TLDR;
Sharan shares his journey from earning a modest salary of ₹27,833 per month to becoming a millionaire before 30. He emphasizes the importance of starting small, learning from a 9-to-5 job, and leveraging content creation to build a personal brand and a successful business. He highlights the power of solving real-world problems, building a community, and using technology like AI to scale solutions.
- Starting from a low-paying job and learning the value of money.
- Building a side hustle through content creation and social media.
- Creating a financial education platform (the 1% Club) to solve the problem of financial illiteracy.
- Obtaining a license from SEBI and managing over 1,300 crores of public money.
- Developing a fintech app powered by AI to provide customized financial plans.
Intro [0:00]
Sharan reflects on his journey from earning ₹27,833 per month to achieving financial success, making more in a day than he used to in a year. He acknowledges the taboo of discussing finances in India but shares his story to inspire others, similar to how he was inspired by Ali Abdal. He hopes that even if only a small percentage of viewers are motivated to start their own journey, the video will be worthwhile.
Starting & working in a 9–5 [1:08]
Sharan discusses his early career after graduating from RV College of Engineering with a degree in mechanical engineering. He felt underpaid at his first job at KPMG, earning ₹27,833 per month, especially compared to his computer science friends. Despite the low salary, he valued the opportunity to work with intelligent colleagues and learn about business and finance. He emphasizes the importance of starting from zero to understand the value of money and develop budgeting skills, which allowed him to save ₹5,000 per month for investments.
Starting my side hustle [2:48]
Sharan recounts the beginnings of his side hustle, Finance With Sharan. Initially, he didn't envision himself as a content creator, especially since he wasn't naturally extroverted. He improved his speaking skills by watching videos like those by Dhruv Rathee. His original plan was to pursue an MBA to secure a high-paying job in consulting or investment banking. However, the pandemic and a missed promotion led him to explore content creation. Inspired by Ali Abdal, he started creating content on finance and investing with minimal equipment, using his mom's bedroom, natural light, and a OnePlus 5 smartphone. His sister helped with video editing, and he posted content daily, eventually leading to his first brand deal of ₹2,000 after three months. This income was particularly meaningful as it was earned independently.
₹2,000/month → ₹20 lakh/month [7:17]
Sharan explains how content creation enabled him to increase his income from ₹2,000 to ₹20 lakh per month. He attributes this to the power of modern media, where companies are willing to pay creators with large audiences to promote their products. As an early mover in financial education on social media, he gained the audience's trust. He notes that being first in any industry allows one to build a strong reputation and charge higher rates. Within six months, he reached a million followers, enabling him to charge ₹5-6 lakh per brand deal, or even ₹1-3 per view for knowledge-based content, resulting in a significant increase in his earning capacity. This success made him reconsider his MBA plans and focus on building a sustainable business using his distribution and media reach.
The Birth of the 1% Club [10:16]
Sharan discusses the creation of the 1% Club, a financial education platform. He realized that while people consumed a lot of financial content, they often failed to implement it. He identified a gap in the market: the limited number of financial planners in India (only 600-700 active ones) made financial advice inaccessible to most people. The 1% Club aimed to teach individuals how to manage their own money by breaking down complex concepts and providing financial tools. The platform covered various topics, including mutual funds, stocks, credit cards, insurance, taxes, and real estate. Within a year, the 1% Club received ₹10 crores in funding from Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha. Today, the 1% Club has one lakh members and generates crores in revenue each month by solving a genuine problem in the market.
From Millionaire to Billionaire [15:04]
Sharan explains the next phase of his journey, which involved obtaining a license from SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) to manage people's money directly. This was challenging due to the skepticism towards influencers in the financial sector. After fulfilling compliance requirements, they became a SEBI-registered investment advisor and now manage over ₹1,300 crores of public money. To scale their impact, they are building a fintech app powered by AI to provide customized financial plans. Sharan highlights that while many fintech apps exist, most are DIY (do-it-yourself) and don't offer personalized advice, leading to losses for many investors. The goal is to combine financial data and AI to offer customized financial plans to billions of people in India.
How you can reach there [18:28]
Sharan concludes by emphasizing that his journey wasn't meticulously planned but rather evolved step by step. He encourages viewers to take the first step, even without complete clarity. He provides three key steps to achieve similar success:
- Master a skill, particularly in AI, to solve business problems.
- Create content in that niche to build an audience and personal brand. Even a small but engaged audience of 10,000 followers can lead to a multi-crore business.
- Hire and train others to solve problems and productize the solution.
He asserts that anyone can achieve this, regardless of their current circumstances, by focusing on solving problems and building a community.