WTF is with Nikhil Kamath

Nikhil Kamath
  • 4.4 (21)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Monthly

"WTF is" is a podcast series where Nikhil Kamath hosts friends and industry experts and holds casual yet intellectually stimulating conversations. The podcast covers a broad range of topics of particular current relevance, including technology, social media, renewable energy, electric vehicles, philosophy, gaming, psychology and more.

  1. Aug 10

    The Battery Everyone Uses Is The One They'd Never Build | EnerVenue x HiNa | WTF are Batteries?

    I went to Dalian with a selfish question. I run a fund that invests in energy transition, and I've come to think energy isn't the problem moving it and storing it is. So I sat down with Henning Rath, who runs EnerVenue out of Silicon Valley and is building his first gigafactory in Changzhou, and Tang Kun, who runs HiNa Battery, a sodium-ion company spun out of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that's now ten years old with 600 people and a gigawatt line. I told them I don't know anything about batteries and asked them to teach me. We started at what a cell even is, went through why the entire industry standardised on LFP and what a thermal runaway actually does, and then Henning told me something I hadn't heard: the world had over 14,000 LFP fires last year alone. I asked whether I should start an electric car company or a battery company when I get home. Both said battery and Henning was blunt about it: don't build anything that needs rare earth. Fifty million dollars to start. We got into nickel-hydrogen at 30,000 cycles, sodium carbonate at a tenth of what lithium carbonate costs, why solid state is still at level four out of nine, and the idea I keep coming back to that your car sits idle 98% of the time with a battery and a stack of chips doing nothing, and there's a version of this where every parked car is a micro data center. 00:00 Introduction 06:45 China's bet on chemistries beyond lithium 12:14 Cell chemistry and the trade-offs it forces 17:15 Thermal runaway and the limits of LFP 22:44 Production quality and how long a battery lasts 27:07 Why China won the electric car 33:54 Decoupling a battery business from lithium and rare earths 38:50 Sodium's cost advantage and its energy density ceiling 43:51 Recycling nickel and renting the metal 48:17 Where generation, storage and demand should sit 54:05 Decentralization and the car as a grid battery 1:00:19 Three super cycles and AI's power demand 1:05:30 Automation, jobs and China's social contract Footage Courtesy: World Economic Forum (WEF) CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Source: https://www.weforum.org/videos/amnc26_summer_davos_highlights/ Henning Rath, Chief Executive Officer at EnerVenue LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henning-rath/ Kun Tang, Executive Chairman of HiNa BatteryLinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kun-tang-52a52327/ Nikhil Kamath-Co-founder of Zerodha and Gruhas Host of 'WTF is' & 'People By WTF' Podcast Twitter: https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcio/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcio?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_appFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/ Watch 'WTF is' Podcast on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4nsm4ezn Watch 'People by WTF' Podcast on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/yme92c59 Watch 'WTF Online' on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4tjua4th #WTFareBatteries #EnerVenue #HiNaBattery #SummerDavos

  2. Aug 9

    Why The Next Battery Won't Need Lithium Or Rare Earth | Nikhil Kamath | WTF Is A Battery

    I went into this wanting one answer, if I were starting something today, should it be an electric car company or a battery company and what I got back was narrower and more useful than I expected: don't build the thing that needs rare earth. We got into why sodium carbonate sits at roughly a tenth of what the equivalent lithium inputs cost, what $50 million actually buys you if you're starting this from scratch, why the world saw over 14,000 LFP fires last year alone and what that says about the chemistry everyone standardised on, and the part I keep coming back to that your car is parked 98% of the time in front of your house, and there's a version of this where that's not a dead asset but a micro data center. Every car a token factory. I didn't see that coming. Henning Rath, Chief Executive Officer at EnerVenue LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henning-rath/Kun Tang, Executive Chairman of HiNa BatteryLinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kun-tang-52a52327/ Footage Source: BYD footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0oMa2jWXaM Tesla footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50PU-cQx7j0 Nikhil Kamath-Co-founder of Zerodha and Gruhas Host of 'WTF is' & 'People By WTF' Podcast Twitter: https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcio/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcio?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_appFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/ Watch 'WTF is' Podcast on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4nsm4ezn Watch 'People by WTF' Podcast on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/yme92c59 Watch 'WTF Online' on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4tjua4th #WTFareBatteries #EnerVenue #HiNaBattery #SummerDavos

  3. Jun 26

    Abundance vs Scarcity: We Built 20 Brands With 30 Strangers In 90 Days | The Foundery

