At the Intersection of Business and Climate Change
In this thought-provoking conversation moderated by Sandeep Singh, Nithin Kamath, founder and CEO of Zerodha, and Sameer Shisodia, CEO of Rainmatter Foundation, explore the deeper purpose of entrepreneurship beyond profit. Nithin candidly reflects on his journey from personal failures before founding Zerodha to bootstrapping one of India’s most successful fintech platforms. He emphasizes building around core competencies, staying lucky by being prepared, and fostering long-term thinking over quarterly gains. Kamath also discusses Zerodha’s evolution from enabling investing to shaping behavior through platforms like Nudge, advocating for financial responsibility among youth and first-time traders.
Sameer expands the conversation toward systemic climate action. As head of Rainmatter Foundation, he lays out the complex intersection of climate with health, livelihoods, governance, and equity. The duo shares their rationale for choosing climate as a core mission, not in isolation, but as a lens that connects with job creation, social equity, and sustainability. They advocate for trust-based, long-term philanthropic models over performative CSR, pushing for new narratives of social good where wealth must be put to use to prevent systemic collapse.
The session also critiques the short-termism that drives much of India Inc.’s CSR strategies, calling for more “hands-dirty” engagement from entrepreneurs, and challenging foundations and civil society to earn the trust needed to unlock greater capital flow. Their message is clear: it’s time for founders to think beyond unicorns and toward planetary resilience.
