Nithin Kamath on specific knowledge, scaling an ecosystem, role of capitalism, giving back [#11]

Best in Class with Harish Narayanan

Nithin Kamath of Zerodha is our guest this time! Nithin is the co-founder of Zerodha, TrueBeacon, Rainmatter, and is a force to reckon with in the Indian Fintech ecosystem. He and his team have reimagined fintech with their many beautifully designed customer-friendly platforms like Kite and Coin, and their investments in other upstarts like Smallcase. His journey is also a unique case study in building a bootstrapped behemoth via unwavering customer obsession, in an industry that had large encumbents. Timestamps and details of the conversation are below.

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Timestamps:

• 00:40 Intro.
• 02:47 “Specific knowledge“ that made Zerodha possible.
• 06:57 Family background & support.
• 11:58 Quitting his job and startup journey (portfolio advisory -> Zerodha).
• 15:35 Scaling, ‘Right place right time’,
• 22:55 The meaning of money and how it changed over time.
• 27:08 The role of capitalism in today’s India.
• 31:42 Varsity and sharing financial knowledge.
• 34:51 Being bootstrapped, dealing with well-funded competition.
• 40:37 Day-to-day priorities & helping the ecosystem grow with Rainmatter.
• 49:03 Hiring great talent, growing leaders from within.
• 52:24: Rapidfire. “If you don’t bet you can’t win, and if you lose all your chips, you can’t bet.”

Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the series are solely personal and do not necessarily represent those of my company / employers.