    The street believes struggle makes the founder, so we removed the struggle — twenty-five strangers, a brand and four crores each, ninety days in one house in Alibaug and then sat down to ask the only question that scared us: does a head start make a founder, or unmake one? Nikhil Kamath, Kishore Biyani and Ronnie Screwvala audit the model, the equity split everyone questions, the two philosophies built into this house, and what the three of us will do if twenty brands don't sell. 00:00 Introduction 06:18 Is The Foundery a selfish bet? 12:29 Why building new beats the capitalist high 18:28 How the company-builder model formed 24:47 The new consumer categories driving the bets 30:41 What happens after Day 90 35:13 The equity split everyone questions: 25% vs 75% 43:11 Where the ideas come from, and how the gates work 50:56 Founder–idea fit and the flaws each founder owns 58:05 Why equity beats an endorsement fee 1:05:14 What happens if the brands fail 1:11:08 What actually drives Nikhil 1:17:46 Abundance vs scarcity in one house 1:23:54 Social mobility and India's bubbles 1:28:54 What the founders are unlearning 1:33:09 Twelve months out: what they'd change #NikhilKamath Co-Founder of Zerodha and Gruhas Host of 'WTF is' & 'People By WTF' Twitter: @nikhilkamathcio on XInstagram: @nikhilkamathcio on InstagramLinkedIn: Nikhil Kamath LinkedInFacebook: Nikhil Kamath Facebook The Foundery is a venture builder that forges entrepreneurs into co-founders and builds companies with them from the ground up. Website: The FounderyYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCtJssM5FzLXSWIf5VWUmT2w Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jointhefoundery/?hl=en Kishore Biyani – Founder & CEO of Future Group Ronnie Screwvala – Co-Founder & Chairperson of upGrad, Founder of UTV Group LinkedIn: Ronnie Screwvala LinkedIn Watch 'WTF is' Podcast on Spotify WTF is Podcast on Spotify Watch 'People by WTF' Podcast on Spotify People by WTF Podcast on Spotify Watch 'WTF Online' on Spotify WTF Online on Spotify #WTFiswithnikhilkamath #PeopleByWTF #WTFOnline

  4. Jun 23

    We Gave 25 Strangers ₹4 Crore Each To Build 20 New Brands | The Foundery

    So we ran an experiment. We call it The Foundery. Sixty days ago, twenty-five people we'd never met moved into a house in Alibaug — each one handed a new-age consumer brand, four crores, and ninety days to build a real business with us. Not a college, not an accelerator: a place where we become your co-founders and build the company alongside you. In this first conversation, Nikhil Kamath, Kishore Biyani and Ronnie Screwvala get into why we built it, what we're risking, and what happens if none of it works. #nikhilkamath Co-founder of Zerodha and Gruhas Host of 'WTF is' & 'People By WTF' Podcast Twitter: https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcio/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcioFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/ The Foundery is a venture builder that forges entrepreneurs into co-founders and builds companies with them from the ground up. Website: https://www.thefoundery.in/ Kishore Biyani – Founder & CEO of Future Group Ronnie Screwvala – Co-Founder & Chairperson of upGrad, Founder of UTV Group LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronniescrewvala/ Watch 'WTF is' Podcast on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4nsm4ezn Watch 'People by WTF' Podcast on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/yme92c59 Watch 'WTF Online' on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4tjua4th #WTFiswithnikhilkamath #PeopleByWTF #WTFOnline

  5. Jun 17

    Why One New Drug Takes Ten Years To Make | Mankind x Dr. Reddy's | WTF is Pharma?

