Sharan Hegde

One of the biggest reasons why we were able to raise ₹10 Cr in 1 hour from Nikhil Kamath is because we had a physical deck.

He was surprised to see a physical deck in this era of PPT!

And it was not just the physical deck. But we made every page in such detail that anyone seeing it would know how detail-oriented we are.

We put thought into every visual, statistic, and description to craft a polished narrative about our business. The tactile experience of a printed deck gave it more impact.

The added bonus is (said by my co-founder Raghav Gupta) when someone touches a physical deck, it automatically builds trust factor between the potential shareholders.

It's easier to gloss over a PDF, but when someone can

- physically hold the deck
- flip through the pages and
- absorb the information at their own pace

It feels much more substantial.

That's how, in a sea of digital pitches, we stood out by going analog. That tangible attention to detail showed Nikhil how meticulous and thoughtful we are.

It left a mark and helped build a connection that ultimately convinced Nikhil to invest.

My one big hack to crack any deal or any client is:

To have a physical deck because of the effort required makes a statement. It makes your pitch tangible and transforms an abstract concept into something real.

So, consider going retro with your next deck! It could be the difference-maker that takes your pitch to the next level.

When was the last time you had a meeting with a physical folder in hand and not a laptop?

#pitchdeck #success #entrepreneur #creativity

This shark belongs to the top 1% of the top 1% and sees “homes“ and “engagement rings“ as emotional investments.

I’m talking about Radhika Gupta , the CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Fund, a multi-millionaire who manages ₹1.3 lakh crore of our taxpayer money. She's a true inspiration for all who want to master investing.

She told me a few things that made me rethink my financial plans for the next 10 years. Here are some key takeaways for all who haven’t watched it yet:

- The gradual rise of India's Disposable Income, and what it means for us all
- The affluent population in India is expected to 2x in the next few years
- The rise of FinFluencers creates opportunities for financial education
- The power held by the top 1% of people and their role in our society
- How much regulation matters in the financial services industry

We also discussed some mistakes and investment advice to help you build a great financial plan.

P.S. I also revealed a personal financial mistake I made early in my career!

Want to know more? Watch the episode and learn expert insights from one of India's finest.

#podcast #finance #investing #shark

Me at 25
• Broke
• No 10 year career plan
• Used dell laptop was my net-worth

Me at 28
• Running an online business
• 4 million followers online
• A company with 60+ team members


What changed my life? 3 major failures!

My journey to building a community of millions was paved with rejection and disappointment. But each failure taught me an invaluable lesson that ultimately led to success.

Failure #1 - Not Getting Into My Dream College

Like many Indian students, I dreamed of getting into one of the IIT. I studied ferociously and felt confident in my abilities. But when rejection came, it stung deep. I was heartbroken and discouraged and lost all hope of doing something extraordinary in life. I defaulted to following the herd and lost all my ambition.

I realized the world is super competitive and good things don’t come easy. Very few make the cut while the rest have to move on and keep working harder.

Failure #2 - Getting Passed Up For a Promotion

Years later, I had my sights set on a promotion at my consulting job. I worked tirelessly for two years to prove I was ready. But despite my efforts, the promotion never came to me (thanks to the pandemic).

This time, the lesson was life isn’t fair. But then you realise that everybody has such unfair things happen to them. The probability is more for some and less for others but one thing is certain- The more times you fail the higher your chances for success. So I had to keep moving.

Failure #3 - Not Getting Into My Top Choice IIM Program

I studied rigorously for months and was positive I would get into my top choice, IIM Bangalore. I used stay in a 5-sharing PG where everyone spoke Telugu (a language I don’t speak) just so that I can do an internship and study for CAT at the same time. When I was rejected, it knocked me down.

Enter- Pandemic. Life has come to a standstill and everybody is scared AF. It’s sort of like everybody was thrown into a level playing field full of unique opportunities and vacuums which didn’t exist before.

The Birth of Finance With Sharan

After three crushing failures, I was at a crossroads. I could either let failure defeat me, or learn from it and try again. I chose the latter.

The Moral: Failure is Feedback

Looking back, it's clear that failure was essential to my growth. Each time I failed, it forced me to adapt and improve. Failure filtered out what didn't work and showed me what I needed to change. It made me resilient and determined. Without those early failures, I wouldn't be where I am today.

So don't fear failure - embrace it! See each failure as feedback to help you grow. Keep adapting, learning and persevering. If you do, just like me, you can turn failures into milestones on the path to success.

I want to hear your failure stories! Share in the comments how you turned setbacks into comebacks.

#failures #feedback

2 Million followers for a finance page on Instagram.

Kya phook ke aya hai be?? 😱

When I began, I thought there wouldn't be more than 30,000 people on Instagram interested in a dull topic like finance.


