Nithin Kamath on why there are no IIT, IIM alumni at Zerodha: 'People come with the price tag'

Nithin Kamath also said that if a management graduate, with a clear objective in mind, gets hired at Zerodha, he would find it difficult to map out a clear vision to the employee as to where the company would be in a few years time.

Any student who graduates from an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) or an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) wishes to be employed by a leading firm, in an industry of his or her choice.

However, not all firms show a same level of keenness towards hiring a IIT or IIM graduate fresh out of college or an experienced professional who studied at either of these institutes.

Recently, Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath listed out as to why the stock broker firm did not have IIT and IIM alumni working for them and said that finances played a big role in not hiring professionals from these backgrounds.

"Thing is not like we don't hire them. It's just that there are no IIT, IIMs (alumni) in this company. And the reason is when we started, the first many years, there was not enough money on the table. So, we couldn't afford any IIMs. Because people come with the price tag," Kamath said in an interaction with Shekhar Tomar, Assistant Professor, Economics and Public Policy, Indian School of Business (ISB).

Kamath also said that if a management graduate, with a clear objective in mind, gets hired at Zerodha, he would find it difficult to map out a clear vision to the employee as to where the company would be in a few years time.

"The way MBA schools work is that you get wired to think about where you want to get to life in how much time. Like you know there are all these goals set as soon as you finish your MBA. In 3 years I'll be this, after 2 years I'll be this, in 5 years I need to be earning this much money."

"So, when someone comes to me and says Nithin, 'can I be here in this much time?', I don't know. I don't know where I'll be tomorrow morning, how will I tell you where you'll be after three years," he said.

Kamath also gave an insight into the prevailing culture at Zerodha. "The culture has been every day we get up, we'll do something better and wherever we have to get to life, we'll get to."

Kamath started Zerodha with his brother Nikhil Kamath in 2010.

Also read: When Nithin Kamath sent fake cops to raid Zerodha, prank employees: ‘Your founder is a cheat’