People by WTF

Nikhil Kamath
  • 4.0 (11)
  • Entrepreneurship

People by WTF is a series where Nikhil Kamath has a conversation with personalities who stand out in their industries around the world.

  1. 9h ago

    Martin Escobari: Trauma, Chaos & Three Industries Worth $100B | Nikhil Kamath | People by WTF

    Martin Escobari is the co-president of General Atlantic, one of the largest growth equity funds in the world, and he says entrepreneurs and gangsters have more in common than we admit — so few make it, so many die early, and the ones that survive are almost always wounded in some specific way. He grew up in Bolivia in the 80s through 35,000% inflation, eleven presidents in ten years, and three coups; his family lost everything in a revolution; and he now believes America is converging towards the volatility he escaped, not the other way around. I brought in Arian, a 21-year-old founder who cold emailed Sam Altman from India, and asked Martin to allocate $100 billion across three industries with a blank slate today — AI, healthcare, energy transition, and the rise of the new consumer in the global south. We got into why India hasn't produced a truly global company, why four out of seven frauds in General Atlantic's entire history happened here, why the next generation of Indian founders has to build without shortcuts, and why fiction makes better investors than non-fiction. The most interesting two hours I've spent at a dinner table this year. Timestamp: 00:00 Introduction 05:14 Engineering a happy life 08:22 Surviving Bolivia's hyperinflation 12:19 Trauma as the engine behind every entrepreneur 20:17 Built-for-turbulence companies and spear fishing the storm 25:31 Is America still worth the journey, and what is wealth for 31:00 Capitalism, communism, and learning to think critically 37:19 Submarino, the IPO crash, and the India that almost was 43:02 Aryan's story: cold-emailing Sam Altman from Mumbai 51:18 The four mega-trends and where to put 100 billion 1:01:53 Why India has never built a global company 1:10:25 How General Atlantic is built: perpetual capital and pooled bets 1:16:14 Manifestation, the 8-second rule, and the checklist for great companies 1:24:23 Failure, dead ends, and the courage to change your mind 1:28:36 The venture-to-IPO value chain, monopolies, and young revolutionaries #nikhilkamath Co-founder of Zerodha and Gruhas Host of 'WTF is' & 'People By WTF' Podcast Twitter: x.com/nikhilkamathcioInstagram: instagram.com/nikhilkamathcioLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcioFacebook: facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio #MartinEscobari — Co-President and Head of Global Growth Equity at General Atlantic LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/martin-escobariTwitter: x.com/MartinEscobari Watch 'WTF is' Podcast on Spotify Spotify Link Watch 'People by WTF' Podcast on Spotify Spotify Link Watch 'WTF Online' on Spotify Spotify Link #WTFiswithnikhilkamath #PeopleByWTF #WTFOnline

    1h 34m

  2. 1d ago

    Martin Escobari: "America Is Freaking Out About 5%, We Had 35,000%" | Ep. 22 Trailer | People by WTF

    Martin Escobari is the co-president of General Atlantic — one of the largest growth equity funds in the world, with over $5 billion deployed into India. He grew up in Bolivia in the 80s with 35,000% inflation, eleven presidents in ten years, three coups, and a family that lost everything in a revolution. I sat him down with a few Columbia Business School students and a 21-year-old AI founder named Arian and asked him the questions a 20-year-old and a 40-year-old would each ask differently. Full episode drops soon. #nikhilkamath Co-founder of Zerodha and Gruhas Host of 'WTF is' & 'People By WTF' Podcast Twitter: x.com/nikhilkamathcioInstagram: instagram.com/nikhilkamathcioLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcioFacebook: facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio #MartinEscobari — Co-President and Head of Global Growth Equity at General Atlantic LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/martin-escobariTwitter: x.com/MartinEscobari Watch 'WTF is' Podcast on Spotify Spotify Link Watch 'People by WTF' Podcast on Spotify Spotify Link Watch 'WTF Online' on Spotify Spotify Link #WTFiswithnikhilkamath #PeopleByWTF #WTFOnline

    2 min

  3. Apr 21

    The $120 Billion Man: Poverty, Power & Why Jobs Fix Everything | Ajay Banga x Nikhil Kamath | People by WTF

