Essay · Long read

Inside the making of Zerodha

Nithin Kamath · Nithin Kamath (Substack) Free Intermediate India

The founder saying it in his own words: no ads, no sales team with targets, not much marketing, and about 1,000 people while the business grew several times over. Primary source for a story that gets exaggerated elsewhere.

  • Zerodha's business grew five or six times while headcount stayed flat at roughly 1,000 people since 2018-19.
  • Kamath notes they have never raised external capital and run no sales team with targets.
  • They deliberately avoid advertising and avoid pushing people to trade or invest.
Open on nithinkamath.substack.com ↗

The question it answers

  1. How did Zerodha become India's largest broker with no ads and no sales team?

Read with it

  1. Go look at the actual asset rather than reading about it. No signup, no paywall, no ads, and it is the top of Zerodha's funnel.... Zerodha Tool · Ongoing library Zerodha Varsity: Free Stock Market and Trading Courses Online Karthik Rangappa
  2. Education is the distribution channel, and this is written by the person who built it, with the actual scale: certification... Z-Connect by Zerodha Article · About 6 min read Zerodha Varsity in 2023 Karthik Rangappa
  3. The thesis proved in the profit and loss: 47 crore rupees of advertising against 8,847 crore of revenue, roughly half a... Entrackr Article · About 4 min read Zerodha cash reserve stands at Rs 22,679 Cr in FY25 Kunal Manchanada
  4. The most quotable source, with 1.1 crore customers acquired without ever advertising, and the deliberate absence of revenue... Forbes India Article · About 8 min read I'm proud that at Zerodha we don't have growth targets: Nithin Kamath Neha Bothra
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