Beyond the Screen: A Conversation with Aarav Danani on Building India's Going-Out Economy
What if technology's greatest achievement wasn't keeping us online, but helping us spend more time in the real world?
From booking food and cabs to managing finances, technology has simplified almost every aspect of our lives. Yet when it comes to one simple question - "What should I do today?". The answer often involves endless scrolling, multiple apps, and too many choices.
For Aarav Danani, that gap represents far more than a business opportunity. As the Founder & CEO of AAVO, he is building what he describes as the operating system for India's going-out economy—a platform designed to make discovering experiences as seamless as ordering food or booking a cab. Rather than focusing solely on events, AAVO brings together workshops, cafés, adventure activities, community meetups, wellness experiences, live performances, and countless other real-world experiences into one ecosystem.
In this conversation with Conversations by Brains In You, Aarav shares why he believes the future belongs to experience creators, how technology can encourage people to spend less time planning and more time living, and why building communities may become one of the strongest competitive advantages in the years ahead.
Q1. You often describe AAVO as infrastructure for India's "going-out economy" rather than just an events platform. What distinction do you think most people miss between the two, and why does that difference matter?
Aarav Danani:
Most people think we're building an events platform. We're not. Our focus has always been to bring India's experiences to the forefront—the unique, the undiscovered, the unpopular, the trending, and everything in between. Event technology is simply one functionality that helps make that possible.
For us, the opportunity is much bigger than events. It's about making the entire going-out economy work better.
Whether it's adventure sports, workshops, hidden cafés, wellness retreats, live music, food experiences, road trips, or community meetups, we want people to discover experiences they otherwise wouldn't have. We're not focused on owning one category like nightlife or entertainment. We're focused on bringing every kind of great experience to the forefront and making it easier to discover.
Today we're building that for India. Long term, I want Indian experiences to become part of the global going-out economy. India has incredible experiences that deserve far more visibility, and I believe technology can become the bridge that brings them to the world.
Q2. Many founders optimise for engagement on screens, while you're trying to create reasons for people to leave them. How do you measure success for a business whose best outcome is people forgetting about the technology itself?
Aarav Danani:
For us, success isn't measured by how long someone spends inside the app. Our KPI is getting people to go out and experience the world around them.
We want people to discover exciting new trends, explore their city, make memories with friends, and genuinely enjoy themselves. Ironically, that's exactly why we obsess over making the product better. The smoother we can make planning, discovery, booking, and decision-making, the less people have to think about the technology.
For me, the real KPI is simple: someone discovers an experience through AAVO, goes out, has an amazing time, comes back, and starts looking for the next one. That repeat desire to experience more of the world around them tells us we're doing our job.
The experience becomes the memory, and we simply become the starting point for the next adventure.
Q3. You estimate India's IRL economy to be a multi-lakh-crore opportunity. What patterns or overlooked signals convinced you that this market was much larger than people generally assumed?
Aarav Danani:
The biggest signal was looking outside traditional "events."
People spend money every week on cafés, road trips, workshops, concerts, sports, weekend getaways, wellness activities, hobby classes, dining, nightlife, and dozens of other experiences. None of these industries think of themselves as being in the same market, but consumers do.
People don't wake up thinking, "I want to buy an event ticket." They wake up thinking, "What should I do today?"
Once you view the market through consumer intent instead of industry categories, the size becomes enormous.
India also has one of the world's youngest populations, rising disposable incomes, increasing urbanisation, and a generation that increasingly values experiences over possessions. Those trends make me believe we're still in the very early days of this market.
Q4. In one of your recent posts, you reflected on creating opportunities for young people through internships. When evaluating students for these opportunities, what qualities consistently stand out beyond resumes, grades, or prior experience?
Aarav Danani:
Curiosity. Every single time.
I can teach someone marketing, sales, operations, or product thinking. It's much harder to teach initiative.
The people who impress me are the ones who ask thoughtful questions, take ownership without being asked, and genuinely care about solving problems.
I also value consistency. You don't need to be the smartest person in the room if you're someone who shows up every day and gets better.
At an early-stage startup, attitude almost always beats experience.
Q5. Building communities is often described as a "soft skill," yet it can become a strong business advantage. What systems or principles have you intentionally designed into AAVO to turn community into a scalable business rather than just a marketing activity?
