Nithin Kamath’s Advice To 22-Year-Olds: ‘Don’t Start With Goal Of Doing A Startup’

In an age where scores are aspiring to become an entrepreneur, Zerodha Co-Founder Nithin Kamath has advised the youth to not begin with a goal of "doing a startup", but rather exploring what they love and then dive into it.

When a LinkedIn user asked Kamath for advice for 22-year-olds, he said that one should be curious and explore what they are good at, and then decide on where the journey leads.

"Be curious, learn as much as you can, and when you find something you love or are good at, go deep into it. If that journey eventually leads to entrepreneurship, then spend serious time finding the right co-founders or a founding team who complement your skills," he replied.

Kamath further explained that if one has not found something they love or something they are good at, then the "risk is that you might get married to the wrong idea too early."

Notably, India has emerged as a startup hub in recent years, with the number of such firms rising from 350 to nearly 1.8 lakh in the last decade, as per official data.

In the process, startups have created over 17.5 lakh jobs, more than many government recruitment initiatives, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said in July. "We urge students to shift their mindset from being job seekers to becoming job creators, leveraging the enormous support available through various startup schemes," he said, while speaking at IIT Jammu.