Indian investors were paying steep commissions on every trade in 2010. Nithin Kamath and his brother Nikhil founded Zerodha that year on a flat, low fee — the bet being that cheap access would bring in a market many times larger than the one being milked.
It worked. Zerodha became India's largest retail stockbroker by active clients, with Kite for trading and Coin for mutual funds pulling in a wave of first-time investors. None of it was funded by venture capital. Not a rupee.
He built one of India's most profitable startups by breaking the one rule everyone follows: he never raised a rupee.
That bought freedom most founders never get. The company stayed profitable, ignored the growth-at-all-costs pressure its funded rivals lived under, and put money into Varsity, which teaches ordinary Indians how markets actually work.
The interesting part is what he says about the boom he helped create. Kamath has warned retail investors openly about speculation and derivatives — telling his own customers to trade less. Commercial success plus public caution is why he is among the most credible voices in Indian fintech.