Aarav Danani:
Community can't just be a Discord server or an Instagram page. It has to exist inside the product itself.
That's why we're building systems around recurring experiences, local organisers, interest-based discovery, friend networks, and communities that naturally form around shared activities rather than endless conversations online.
We also think deeply about incentives. Organisers grow because they reach more people. Users discover better experiences. Brands reach highly engaged audiences. Everyone benefits when more people participate.
If your community depends entirely on your marketing team, it isn't scalable. If your product naturally creates more community every time someone uses it, that's when it becomes a competitive advantage.
Q6. Many consumer startups focus on acquiring users, but retaining habits is often the harder challenge. What have you learned about changing offline behaviour, especially for a generation accustomed to convenience and endless digital entertainment?
Aarav Danani:
I've realised that people don't actually struggle because they don't want to go out.
They struggle because planning is exhausting. Finding something worth doing, coordinating schedules, convincing friends, booking tickets, and travelling there creates enough friction that staying home and scrolling often feels easier.
Our job isn't to convince people to go outside. It's to remove enough friction that saying "yes" becomes easier than saying "maybe next weekend."
If we consistently make discovering and booking great experiences effortless, the habit naturally follows.
Q7. As someone building in a rapidly evolving consumer space, how do you decide whether a new feature, trend, or technology genuinely strengthens your long-term vision instead of becoming a short-term distraction?
Aarav Danani:
I usually ask two questions.
First: Would I actually use this?
Second: Does this genuinely help more people go out and experience the world?
If the answer to both is yes, it's worth exploring.
If it's simply another feature that keeps people scrolling without improving their real lives, it's probably a distraction.
Technology evolves incredibly quickly. AI will change, interfaces will change, and trends will come and go.
But our mission doesn't.
We're building technology that helps people spend less time planning and more time living. That makes saying no to distractions much easier.
Q8. Looking ahead five years, what changes do you expect in the way people discover friendships, communities, and experiences, and what role do you hope companies like AAVO will play in shaping that future?
Aarav Danani:
I think discovery will become far more personalised and intent-driven.
Instead of searching endlessly across different platforms, people will expect one place that understands what they enjoy, who they're with, how much time they have, and recommends experiences that genuinely fit.
Communities will increasingly form around shared experiences rather than simply shared interests online. The best friendships won't necessarily begin in comment sections—they'll begin while doing something together.
That's the future I'm building towards.
I want AAVO to become the operating system people instinctively open whenever they want to make plans, discover something new, spend time with friends, or simply ask, "What should I do today?"
If we can make going out as seamless as ordering food or booking a cab while helping people experience more of the world around them, then I think we'll have built something that genuinely improves people's lives.
About AAVO
AAVO is building the operating system for going out.
Its mission is to bring India's most exciting experiences—from hidden gems and local favourites to trending activities and iconic events—into one place, making them easier to discover and experience. Rather than functioning as just another events platform, AAVO is building the infrastructure for India's growing experience economy by connecting people with workshops, cafés, adventure sports, community meetups, wellness retreats, road trips, live performances, and much more.
The platform also works closely with organisers, venues, creators, and communities, helping meaningful experiences gain the visibility they deserve while making it easier for people to discover what their cities have to offer.
Looking ahead, AAVO aims to make discovering real-world experiences as effortless as ordering food or booking a cab, while eventually bringing India's rich and diverse experiences to a global audience.
Connect
Website: www.aavo.app
Instagram (AAVO): @aavoapp
Instagram (Aarav Danani): @aaravdanani
About Conversations by Brains in You
Conversations by Brains in You is a curated interview series featuring students, professionals, entrepreneurs, creators, researchers, and changemakers whose journeys offer meaningful lessons beyond conventional achievements.
Rather than focusing solely on titles or milestones, each conversation explores the decisions, experiences, challenges, and perspectives that shaped the individual behind the profile. The aim is to create a growing repository of practical insights that help students and young professionals navigate their own careers with greater clarity, productivity, integrity, and purpose.
Every featured conversation is thoughtfully selected with the belief that authentic experiences can inspire informed decisions, lifelong learning, and better human development.
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