About Nithin Kamath
Nithin Kamath, co-founder and CEO of Zerodha, has been active in public discussions on a range of topics, including business philosophy, market regulation, and personal health. He has stated that he considers Zerodha an MSME and aims to remain "intentionally small," and has noted that the company has never spent money on marketing or advertising. Kamath has also commented on the Indian tax structure, arguing that it creates a "tax arbitrage" that incentivizes venture capitalists to prioritize growth and IPOs over building resilient, long-term businesses. He has said that this dynamic could lead to companies that are not resilient and may struggle in a prolonged market downturn. Regarding a public dispute with Dr. Aniruddha Malpani, who accused Zerodha of being a "scam" for limiting large withdrawals, Kamath stated that the company follows standard security procedures and that the accusations were "baseless."
Kamath has also spoken about his personal journey)Skip, noting that he started trading at age 17, dropped out of engineering college, and worked odd jobs before founding Zerodha. He has discussed the importance of "right place, right time" and serendipity in his success, and has emphasized that he does not view Zerodha's founding as 2010, but rather as 1997 when he began trading. Kamath has also shared his views on investing, advising young people to avoid real estate and instead use SIPs in the market, and has stated that he is a "fairly conservative" and "pessimist" investor. He has been open about his health, including a stroke he experienced in January 2024, and has discussed his efforts to manage stress and prioritize sleep and fitness.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Nithin Kamath's recent appearances.
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✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Host0:00
I'll take a few questions before I come back to mine. People feel free to raise your hand. I think they have mics around.
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Audience Member0:10
Very good evening. It feels great to talk to you both. So, there's one request for Nithin and one question. The request is that we would like to see you and Kailash both on Nikhil's podcast. You've been on Nikhil's podcast, right?
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Host0:24
You've been on the show.
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Audience Member0:25
Yeah, he has been on Healthcare's, but we would like to see with Kailash as well.
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Audience Member0:30
Yeah. And my question is that is there any mental model or a philosophy or a procedure through which you both take decisions? Because if I believe, you both are at the forefront of our fintech industry. So, that means you both have always taken great decisions and that too in the right direction. So, how do you both take decisions and make right choices in personal life and in professional as well? Thank you very much.
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Host1:01
Personal life, I don't know. I mean, you're talking, when you say "both," you're talking about Nithin and Kailash or Nithin and Nikhil? About you and him right now.
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Audience Member1:10
[laughter]
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Host1:12
But I'll let Nithin answer mostly.
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Nithin Kamath1:16
Okay. So, I see, the thing is I've seen a lot of... I mean, unlike Harshil, I don't come with any pedigree. So, I barely finished my 12th. I barely completed first year of engineering before I dropped out, and the college wasn't really a great college. So, my life generally has been very volatile. I worked in a call center. I was selling clothes on weekends and stuff like that. So, only the last 10 years, maybe 10, 11 years is when the trend has actually caught up. And of all the mistakes I've done in my life, I've realized that when there is a choice to make, there's an easy one and a tough one. If you are confused about which one to do, always the tough one is the right one. That's my mental model. When I'm confused about what I should be doing, I find out what is tougher to do and essentially do that.
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Host2:38
I don't know yours. No, I think it's a fairly amazing reply. I don't have too much to add to it, but I completely agree with Nithin. The one thing I'd say is that consistency compounds. What I've seen is typically people give up before they become consistent. A lot of people get excited about great stuff, like in AI it's happening even more, and they do it for 5 days, 10 days, maybe 3 months, 6 months, and then they want to do something else. Very few people are able to really do something consistent. Most successful founders that I've seen do the same thing for 10 years at least, and it's generally very hard to do the same thing. He's an example, right? Doing the same thing repeatedly for 10 years continuously. I'm sure the early days were not easy; it would have been hard, and if we're celebrating him today, I'm sure a lot of people would not have known Zerodha for a long time. But doing the same thing consistently for 10 years is not easy. And in the AI world, it's going to become even more rare that people will stick to the same thing. But generally, compounding happens with that.
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Audience Member3:48
Thank you very much. There are a few more.