    I got two of the biggest names in Indian pharma into one room, Rajeev Juneja of Mankind and GV Prasad of Dr. Reddy's, who'd somehow never actually met before this, and what came out was part masterclass and part origin story, from why being relentlessly contrarian beat following the herd, to how a college dropout from Meerut turned everything he hated about a medical store into a pharma giant, to why a chemical engineer who says he owes his career to his marriage spent decades chasing one original molecule, and somewhere in between we got into why India makes the world's generics instead of discovering its own drugs, what it really takes in time and money to bring a single drug to market, why GV thinks the AI-will-cure-everything story is overstated, where GLP-1s go next, and the one thing they'd tell a 25-year-old trying to build in pharma. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 04:27 Rajeev Juneja's path from medical-store apprentice to building Mankind 10:11 Mankind's contrarian OTC and bottom-up market strategy 16:23 G.V. Prasad on science and the Dr. Reddy's lineage 23:06 Segmenting the industry and how generic drugs are made 29:15 Why drug purity standards are shared but enforcement differs 36:40 Why India is the pharmacy of the world by volume, not revenue 41:00 How margins are split across the pharma value chain 45:17 Whether online pharmacy and consumer brands are real openings 53:15 Whether hospital roll-up valuations are justified 59:10 Tariffs, Jan Aushadhi and drug price controls 1:03:21 How China built a pharma-innovation ecosystem in a decade 1:10:02 Long-horizon governance and removing entrepreneurial fear 1:15:40 China's incentives, talent and leverage over the US 1:22:01 Why the Ayush and wellness market outgrows pharma 1:25:05 The evidence, quality and standardisation debate around Ayurveda 1:35:13 The sexual-wellness opportunity and the stigma problem 1:40:26 The fertility, IVF and egg-freezing opportunity 1:43:45 The API narrative debate and how a drug is synthesised 1:50:54 Biologics, monoclonal antibodies and vaccines explained 1:55:57 Stem cells and peptides, separating therapy from hype 2:00:06 The semaglutide story and how GLP-1 works 2:05:01 Mankind's ethical-selling philosophy on GLP-1 2:08:06 Why India leads in small molecules but lags in biologics 2:15:07 Where a young founder can enter the GLP-1 wave 2:23:38 The yin and yang of innovators and generics 2:29:05 Diagnostics, CDMO and the China-plus-one opportunity 2:37:18 Applying AI to pharma and the expired-medicine problem 2:43:01 Why founders should never copy a set formula 2:45:30 Succession, home diagnostics and the microfluidics frontier #nikhilkamath Co-founder of Zerodha and Gruhas Host of 'WTF is' & 'People By WTF' Podcast Twitter: https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcio/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcio utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_appFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/ Rajeev Juneja-Vice Chairman & Managing Director at Mankind Pharma Ltd LinkedIN- https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajeev-juneja-27882a24b/ G.V Prasad Reddy-MD & Co-Chairman at Dr. Reddy's Linkedin-https://www.linkedin.com/in/gvprasadster/ Watch 'WTF is' Podcast on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4nsm4ezn Watch 'People by WTF' Podcast on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/yme92c59 Watch 'WTF Online' on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4tjua4th #WTFiswithnikhilkamath #PeopleByWTF #WTFOnline

  6. Jun 11

    Generics, Ozempic & The Fear Holding India Back | WTF is Pharma? | Trailer

    I always assumed India was becoming the pharmacy of the world, until this conversation made me sit with the sharper truth that we're the generic pharmacy of the world, and from there we got into whether China really killed our API industry or whether Indians still quietly lead it, why a drug like semaglutide turns into a miracle and a problem the second everyone wants it, the side effects nobody wants to talk about, the ethics of running a prescription-driven business, whether the global enthusiasm around Indian hospitals is actually justified, and why fear might be the single biggest thing holding Indian entrepreneurship back. #nikhilkamath Co-founder of Zerodha and Gruhas Host of 'WTF is' & 'People By WTF' Podcast Twitter: https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcio/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcioFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/ Rajeev Juneja-Vice Chairman & Managing Director at Mankind Pharma Ltd LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajeev-juneja-27882a24b/ G.V Prasad Reddy-MD & Co-Chairman at Dr. Reddy's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gvprasadster/ Watch 'WTF is' Podcast on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4nsm4ezn Watch 'People by WTF' Podcast on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/yme92c59 Watch 'WTF Online' on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4tjua4th #WTFiswithnikhilkamath #PeopleByWTF #WTFOnline

  7. Jan 30

    We Backed 17 of India's Brightest Young Founders with ₹20L Grants | WTFund Cohort 3