    Ajay Banga took Mastercard from a $30 billion company to $360 billion in a decade, was the frontrunner to run Citibank's quarter of a million people, quit to become CEO of a company with 4,000 — and today runs the World Bank Group, a $120 billion-a-year institution that was originally built to rebuild Europe and Japan after the Second World War and now exists to kill poverty by creating jobs. He says 600 million people in Africa have zero electricity and he doesn't mean inadequate electricity he means black none, that 1.2 billion young people in the developing world will turn 18 in the next 15 years with only 400 million jobs projected for them, that if you don't give them hope the demographic dividend stops being a light at the end of the tunnel and becomes a freight train, that the five sectors governments should obsess over are infrastructure and smallholder farming and primary healthcare and tourism and value-added manufacturing, that India gets fewer tourists a year than a country a fraction of its size and cultural weight, that the World Bank financed Japan's bullet trains and France's nuclear plants and helped create HDFC, that every dollar invested in tourism creates more jobs than a dollar in any other sector, that fossil fuels aren't going away but energy security is becoming a national security question, that small AI delivered on a phone to an illiterate farmer matters more to the developing world than large language models, that life is 50% luck but most people leave their luck on the station platform and forget about it, and that the only way to put a nail in the coffin of poverty is to give somebody a job because earnings are not just subsistence — they are hope and optimism and the belief that tomorrow will be better than today 00:00 Introduction 02:26 AJ's career journey across industries 09:00 Consumption patterns and consumer insecurity 15:00 World Bank's five-part structure explained 22:00 Killing poverty through job creation 29:00 Primary healthcare and farmer empowerment 35:00 Wealth concentration versus societal prosperity spread 42:00 Demographic dividend becoming freight train 49:00 Five sectors driving future jobs 56:00 Decency quotient over IQ EQ 1:03:00 Energy security and nuclear opportunities 1:10:00 Forward thinking beats historical grievances 1:17:00 Luck flexibility and taking risks 1:23:00 Closing message on optimism Nikhil Kamath Entrepreneur & Investor 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/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-world-bank-group/ X - https://x.com/WorldBankGroup Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/worldbankgroup/ 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

    1h 24m

  4. Apr 18

    Ajay Banga x Nikhil Kamath | Ep. Trailer | People by WTF

    Ajay Banga took Mastercard from a $30 billion company to $360 billion, left when he was the frontrunner to run Citibank's 250,000 people, and now controls $120 billion a year as the President of the World Bank Group — the institution that was built after the Second World War to stop poverty from turning into war. He says life is 50% luck but most people leave their luck on the station platform, that India gets under 20 million tourists a year which is insane for a country with beaches, mountains, culture, history, food and what he calls cool people, and that the world is about to have 1.2 billion young people turn 18 with only 400 million jobs waiting for them — and if you don't give them hope, the demographic dividend becomes a freight train. Full episode drops soon. 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/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/ World Bank Group: X - https://x.com/WorldBankGroupInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/worldbankgroup/ 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

    2 min

  5. Mar 25

    Rishi Sunak & Akshata Murty: Dharma, Failure & The Middle Path | Nikhil Kamath | People by WTF

    Rishi Sunak says patience is a bigger competitive advantage than speed, that every decision that reaches a leader is 50-50 by definition because if it weren't someone else would have made it, that the long term is just a succession of short terms you either survived or got kicked out of, and that the thing he wishes he'd done more of in his career is read fiction — because non-fiction tells you what to do and how to do it but fiction teaches you why and gives you a deeper understanding of people. Akshata Murty says her identity was never her father's name or her husband's title, that the middle path between stoicism and epicureanism is where the answer almost always lives, and that the validation she chases is impact — not position, not wealth, not the approval of people who've already decided who she is. First couple's episode we've ever done, and it went places none of us expected. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 06:04 Foundery: India's consumer brand accelerator 12:20 Storytelling as a leadership superpower 18:05 Parents' pharmacy inspired political career 24:04 Educating children in the AI era 30:05 Leaning into human skills over AI 36:17 How Rishi and Akshata decide differently 42:10 Goldman Sachs to Prime Minister journey 48:03 Patience as an underrated competitive advantage 54:15 Entering politics: resilience, patience, service 1:00:06 Staying unapologetically Indian in British politics 1:06:51 Life inside 10 Downing Street 1:12:20 AI sovereignty and global trade tensions 1:18:32 De-globalisation and supply chain resilience 1:24:38 Free trade, tariffs, and level playing fields 1:31:17 Akshata's identity beyond famous family 1:37:53 Validation through impact, not inheritance 1:44:04 Finding balance between desire and austerity 1:50:04 Being kind to yourself after failure 1:56:42 Identity, heritage, and the living bridge 2:03:03 Nostalgic Bangalore food and childhood memories 2:09:05 Why young Indians should enter politics 2:16:03 Education, financial literacy, and compounding 2:22:04 Learning to learn in the AI age 2:29:52 How Rishi and Akshata use AI daily 2:37:09 Can AI truly be creative? 2:44:06 Losing the Prime Ministership: lessons in dharma 2:51:30 Poets versus politicians: who should we hear? 2:58:17 Motivating young people to shape policy Nikhil KamathCo-founder of Zerodha and Gruhas Host of 'WTF is' & 'People By WTF' Podcast Twitter: https://x.com/nikhilkamathcio/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilkamathcioLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilkamathcio/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcioRishi SunakYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@rishisunakX: https://x.com/RishiSunak?s=20Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rishisunakmpFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/rishisunakAkshata MurtyYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@akshataonlineX: https://x.com/anmurtyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/rishisunakmpFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/rishisunakWatch on Spotifyhttps://tinyurl.com/4nsm4ezn https://tinyurl.com/yme92c59 https://tinyurl.com/4tjua4th #WTFiswithnikhilkamath #PeopleByWTF #WTFOnline

