Nikhil Kamath On What Indian Entrepreneurs Can Learn From 'Tech Bros' In West

The billionaire tech bros in the west have a lot more risk capital at hand, to experiment and try different things, Nikhil Kamath, investor and entrepreneur, told NDTV, suggesting that Indian entrepreneurs take the cue and that failure should not be looked down upon.

"We do think Indian entrepreneurs should really be thinking about, or trying to, scale at that level. Culturally in a lot of places that are being very innovative, somehow when these guys fail society does not look down upon them. Maybe that's something we need to inculcate here," the 40-year-old Kamath, attending the NDTV World Summit in Delhi, said. 

"If somebody were to raise a bunch of capital, attempt something huge, and not succeed along the way for whatever reason, it's not as easy here as it is for them in different pockets of the world where maybe more innovation is happening today. That's another thing I think we need to learn," he said.

Elaborating on the same, the entrepreneur referenced China's Amnesty programme, where if an entrepreneur fails, he pays a fine and then the programme allows him to try again. 

"In the '90s, when they (China) really took off, they had this Amnesty programme. When an entrepreneur tried something and failed, he kind of had to pay a fine and they got him back to start working right away and try again. They really pushed him to do it. I think culturally and more so from a policy standpoint, we need to inculcate that somewhere," the entrepreneur, who has lately been reading a lot of books on China, said.

He underscored that he does not align with everything that China is saying, "but some things we can definitely pick up".

"I was in China for a month earlier this year. They have a lot more capital, risk capital at hand, to experiment and try different things. I don't see how an Indian company, or for that matter any company outside of those two or three countries where there is that much risk capital, can have a fair shot at competing in that layer. It would be really hard. I think the odds are low," he said.

Kamath, a school dropout, is best known as the co-founder of Zerodha, one of India's largest stockbroking firms. He has also invested in several businesses, including Licious, Nourish You, Pee Safe, Subko, and Ather, an electric scooter maker.