Meet man whose life changed through one drunk text, built Rs 7500 crore company, not from IIT, IIM, NIT

Ashish Hemrajani is the CEO and co-founder of BookMyShow, a popular website for buying tickets to live events in India such as sporting events, plays, concerts, and movies. In 1999, he founded Bigtree Entertainment, the parent company that runs BookMyShow. 

The founders of BookMyShow are Ashish Hemrajani, Parikshit Dar, and Rajesh Balpande. They are alumni of Sydenham Institute of Management, Mumbai University. Ashish Hemrajani currently serves as the CEO of BookMyShow. 

Ashish Hemrajani, co-founder and CEO of BookMyShow, revealed in an interview that he once shared his business idea with his boss through a drunk text message back in 1999, as per the Entrepreneurs Today report. Surprisingly, his boss supported him, saying, 'No problem. Go for it.' It was this unusual conversation that set Hemrajani on the path to creating the influential platform, the report added.

With a background in marketing and advertising, Hemrajani played a pivotal role in the company’s inception. As multiplexes and electronic payment methods gained traction, he transitioned from offering back-end ticketing services to creating BookMyShow.

Ashish Hemrajani holds an MBA in Marketing from Sydenham. Before founding BookMyShow, Asish worked for J. Walter Thompson, an advertising company, holding positions in the client and account management departments. According to a StartupTalkey story, he later made a strategic change with BookMyShow and is currently the founder and CEO of the business.

About BookMYShow

"Go For Ticketing" was BookMyShow's original moniker. In 2002, the company went by the name "India Ticketing" before changing to its current moniker. When the company, which was then known as "India Ticketing," launched a name-suggestions contest for its employees in 2007, an intern engineering student came up with the idea for BookMyShow. The report also stated that in this approach, the business developed a name that aligned with its aims and objectives.

Founded in 1999, Big Tree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. is the owner and operator of BookMyShow, one of India's premier entertainment destinations and a one-stop shop for all your out-of-home entertainment needs. BookMyShow was launched in 2007. Thanks to partners from across the industry, the company, which has locations in over 650 Indian towns and cities, offers millions of customers unmatched entertainment experiences. The company's LinkedIn profile states that it has developed over the years from a fully online ticketing platform for films playing on over 6,000 screens to end-to-end management of live entertainment events, including music concerts, theatrical productions, sports and more, all executed to the highest standards in the world.

According to the The Time of India report, the valuation of BookMyShow is estimated to be around Rs 7,500 crore ($900 million). According to Inc42’s Founder Remuneration Tracker FY23, the annual remuneration of