It's crazy to think that all of you 20 lakh+ people follow me for the same reason —to learn about money. 💰 💵 🌎

In an interview, Ankur Warikoo asked me: “How has money changed you?“

The truth is : I never thought money could be made in content creation. I did it for improving my B-school application for Columbia Business School.

So I still live the same lifestyle.

People ask me to purchase BMWs and Audi's coz they know I can afford it.

I still take Uber :)

When I had touched 10,000 followers I remember joking with my sister about people wanting to take selfies with me in public. Now I get recognised everywhere and it's honestly overwhelming at times because it gets to your head. Quick fame isn't good if you don't quickly adapt

5 months back, I was at StarBucks and a guy came up to me and told me :

“Sharan, I was in credit card debt for years! But the strategies from your reels has finally helped me get out of it.“

He was sporting a gold chain while he was talking to me.

This one interaction made me realise that all the fame and following in the world is useless if you cannot create long lasting impact in a person's life. I could not measure it until I began my Personal Finance Masterclass. Almost 17,000+ people have taken it already and the response has been better than I could have imagined.


It's surprising and terrifying - the impact of my content on people's lives.

Over the past 1 month I have received hundreds of DMs to conduct my Personal Finance Masterclass again. 💸

You ask, I deliver.

This weekend, I am hosting my 2 Hour Personal Finance Masterclass for the last time this year.

You'll learn to :

✅ Plan for early retirement
✅ House purchase scenario analysis
✅ Pick mutual funds
✅ Insurance products
✅ Rebalancing strategies
✅ Secret tax saving tips.... and so much more with not 1 or 2 but EIGHT proprietary excel tools which has been created for the layman.


The link is in the first comment.

I'll see you inside Sunday, 6PM! If you have already taken it before please feel free to drop your experience below. 😊

A sneak peek into my first office of The 1% Club in Mumbai!😇

We've set it up with comfy breakout zones and even a spacious garden! You know, the kind of place that gets those creative juices flowing💫

A few days back, we started work with a Pooja ceremony to seek blessings for a prosperous future. 🙏

Raghav Gupta and I, with our amazing team together, we're on a mission to make India financially literate!🇮🇳

From a salary of ₹8,000 to building a billion-dollar company - This is the story of Nikhil Kamath.

You know you are doing something right when you get to meet the man behind Zerodha and True Beacon hedge fund.

Last week, I had the opportunity to interview him! We Spent 1 hour shooting an insightful podcast with him at his beautiful home. (Link in the comment section)


These are some of the topics we talked about:

1) How much money is too much money?

2) How should an average Indian invest today?

3) Why did he start a hedge fund?

4) What does he think about cryptos and blockchain?

5) What gives him sleepless nights?

6) What’s the next big thing?


➡️ What was my biggest takeaway?

Hard work is overrated. Timing is everything to disrupt any industry. 💯


What would you like to ask him? Comment below.👇🏻





#personalfinance #startup #investingforbeginners

Looks like MS Dhoni needs some financial advice from me 😜💰.


Should we start a finance channel with Mahi?


Rigi


#DhoniSeNahiMangneChahiyeThe

Now more than 100,000+ people read my stuff on LinkedIn.


It’s funny to think that there was a time when I was even scared to comment on someone else’s post, thinking of what my boss would feel, if I said something wrong.


Most people think content creation is a new profession for a select few people with good camera presence and theatre background. Nothing could be further from the truth. Whether you’re a doctor or a developer, writing on LinkedIn is the bare minimum that all of us should do for content creation.


If you can talk about what you do in a manner everyone can understand and appreciate, you instantly rise to the top 1 % in your profession.


“The person who is the best at DOING something will almost always be beaten by the person who is the best STORYTELLER in that profession.“


✨Case in point: Me✨


Did you know that I don’t have a single degree in finance?


I’m a simple mechanical engineer from a Tier-2 college. Yet, today you know me as a “finance expert”. Am I the best at it? Of course not. I’m sure hundreds of PhD finance professors in IIMs are better at it than I am.


But you don’t know them, and that’s the whole point.


Letting your work do the talking for you is an outdated concept. All of us are doing work. The person who is the best storyteller about his or her work will almost always win.


A good LinkedIn Profile :

👉🏻Can help you get ahead in your career
👉🏻Help you build profitable side-hustles and businesses
👉🏻Connects you to the Top of ANY Industry


What’s the first thing that HR does when they get your resume? Stalk you on LinkedIn.


If you’ve never posted anything, you’re just a content consumer and fall in the 99.9% bucket. Only an IIT or an IIM tag can save you then.