    Spent a few hours with young bright founders below the age of 25 from the 3rd WTFund cohort. WTFund is a non-dilutive ₹20 lakh grant. From over 3,000 applications, we shortlisted 8 startups. We spoke about what they’re building, but also about doubt, ambition, money, and the uncertainty that comes with starting early. Some clear ideas. Some unfinished thoughts. A conversation that felt more real than structured. https://www.allthingswtf.com/wtfund 00:00 - WTFund Bootcamp 02:02 - Intro 03:20 - Prava - AI-Led Transactions 10:22 - Astraeus Innovus - Preventive Cancer Screening 18:45 - Turocrates AI - AI-Driven Diagnostics 26:35 - AntiMattr - Voice-First Computing 32:12 - O3 security - Securing AI Systems 39:05 - Bloom Rehab - Tech-Enabled Recovery 42:00 - Journey to Building 46:22 - Philosophies of life 50:31 - Placestation - Automating PCB Assembly 55:32 - AEYI : AI-Powered CCTV Monitoring 57:50 - Q&A with Nikhil 01:04:14 - AI Girlfriend & Dating 01:05:35 - Schools of Psychology 01:08:26 - Nikhil's Birthday Plans 01:09:11 - Golden Hour 01:10:10 - Healthcare & Longevity 01:12:33 - Trading 01:16:32 - Advice for Young Founders  #NikhilKamath Co-founder of Zerodha, Gruhas Host of ‘WTF is’ & ‘People by WTF’ Podcast Twitter: https://x.com/nikhilkamathcioLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcio Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio  WTFund India’s premiere non-dilutive grant fund for emerging entrepreneurs. Twitter: https://x.com/TheWTFundLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/wtfund Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewtfund  O3 Security A security platform that stops software supply-chain attacks in real time — whether it’s AI-generated or human-written code to production. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/o3_security/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aeyi/  Aeyi Aeyi is a GENAI-powered system that turns normal CCTV cameras into real-time safety and monitoring tools. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aeyi_surve/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aeyi/  Antimattr AI-powered earbuds for hands-free audio computing. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/antimattr.one/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/antimattr/about/  BloomRehab Rehabilitation robots for neuro and ortho recovery. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bloomrehab/  Astraeus Innovus A ₹100 saliva test that screens for oral cancer in under 5 minutes. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/astraeus-innovus/about/  PlaceStation A desktop system that automates PCB assembly for faster, accessible electronics manufacturing. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/placestation_/  Prava A payments infrastructure layer built specifically for AI shopping assistants and agents. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pravapayments/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/prava-payments/  Turocrates Improving patient outcomes using a digital and AI-driven operating system for diagnostic labs. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/turocrates-ai/  #WTFund

  8. Jan 11

    Nikhil Kamath ft. H.E Omar Sultan Al Olama | The Case for Youth in Politics | Special Ep

    I sat down with His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, the UAE’s youngest minister and the world’s first AI Minister, to unpack how modern governments think about the future and the role younger leaders play in shaping it. A last-minute conversation in Dubai that opened up a thoughtful discussion on youth in politics, leadership, and how AI is beginning to influence the way nations are governed. Big thanks to @IndiaGlobalForum for creating the space for conversations like this, and Manoj Ladwa, a dear friend and a rare connector between India and the rest of the world. People like him, through IGF are helping frame the ideas that will define this decade, and bring them to life 00:00 – Introduction  01:24 – Why AI Changes the Power Balance Between Countries  05:05 – Jobs, Intelligence, & What AI Takes Away From Humans  13:20 – Why This Conversation Happened at IGF  15:42 – Making of a Minister  22:18 – Why does anything matter?  24:42 – Machiavelli  30:23 – Fear or love? How are Leaders Remembered?  33:26 – UAE's Legacy & It's Perpetual Importance  38:04 – How UAE goes about it's diasporic Governance  48:13 – Taxes, Value Exchange, and What Citizens Expect  55:09 – Education, Work, and the Path to Government  1:12:19 – The Phone Call That Made Him AI Minister at 27  1:14:22 – Corruption, Incentives, and Power Structures  1:24:46 – AI & Governance  1:27:55 – Global Neutrality, Building Bridges & Restraint  1:37:49 – Blockchain, Discourse, and Closing Reflections  #NikhilKamath Entrepreneur & Investor Host of 'WTF is' & 'People By WTF' Podcast X: https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcio/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcio?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/  #omarsultanalolama : Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications at Government of the UAE Twitter - [https://x.com/OmarSAlolama] LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/omar-sultan-alolama-305b8366/?originalSubdomain=ae] Watch 'WTF is' Podcast on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4nsm4ezn  Watch 'People by WTF' Podcast on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/yme92c59  Watch 'WTF Online' on Spotify https://tinyurl.com/4tjua4th  #WTFiswithnikhilkamath #PeopleByWTF #WTFOnline

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4.4
out of 5
21 Ratings

About

"WTF is" is a podcast series where Nikhil Kamath hosts friends and industry experts and holds casual yet intellectually stimulating conversations. The podcast covers a broad range of topics of particular current relevance, including technology, social media, renewable energy, electric vehicles, philosophy, gaming, psychology and more.

Information

  • Creator
    Nikhil Kamath
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    53
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 Nikhil Kamath
  • Show Website
    WTF is with Nikhil Kamath

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