EXCLUSIVE: OYO brings on board former Starbucks COO Troy Alstead

• Troy Alstead, former Starbucks chief operating officer, will be an independent member on OYO’s board and will be a supervisor and guide to founder Ritesh Agarwal.
• On OYO’s board, Alstead joins Betsy Atkhins, CEO & Founder of Baja Corporation and an early investor in Yahoo, Gerry Lopez, operating partner at SoftBank Vision Fund and others.
• The appointment comes at a time when OYO’s business is severely hit because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Indian hospitality unicorn OYO has another addition to its board of advisors – Troy Alstead, former Starbucks chief operating officer. Alstead, who will be an independent member on OYO’s board will be a supervisor and guide to the founder Ritesh Agarwal.

“Troy brings tremendous operating and governance experience that will help us continue delivering on our mission to help millions of middle-income people around the world gain access to quality accommodations at different price points,” said Agarwal on the appointment.

Alstead, who was second in command at Starbucks and was in charge of the day-to-day operations of the coffee giant. He worked at Starbucks for 24 years until he parted ways in 2015. He will now look at OYO’s sustainable growth, operational and service excellence.

Currently, Alstead is also the founder, president, and CEO of Ocean5, a unique new place for playing, meeting, and dining, and Table 47, a farm-to-table, fresh from the scratch restaurant. He also sits on the board of the legendary motorcycle maker Harley Davidson.

On OYO’s board, Alstead joins Betsy Atkhins, CEO and founder of Baja Corporation and an early investor in Yahoo; Gerry Lopez, operating partner at SoftBank Vision Fund; Bejul Somaia, of Lightspeed Venture Partners; and Mohit Bhatnagar of Sequoia Capital, among others.

“OYO, with its unique asset-light business model and strong data capabilities, is creating something entirely new for more than 3 billion middle-income travellers and city dwellers who need accommodations that meet their standards and also their budgets,” said Alstead.

The appointment comes at a time when OYO is severely hit because of the coronavirus pandemic. OYO, which after months of troubles, had revised its focus on profitability, has another challenge awaiting this year. With the coronavirus lockdown across the world, the travel and tourism industry is one of the worst affected sectors.

OYO, whose revenue is down by 50-60% because of the pandemic, had recently announced ‘voluntary leave with limited benefits’ for many of its employees along with a 25% pay cut for employees. Agarwal has forgone his salary for a year, while the top management too has voluntarily taken salary cuts.

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Ritesh Agarwal to take a 100% pay cut, OYO sets up a welfare fund for Corona-hit hotel partners
EXCLUSIVE: OYO sends employees in India on leave without pay for 4 months and announces pay cuts for many