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The Neon Show
Hi, I am your host Siddhartha! I have been an entrepreneur from 2012-2017 building two products AddoDoc and Babygogo. After selling my company to SHEROES, I and my partner Nansi decided to start up again. But we felt unequipped in our skillset in 2018 to build a large company. We had known 0-1 journey from our startups but lacked the experience of building 1-10 journeys.
Hence was born the Neon Show (Earlier 100x Entrepreneur) to learn from founders and investors, the mindset to scale yourself and your company. This quest still keeps us excited even after 5 years and doing 200+ episodes.
We welcome you to our journey to understand what goes behind building a super successful company. Every episode is done with a very selfish motive, that I and Nansi should come out as a better entrepreneur and professional after absorbing the learnings.
The Neon Show
How One Indian Company Powers the World’s Hotels & Airlines | Bhanu Chopra, RateGain
When RateGain went public, it made history as India’s first SaaS listing
Founder Bhanu Chopra talks about what went into that call, how investors saw it, and what it revealed about the Indian capital market. He shares how RateGain built its global presence before turning to India, and why he bet big on a $250 million acquisition.
Today, travel is changing faster than ever with travellers planning differently, hotels pricing dynamically, and APAC leading the global recovery. Bhanu breaks down how RateGain powers this, from AI that talks directly to hotels and travellers, to India’s hospitality industry that aims to grow 100% every year.
Valued at nearly $1Billion with over $120 million in annual revenue, RateGain counts some of the biggest names in travel among its customers including Airbnb, makemytrip, Marriott, Hyatt, IHG, Expedia, and Booking.com.
From taking RateGain from zero to IPO and growing revenue tenfold in a decade, Bhanu’s journey offers a grounded view of what it takes to build companies that last. This episode is about more than travel or tech, it’s about how India’s next generation of founders can think global.
0:00 — Trailer
1:00 — How RateGain became India’s first SaaS IPO
6:31 — Was India ready for a SaaS IPO?
7:31 — The $250M acquisition that cost 25% of market cap
10:58 — Why Indian SaaS is listing locally
14:48 — Travel is booming in APAC
15:34 — RateGain’s business Explained
19:09 — AI that talks to consumers and hotels
21:00 — Building a billion-dollar company is totally possible
23:03 — Why the hotel industry is too complex for LLMs
25:40 — $300M of $7.5B TAM
26:45 — Indian hotel chains aims to grow at 100%
29:39 — Travel trends across the US, Europe and APAC
32:25 — How travel behaviour changed after COVID?
33:34 — The 0→1, 1→10 and 10→100 journey
37:57 — What growth means to Bhanu as a founder
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Check us out on:
Website: https://neon.fund/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/
Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShoww
Connect with Siddhartha on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/
Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7
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This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.