As an automobile engineer, reviewing cars and bikes was something that came naturally to Rachit Hirani, Founder of MotorOctane. He began his career in journalism with CarWale, moved on to Autobild, CarDekho and Cartrade, to finally launch his own website along with the YouTube channel.
MotorOctane is the first YouTube Hindi auto channel to cross 1 million subscribers.
It has reviewed over 300 plus cars and bikes, which includes names like Mercedes Maybach, BMW i8, Porsche Cayenne, Ducati Supersport and Harley Fatboy, amongst many others.
Rachit intends MotorOctane to be the one-stop destination in future for car and bike buyers, where it gives them all the information and support they need to make the purchase.
In conversation with IWMBuzz, Rachit spoke about MotorOctane and its success story.
To begin with, how does it feel to be a digital celebrity and run the YouTube Hindi auto channel that is the first to cross a million subjects?
It’s an exciting stage in my life and I wish to take the excitement to the next level now. A million is just the start for me.
What do you take into account while reviewing some of the most desirable cars and bikes in the world?
Well, the thought was simple. Give value to the person’s time who is watching this. Depending on the genre of the product, we have been making content accordingly. Time is money and it is true for one and all. So, why waste someone else’s time when you can’t add value to it.
Describe life before and after MotorOctane’s success?
Life has been a lot more hectic but a lot more fun too. If things don’t get difficult, it can get difficult to work it out.
How did you come up with the idea of MotorOctane?
MotorOctane has always been evolving in my head. The name was ready but I wasn’t sure what to do in it. The first thought was to make it a consultancy, then we started the website. This was followed by the YouTube channel.
What were the challenges behind establishing MotorOctane?
The challenge is always in doing something new. Something that hasn’t been tried before is always risky. That’s what I did. Basically, experiment with content. It has done well for us.
How do you keep a tab on competitors?
I don’t; if you look at what your competition is doing, you will not get ahead of them. You shall struggle.
Do you think there should be censorship on web content?
On auto, well you can’t do that bad in the auto genre. In general, there should be some amount of hygiene for sure. It’s for the better of everyone. Especially the younger audience.
Tell us your association with One Digital Entertainment.
Our YouTube channel has been a part of the One Digital Entertainment network since the very start. They have supported the entity wherever there has been a need. They are an enthusiastic bunch of people.
How do you unwind when you’re not busy working?
Technology eats away most of our time. I have just realized that and am working on replacing it with a book instead.
Any final thoughts for your audience that consumes your content on such a large basis?
Yes. Don’t waste your time watching too much entertainment. Watch content that is useful for you. In simple words, stay glued to MotorOctane.