    3h 2m

  6. Mar 23

    Rishi Sunak & Akshata Murty : Marriage, Power & Losing All In Public | Nikhil Kamath | People by WTF

    Rishi Sunak says he could not function without his marriage, that losing the most public job in the world taught him that the Gita was right about focusing on dharma and not outcomes, and that the blank canvas at 45 is more exciting than the track that got him there. Akshata Murty says she’s not stuck on being her father’s daughter or her husband’s wife, she is clear on who she is than any title ever made her and the answer to most things lives in balance, somewhere between stoicism and epicureanism. First couple's episode. Full conversation drops soon. #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/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/ #rishisunak Former PM of the UK Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@rishisunakX - https://x.com/RishiSunak?s=20Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/rishisunakmp/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/rishisunakLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rishi-sunak #akshatamurty Businesswoman and Philanthropist Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@akshataonlineX - https://x.com/anmurtyInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/rishisunakmp/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/rishisunakLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshata-murty-5a04232 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

    2 min

  7. Mar 23

    I can't believe I said this

    One of them says the Gita's line on duty over outcomes is what got him through the most public failure of his life. The other says her identity has never been her father's name or her husband's title. They've been together 20 years and still argue about ice cream flavours. First couple's episode we've ever done. #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/nikhilkamathkamathcio/Facebook: 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 #WTFiswithnikhilkamath #PeopleByWTF #WTFOnline

    24 sec

  8. Mar 2

    Pain, Power & The Game Nobody Wins | Chamath Palihapitiya x Nikhil Kamath | People by WTF

    I sat down with Chamath Palihapitiya. He sold a company to Nvidia for $20 billion, woke up the next morning, saw $13 billion hit the account, and felt nothing. This is a guy who grew up in a home with alcoholism and abuse, immigrated to Canada with nothing, lost billions on SPACs, rebuilt, and now says the whole game is exactly that — a game. We got into the uncomfortable stuff: why pain is the single best predictor of entrepreneurial success, why investing is never a team sport and anyone who says otherwise is losing money, and why Bitcoin has a structural flaw that will permanently cap its ceiling. Chamath makes the case that Trump is the most effective political athlete America has ever seen, that some form of socialism is probably inevitable if we don't fix student debt and housing, and that his next obsession is building the machine that makes the machine — a software factory for the AI era. 00:00 Introduction 06:09 Chamath’s Painful Childhood & Hunger 11:16 What Actually Matters Beyond Success 17:06 Business as a Game, Not Life 22:04 The Machine That Makes Machines 29:11 Trump, Trade & America’s Political Reset 37:30 Investing Lessons: Conviction Over Consensus 43:12 Bitcoin’s Structural Flaws & Limitations 49:56 The Conceptual Stack for AI Investing 55:12 AI Hype, Valuations & Catastrophising 58:26 Socialism’s Inevitable Rise & Boundary Fixes 1:03:48 Building Sovereign Social Media from India #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/Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/nikhilkamathcio/ #chamathpalihapitiya LinkedIN : https://www.linkedin.com/in/chamath/X - https://x.com/chamath 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 #chamath #chamathpalihapitiya #nvidia #software #ai #business #trump #podcast

    1h 11m
See All (44)

Ratings & Reviews

4
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

People by WTF is a series where Nikhil Kamath has a conversation with personalities who stand out in their industries around the world.

Information

  • Creator
    Nikhil Kamath
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    44
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 Nikhil Kamath
  • Show Website
    People by WTF

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