Nikhil Kamath reflects on humble beginnings in contrast with Ruchir Sharma’s rapid rise

Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, recently shared insights into his early career, highlighting the stark contrast between his modest start and the rapid ascent of investor-author Ruchir Sharma. Speaking on the WTF podcast, both Kamath and Sharma reflected on their unique journeys.

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Kamath earned a modest annual salary of $1,000

Kamath reminisced about his early days, earning a modest annual salary of $1,000 (approximately Rs 88,000 today) in the 2000s. He described this period as "formative," teaching him discipline before he ventured into entrepreneurship. Kamath worked at a Bangalore call center, 24 Bar 7, for five years before taking his first steps toward building Zerodha, now one of India’s largest brokerage firms.

In contrast, Sharma’s rise was swift. At 22, fresh out of college in 1996, he joined Morgan Stanley in Mumbai with an annual salary of $100,000 (around Rs 88 lakh today). This opportunity, which came at a crossroads where he could choose between academia and finance, set him on a fast track through global finance, eventually securing senior roles and authoring bestsellers like Breakout Nations.

While Kamath admired Sharma’s rapid climb, Sharma was impressed by Kamath’s steady growth, remarking, “You started in the call center world? Fascinating!” The conversation also shifted to global markets, with Sharma offering a candid outlook on the US market, asserting, “The only reason for investing in the US today is AI,” and predicting that the rest of the world will outperform the US over the next decade.