EP36: {Nithin Kamath, Co-founder & CEO of Zerodha}
Hi Stars!
I’m super excited for you to hear this episode. I got a chance to catch up with Nithin Kamath after a few kind introductions. Thank you to those who made it happen.
Recently Zerodha has been in the news for being a bootstrapped Unicorn along with the likes of ZOHO, homegrown tech companies that have inspired many. The scale and profit numbers for this bootstrapped company is mind boggling. More recently they have been in the news for a different reason, making some very interesting investments as part their Rainmatter initiative.
Some numbers:
Zerodha crossed Rs 350 crore in profit for the year ending March 2019
Zerodha’s ESOP buyback plan values the firm at $1 billion, surely Venture investors would value this differently, given the free cashflow
3 M users: first 5 years 65k users, since January 2020 added over a 1 million users
9 year journey to being an overnight success
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Zerodha followed these principles and built patiently:
built something where they had core competency
created value without expectations,
didn’t chase growth
took care of employees
experimented continuously
Another initiative I am really psyched about is the Rainmatter Climate that is an offshoot of Rainmatter, a fintech fund by Zerodha. They believe that climate change is the biggest existential threat to life have committed to using the resources available to enable potential solutions that may help society at large. They offer:
Funding for grassroots social organisations, individuals, and startups looking to work on climate change.
Industry connects and mentorship to help build and scale
Focused on reforestation and sustainable living with agro-forestry models.
Nithin loves playing poker, basketball, and guitar. @Nithin0dha on Twitter.
Stays Safe and share the episode! Let me know what you thought about the episode.
- V ( @varunvummidi )
Timeline:
00:48 - Trading Stocks at 17 of age
10:50 - Taking Risks
12:50 - Worked at a call centre to pay off trading losses
15:19 - Plan B helped me build Zerodha
19:07 - Taking Financial Advice from TikTok influencers
27:37 - ₹ 350 crores in Profit & a frugal mindset
38:48 - Creating a Platform with Kite Connect APIs
43:27 - Importance of Credibility & Trust to grow the
47:37 - Indians not able to save enough
50:40 - RainMatter Fund
54:52 - Philanthropy as part of Zerodha
58:20 - Zerodha is my biggest Trade
59:04 - What the future holds for Zerodha
1:00:20 - Enabling Investing in American Stocks
₹ 350 Crore Profit, 3M users & Rainmatter Investments {Nithin of Zerodha}