The IndiGo Story: Inside the Upstart that Redefined Indian Aviation

by Shelley Vishwajeet

The general refrain has been that business partnership of individuals is not a very good idea242 as different personalities with different ways of running and implementing a business plan ultimately clash, which sooner than later brings down the venture, preceded by bitterness in personal equations.243 But there have also been a few glorious exceptions to this general refrain. Some of the most iconic brands that we know of today have been created by the coming together of two individuals, who, despite radically different personalities, harmonized their respective strengths to shape up a common dream and turned their dreams into mega business empires. Just think of Bill Gates and Paul Allen244 or Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard.245 Could they have done it on their own? Seems quite unlikely! Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal, the men who scripted the most stunning success in Indian aviation, could also not have been more different from each other, somewhat akin to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak—the co-founders of Apple. Personality-wise, Jobs and Wozniak were as different as chalk and cheese.246 And if Wozniak knew how to build a computer (he was the main guy who designed and developed Apple I and Apple II), Jobs knew how to market it. Rest is legend. On the surface, Bhatia has been the outgoing kind with a vision, while Gangwal, the reticent kind of guy who likes to go about a task quietly, has been the mission man—the implementer. So, while Bhatia had the vision of starting a tr...