But if they see that you’ve posted content and someone from their company is in your network- you have a better chance of getting your foot in the door despite of not having IIT or IIM tag.


Why is this even more special to me?


Reaching 100k on LinkedIn is much harder than reaching 100k on Instagram. I can’t show you my pretty face or crack jokes to make you follow me. All I have are my fingers.


And words, ofcourse. I was taught English by a mother who didn’t speak a single word of English until I joined the school. Imagine teaching Chinese to your kid. In fact, my dad contemplated putting me in Kannada medium so that it would become easier for my mother to teach. But mom was adamant about teaching me English come what may, and here we are with 100k+ readers.


Thank you for all the incredible support over the past 1 year.


To celebrate and educate my amazing audience even further, I am hosting a 2-hour Personal Finance Masterclass next week.


2 hours with me, and you can confidently say that “Bro, my finances are sorted!”


➡️Link in comment section below. I am thrilled to teach you more!




#finance #personalfinance #thankyou

Wipro: Accept a 50% pay cut or wait indefinitely for the joining date

The IT major has kept some employees on hold since ~1.5 yrs

🔷 Dec'21: Some employees received offer letters at a salary of ₹3.5L p.a. under the 'Elite' category

🔷 Candidates are promised to be upgraded to 'Turbo' category with ₹6.5L of CTC on completion of 'Velocity' training

🔷 Candidates complete this training and receive revised offers but here's the catch: with NO mention of the joining date

🔷 16th Feb'23: Wipro asks 'Turbo' category offered candidates to join at ₹3.5L CTC and respond by 20th Feb'23

Or else, wait indefinitely for the company to honour its commitment of offering ₹6.5L CTC

Wipro says that they're doing this by keeping in mind the 'Economic Situation'

By the way, Wipro made ₹12,243 Cr of profits in FY22

How fair do you think it is for someone who has been waiting since 15 months for a job?

Let me know in the comments👇🏻

===============

Follow your man (Sharan Hegde) for insights on Personal Finance

Last week in my post about Neo banks, I asked you guys for suggestions on which Neo bank should I choose.


And you guys came through with many banks with unique and interesting USPs.


I am especially intrigued by the features of Niyo Solutions Inc. , which gives you a VISA Signature Debit Card that does not charge any forex markup on international transactions while also giving a staggering 5% interest rate* on its savings account.


That’s pretty close to FD rates. Most private banks offer 3-4% interest rate.


This card is acceptable across the world and it essentially helps you save tons of money, which means now when I plan to go to Dubai this December, I’ll do what any good Indian does - I’ll take this business trip as an opportunity to do some shopping.


The common problem every traveler faces is how to carry money into another country. Carrying hard cash is risky, the risk of theft or loss is high and the conversion rates tend to be terrible.


Domestic debit and credit cards incur forex markup charges of about 3-5% per transaction made abroad.


This means when you go to the United States to buy the new Iphone 14 pro for a discounted price of Rs 71,700. You will be charged an additional 3,500 as forex charges.


The best option up until now was to get a prepaid forex card or a traveler’s card, where one has to pre-load the card with foreign currencies which one can freely use abroad. The only drawback being the conversion charges.


But with Niyo Global card that problem is also taken care of as you can top up your account in Indian rupees and spend in local currency with this card.


How do you save money during travel?


Let me know in the comments below 👇🏻





#money #currency #bank

> Dropped IIM
> Left his 1Lac/month job
> Used all his savings

To build a Rs. 1300 Cr. Business💰

This is the story of Vedang Patel, the co-founder of the ever-so-popular pop culture apparel brand The Souled Store

A mechanical engineer with a knack for numbers quickly found himself realizing that the 9-5 job was not for him.

So, he quit his job and followed his passion for pop culture. In this exclusive interview, Vedang spills all the beans on The Souled Store's origin story.

In this podcast, we dive deep into some fascinating topics:

✅ Vedang's net worth
✅ Insights into his Rs. 1300 Crore business
✅ How he strategically invests his money
✅ The story behind dropping out of IIM
✅ Securing licenses from Warner Bros & Disney
✅ Marketing secrets that propelled his success
✅ Lifestyle changes after hitting it big

This 20-minute video packs tons of business knowledge and insights from the man who dropped IIM, left a high-paying job, and used his life savings to eventually build a 1300 crore company.

Find the link to the podcast in the comments section.

#d2cbrands #entrepreneurship #apparelindustry #foundersjourney

Elon Musk sold Twitter at a $25Bn loss or INR 2.1 Lakh Crore Loss.

Elon is probably the man who saves mankind from extinction. He operates at a level where Presidents and Prime Ministers bow down to him. I’m sure he has a trick up his sleeve.

