Zerodha’s founder shared the formula of hope:No matter what the outcome, never stop taking the next step

For me, hope doesn’t just mean thinking that everything will be fine. Hope becomes strength when it is coupled with a clear purpose to solve a problem. If you stick to that purpose and don’t give up quickly, then luck also supports you when the right time comes. If an entrepreneur says they were never afraid, then either they haven’t done very difficult work or they’re not telling the truth. In the early years of Zerodha, we had neither much money nor any big name. Every day was uncertain. I learned one thing: that in life and business, often the biggest advantage goes to the one who has the ability to survive the longest. Being at the right time and right place is important, but for that, you first need to stay in the game. That’s why I always tried to keep expenses low, not lose my identity, and not change my direction by watching others’ race. For me, hope doesn’t mean that everything will automatically be fine. Hope means that whatever the outcome may be, you never stop taking the next step. This is what will make you successful. I have hope from India’s future I get the most hope from the founders I meet through Rainmatter. They are working on real problems like climate change, health, savings, investment, and deep-tech. But my biggest concern is India’s employment. We have the largest young population. If we cannot create sufficient and meaningful employment for them, the opportunity can turn into a challenge. Entrepreneurship should not remain limited to big cities only. It should reach small towns and villages. I just want to tell the youth not to compare yourself with someone else’s timeline. The concern about AI is real, but social media amplifies this fear manifold. AI will change the nature of jobs, but India’s biggest challenge today is still creating adequate employment. Therefore, I will invest my energy not in worrying, but in learning something new every day. Continuous upskilling, curiosity, and the habit of constant learning will be most useful in the future. These 5 things are essential in the portfolio of hope… I always avoid giving advice, because luck has also played a role in my business success, but these five things must be in the portfolio of hope. 1. Trust. Trust in India, because I believe that the world’s biggest opportunities are going to be created here in the next few decades.
2. Skill. Through which you can become one percent better every day.
3. Health. If health is not good, then the significance of achievements becomes very limited.
4. Relationships. People who genuinely want your success are your most valuable but often overlooked asset. It is necessary to nurture relationships.
5. Patience. Whether it’s the market, business or life, ultimately the biggest reward goes to those who have patience. Stroke was the biggest lesson of life In 2024, after having a stroke, I understood very closely what truly matters in life. Business keeps running. The team manages its work. In the end, you are left with only your health, your family, and your own life. Good companies are built on trust, patience, and problem-solving We have started the Rainmatter Foundation. Through this, we invest in new startups. When I invest in startups through Rainmatter, I don’t first look at how fast the company can grow or what its valuation will be. I look at whether the founder is truly passionate about the problem they are working on or not. In my experience, those founders last long who work not to build a startup, but to find solutions to real problems. Those who love their work move forward. I have also seen that the strongest companies are often built by the quietest founders. They speak less and work more. At Rainmatter, we have supported over 160 startups in sectors like climate, health, investment, and deep-tech over the past few years. Our CTO and co-founder Kailash has been working on climate change for a long time. Working with him, I realized that if the right people in sectors like agriculture, water, and energy receive patient capital, they can bring about significant change. Foreign markets are not a magical solution Through Zerodha, we have opened up a pathway for Indian investors to invest in American stocks through Gift City. In the coming times, young people will think about investing in different countries and different asset classes. However, foreign markets are not a magical solution. There are risks there too. It is necessary to understand things like currency fluctuations, taxes, and market valuations. AI is also going to transform investment Our partner Kailash also believes that in the future, investors will be able to place orders from any AI interface of their choice, and the broker’s biggest responsibility will be to provide robust backend infrastructure. AI can analyze data for you, but it cannot decide what your risk-taking capacity is, what your life goals are, and how much you should invest. This decision will always have to be made by humans. After all, I have always learned that good companies are not built just by technology. They are built on trust, patience, and consistently trying to solve the right problems. The same principle applies to startups and to investments as well.