EP36: ₹ 350 Crore Profit, 3M users & Rainmatter Investments {Nithin of Zerodha}

Stars & Startups

EP36: {Nithin Kamath, Co-founder & CEO of Zerodha}

0 + rodha = Zero Barrier

Nithin is an avid poker player and a CEO who still blogs and interacts with his customers to stay in touch and stay on the pulse of the customer. Recently Zerodha 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 making some very interesting investments as part their Rainmatter initiative.

Some numbers:

1. Zerodha crossed Rs 350 crore in profit for the year ending March 2019
2. Zerodha’s ESOP buyback plan values the firm at $1 billion, surely Venture investors would value this differently, given the free cashflow
3. 3 M users: first 5 years 65k users, next 2 years + 1.5 million users, since January 2020 + 1 million users

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Zerodha followed these principles and built patiently, a 9 year journey to being an overnight success.:

• 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