Here is my analysis:

Most of Elon Musk’s wealth is in Tesla. In 2021, Tesla was trading at $400 (today at $175.6). Every smart businessman will book some profits when the share price reaches an all-time high. That’s why our startup founders went IPO to sell their stake to the public.

Selling Tesla Shares would attract 2 problems:

- Pay tax to the government
- Investors get worried if he sells a lot

So he needs a reason to sell a lot. Twitter was the answer! A new distinct asset in a very different industry to lower his portfolio risk.

He first stakes his Tesla stake to the bank to raise $44 Bn to buy Twitter. Elon renamed Twitter to “X“ and made it private. Then he sold X to another company he owns.

Remarkably, this other company had all the same shareholders as Twitter. And Elon sold X for way less than what he paid for Twitter - a $25 billion loss on paper.

On the surface, it looked like Elon made a huge mistake and lost billions. But really, it was a strategic decision.

By doing this, Elon could use the tax code to his advantage.

He balanced the “loss“ from selling X against gains he made in other investments that year. Let’s say he made a $25 Bn profit in Telsa that year. He can reduce the profit to zero and make his taxes zero.

Of course he still has to bear the $44 Bn loan but that’s okay because it can be paid over a long time. It can also be used to reduce his future taxes as finance costs.

Effectively he ended up saving billions in taxes and owning a new cash machine, Twitter (X) thereby diversifying his portfolio.

The billionaire playbook is a different league altogether.

What are some innovative ways you have saved taxes?

#tax #entrepreneur #business #taxsaving

Close to 3 million people consume my content daily. The best part of this is that I get to talk to you all via DM, newsletter, my freedom cult app and in-person with some of you who I bump into.


When I started out 2 years back, there’s no way I thought that this would be my reality.


Unfortunately, in my journey of interacting with you all what I’ve come to realise is that most of us are making ONE common money mistake, which compromises our personal finance health.


The most common mistakes we make are:
❌ Not having Health Insurance
❌ Not educating ourself about Term Insurance
❌ Not having an emergency fund


If you’re also making the same error, then don’t worry bro, I’m here no?


My OG reader will know how much I rave about Ditto Insurance - an insurance advisory platform backed by Zerodha.


My sister bought her Term Insurance last year. She took the help of them, since she didn’t have time to research and verify information like most of us working youngsters.


Ditto gives,
- spam-free advice
- free consultation
- and end to end insurance service


Needless to say, it was a cakewalk for her to choose the right kind of insurance, suitable for her needs. (I’ll put up a link in the comment section, if you want to check out the platform)


➡️ Let me know in the comment section which year you purchased your insurance, and if you haven’t - why not?




#personalfinance #money #insurance #healthinsurance

The last 3 months have been one hell of a rollercoaster ride. I took an office space in Mumbai, scaled my team from 15 to 40 people and shit just got real. Entrepreneurship is extremely challenging, and I need more help.

Problem statement: The demand for The 1% Club membership is way higher than we could have predicted and I’m just not able to scale fast enough to meet the demand. We need to add new business verticals and create a growth plan for the next 5 years.

Solution: I’m on the lookout for super-intelligent folks in the Founder’s office team to help me strategise and build The 1% Club from 1 to 10. The playbook is different here, and I need folks with real startup experience in the Fintech world. The ability to work with 7 different departments- R&D, Content, marketing, community, sales, operation and wealth management. You will personally work with me and my co-founder Raghav Gupta and me every single day in my Mumbai office. It’s going to be hard and demanding. Every single day we are at war to win the customer’s loyalty, satisfaction and value for money.


Job Openings:
Founder’s Office- Strategy & Growth: (link in comments)

Founder’s Office- Operations: (link in comments)



I’ll see you on the last round of interview :)

All the best!

Having a kid is really expensive. Might as well use them to save taxes. 🤪



As per the law, you are allowed to open FDs in your major child's name to avoid paying hefty taxes of up to 30% on your interest.



Profit up to INR 2.5 lakhs in a year is completely tax free saving you about INR 75,000 if you fall in the 30% income bracket.



You can also invest in equity instruments in their name and take advantage of the 1 lakh tax exemption again.



➡️ Bottom line: Don't let your child go to waste. Use them to save taxes. 😎





#tax #taxplanning #savemoney #taxes #taxseason

Does this mean you compromise on health and not spend time with your loved ones at all?

Absolutely not !

Striking the right balance and prioritisation is the key here.

When you choose a path in order to be different from others, you have to do things differently from others. And this means getting out of your comfort bubble.

You need discipline and consistency, and above all LOVE for the work you choose to do.

It might be hard initially, but the results you’ll see will be worth it.






#moneytalks #financialfreedom #work #love