work-life balance, yoga, and fitness. I ensure that these 3 things are part of my weekly routine.

More often than not, most of us entrepreneurs don’t realize that these stress busters are very crucial in our life.

I believe the equivalent concept of an artist block exists for entrepreneurs as well and we need to venture out and relax ourselves time and again to ensure that we are active and fresh when we get back on the job.

The Logician

According to you, what is the hardest thing about being young and successful? Please explain.

Chirag Gupta

I view success incrementally. I am usually invigorated by new, complex challenges.

I do not want a day where I feel like there is nothing left to learn or achieve.

As long as I can leave work every evening content with the fact that I have learned something new and useful, the fact that I can apply this learning the next day and learn something new again at the same time, then that counts as a success for me.

The Logician

What does “success’’ for the company look like to you? How do you define success generally? Is it always associated with work and money?

Chirag Gupta

I am a firm believer of what Ritesh at OYO says, it is still Day 0 at Deyor and our journey has just begun. So success is far from achieved and we are confident and determined to achieve our goals.

Having said this, when we get rewarded by big publications like Forbes for our achievements and the people around us see us as a success story, it brings a lot more weight in a positive way on our shoulders that we need to thrive every day to live up to the name we have created for ourselves.

Another factor that creates a higher sense of responsibility in a positive way is that I feel we micro-influence a lot of newcomers and budding entrepreneurs around us and in a way, we leave a mark in their minds wherein they are trying to become like us.

So definitely need to keep hustling, keep shining and know that nothing is ever achieved, there is always a next step and another day.

The Logician

What is the one thing you wish you had known before you started your own business?

Chirag Gupta

Honestly, there are no regrets. It has been beautiful learning on the job and daily we learn something new.

If I was to regret it, then my days would go by regretting one new thing every day.

I believe that one must be positive and strong-willed to learn from their mistakes, ensure these mistakes are not repeated and know in the back of the head that whenever in life we are starting a new venture or consulting other founders, we can just teach them from our learnings and help them build more sustainably.

The Logician

What is your daily routine? Which habits have changed your life and contributed most to your success?

Chirag Gupta

I usually enjoy getting up early, around 5:30 am and get done with the gym or yoga. I get ready for the office by 8 am and then read three newspapers at home until 9 am.

Before leaving my house, I ensure I have jotted down the list of things I need to achieve for the day so that I have a clear understanding of tasks in hand when I step into the office.

By following these few steps I believe I am able to finish a portion of the things compared to people who wake up late even before they wake up. So definitely ahead starts in a way daily.

This way my day begins early and ends early as well as I am off to bed by 10 pm. I do not believe in people saying there is a rule of thumb that dictates that a founder must work 16 hours a day.

If you are efficient, there’s nothing stopping you from working your 10 hours a day and relaxing so that you can be fresh again the next day. There obviously are exceptions and times when work requires late hours, but this should not be a daily affair.

Another important thing that every founder must realize is the importance of having the right team and trusting them with the work you delegate to them.

This helps save a lot of time and energy and actually shows an enormous increase in the overall efficiency of the company.

The Logician

Where do you see yourself and Deyor Camps in the next ten years?

Chirag Gupta

The number one priority for us in our business is consumer experience.

Consumer experience for us is not only about them being on the trip, rather, it is about the whole journey from planning, searching, booking and traveling.

We want to innovate and disrupt technology continuously, to be able to provide a seamless end to end travel experience for our consumers which should involve as much tech as possible with limited manual intervention.

We are exploring developments in A.I, ML and stronger inventory management systems to help our consumers and vendors both. Eventually, when we have a diverse product portfolio offering ATAs across all continents on the globe seamlessly, we would feel like we have achieved something.

On a broader horizon, Deyor will become more of a group helping other travel startups integrate with our venture and our years of experience and team members will collectively help these founders and startups scale their businesses to new heights.

The Logician

What would it be if you could give one piece of general advice for either work or life? Why is it important?

Chirag Gupta

The most important thing to understand is that one must always maintain a lean structure of the business.

Whether you have raised $500k or $50Mn, you should know that you should keep it lean and efficient and only spend where necessary.

Do not expand from a team of 50 to 200 just because that is how the business modeling was done on excel.

Go step by step, identify gaps and fill them and this will take the business a long way in being a successful one.

The Logician

Thank you, Chirag, for your straightforward answers and valuable advice. You are living proof that life has the right timing for us all. Yet, it’s up to us whether we’ll take advantage of the opportunity or let it pass us. I perceive you as a CEO with the correct values, so I hope to see more of your work in the future. I wish you luck in everything you and your fantastic team decide to pursue, and I hope to travel with Deyor soon!

The Logician

Trademark of a Living Legend

Latest Interviews

#000061

Guillaume Philibert: Pioneering a New Era of Timeless Fashion

The Logician Image, which is an animated image of a person working on the laptop with a globe behind him, on a transparent background

Find Your Fellow Associates

Support means everything, especially in the digital world. Expand your network and extend your knowledge - make sure to join the association!

Discover My Association

Chirag Gupta

Chirag Gupta: Elevating Indian E-commerce with Customer Focus

The Logician

Latest Interviews

Aviran Zazon: Crafting a Legacy in Tech and Beyond

Thomas Torre: Revolutionizing Health Savings with Investment

Sanjay Brahmawar's Vision for the Future of Digital Transformation

Theo Saville: Revolutionizing CNC Manufacturing with AI

Akshay Singhal: Pioneering Clean Energy Solutions for Tomorrow

Matthew Clare on Revolutionizing Clean Energy Investment

Laila Kasuri: Driving Innovation in Healthcare and Science

Jiajun Cen on the Cutting Edge of Manufacturing Innovation

Carlos Pierre: Disrupting Real Estate with Tech-Driven Innovation

Erik Cheong on Transforming the Consumer Tech Industry

Siddha Ganju: Revolutionizing Manufacturing with AI and Robotics

Simon St. James LeComte on the Intersection of Art and Fashion

John Cassidy: Advancing Healthcare Through AI Innovation

Aleksandra Dragozet on Charting a Course for Sustainable Tourism

Jay Richards: Empathy, Compassion, and Building a Better Society

Cristina Aleixendri Muñoz: Advancing Manufacturing Via Innovation

Demelza Hays' Vision for a Decentralized Financial Future

Bernhard Winter: Revolutionizing Medical Devices with Innovation

Guido Zichittella's Green Vision: Revolutionizing Energy Production

Guillaume Philibert: Pioneering a New Era of Timeless Fashion

Find Your Fellow Associates