'You could be a great founder but...': Zerodha's Nithin Kamath on what makes or breaks a startup amid a bet gone south

Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath knows firsthand that even the sharpest founders can’t overcome a bad economic hand. 

With one of his own investments, edtech startup Stoa School, reportedly shutting down, Kamath recently shared his take on what makes or breaks a startup. 

"It’s a bit of both,” he wrote on X. “You could be a great founder with excellent execution skills but still struggle in an unfavorable macro environment. Or, you could be an average founder riding economic momentum.”

Stoa School, the Bengaluru-based startup co-founded by Aditya Kulkarni and Raj Kunkolienkar, aimed to shake up traditional education with a six-month MBA-style program. 

But as India’s edtech market has faced rising competition and tighter funding, the company joins a growing list of young firms unable to stay afloat. Kulkarni, in a post on social media, reflected on Stoa’s journey: “We succeeded at a lot of things...but also failed at a few,” he said.

He added, “Stoa did become my social identity within the small circle that cares about such things, and it is kind of terrifying to reinvent… But I guess that’s life.”

Kamath’s commentary highlights the role that broader economic factors play, even as he acknowledges that his own success with Zerodha benefited from supportive government initiatives. 

"We’ve benefited from everything the Government has done — from Aadhaar to increased mobile penetration and the Startup India push,” he noted, recognizing that success isn’t always about execution alone but about timing, policy, and environment.