Rs 10 Lakh Invested In Zerodha Till Date, Nithin Kamath Reveals

Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath has shared insights into what makes the online stock brokerage platform stand out in the market. He said Zerodha's success happened at a time when India's stock market and retail trading were experiencing growth.

"Being in the right place at the right time with the right products was crucial," he wrote on X.

Someone on Reddit asked what does Zerodha do differently, how are we profitable, why don't IPO etc. This is what I replied:

Hmmm... so you forget that we have spent 15 years getting here. And maybe another 10 years, before Zerodha, I was involved in the markets in some form. So,…

— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) September 16, 2025

Mr Kamath mentioned that someone on Reddit asked him how Zerodha is different from other brokers, how it's profitable and why the company hasn't done an IPO. 

Mr Kamath pointed out that he has 25 years of experience in financial markets, including a decade before he co-founded Zerodha. "Things in business compound over time, especially if you like or love what you are doing and if you are lucky to be in the right place and time," he wrote.

He revealed that Zerodha began as a partnership firm when it started, as the exchange deposit requirement was significantly lower, at Rs 90 lakh compared to Rs 1.5 crore. He added when Zerodha began, the company used trading software called NSE, which was free for NSE brokers.

"For the back office piece, sending contract notes, maintaining ledgers, etc., we signed up with a vendor who basically gave it at almost zero cost. This was provided that we tested out his platform," he wrote.

Mr Kamath stated that they spent Rs 10 lakh on Zerodha, including Rs 2.5 lakh for building the website, Rs 5 lakh for office interiors and Rs 2.5 lakh for miscellaneous expenses. 

"We came from an extremely middle-class background and had no rich uncles. Dad was a bank manager, and Mom taught Veena," he added.

Citing an example of Nvidia founder Jensen Huang, Mr Kamath said he spent 30 years building his company before hitting a breakthrough moment. He survived in the business for 30 years until he found the right opportunity and timing.

"For a long time, people might have questioned what he was doing until very recently," he said.

Mr Kamath revealed that since Zerodha hasn't taken outside funding, there's no pressure to give investors a quick return. This allows Zerodha to prioritise what is best for customers, even if it sometimes reduces short-term profits.

"For example, our no spam or no tracking policy. I believe that the philosophy with which we run Zerodha will be our real moat as a business. It is very tough to stick to it as a public company," he mentioned.