My first engagement with equity markets began in 2018. I do not clearly recall how I was introduced—most likely through a recommendation from a colleague. I opened a Zerodha account, read material on Zerodha Varsity covering fundamental and technical analysis, learned a few basic ratios, and began investing.
Cultural conditioning plays a larger role in financial behaviour than we often acknowledge. In India, many of the country’s enduring business houses have emerged from the western states—Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Gujarat in particular. The promoters of several long-standing businesses trace their origins there. By contrast, southern India historically placed greater emphasis on education and salaried careers than on entrepreneurship. This is not universally true, but the pattern is strong enough to influence expectations at scale.
Such conditioning shapes the questions we instinctively ask. Growing up, the implicit assumption was not whether one should pursue a job or a business, but which job one should pursue.
Coming from a middle-class family in South India, employment—particularly government service—was viewed as the optimal career path. It offered stability, social respect, safety, and predictable income sufficient for a middle-class life. Business ownership, on the other hand, was viewed with caution, reinforced by a few unsuccessful ventures within the extended family.
It was in this context that I entered equity investing in 2018. Investing offered a way to participate in business economics without assuming the social and financial risks traditionally associated with entrepreneurship.
Being risk-averse and equipped with only basic analytical tools, my early investments reflected a preference for familiarity and perceived safety. My first stock purchase was V-Guard Industries, an electrical appliances manufacturer with strong brand trust in Kerala. Position sizes were small, often fewer than ten shares at a time.
In July 2018, I accumulated 28 shares at an average price of ₹190. I exited the position in July 2019 at an average price of ₹220, resulting in a return of approximately 15% over one year. The absolute profit, however, was ₹837—economically insignificant.
Between 2018 and mid-2024, my participation in markets was intermittent. Limited surplus capital and competing priorities kept investing a secondary activity. During this period, I bought small quantities of many companies, including during the COVID market lows. Positions were often exited quickly—sometimes for 5–10% gains, sometimes for losses—driven by discomfort with volatility, fear of losing paper profits, or the desire to reduce debt.
Looking back, my behaviour was consistent: small capital, short holding periods, and a tendency to prioritise psychological comfort over long-term compounding. Decisions were rarely driven by business fundamentals and more often by emotion.
I was, by any honest measure, an amateur investor during this period. I never treated investing as a primary activity. Capital allocated was “risk-free” in the sense that I believed I could afford to lose it. Like many, I considered myself reasonably intelligent, relied on brand familiarity, a few ratios, and occasional news flow, and assumed this was sufficient.
It was not.
Investing is not primarily a numbers game, nor does it require exceptional intelligence. Numbers matter, but they are secondary. What investing demands above all is rationality, emotional discipline, and an understanding of one’s own behavioural biases. An investor must study businesses, but more importantly, he must study himself.
Since then, I have attempted to approach investing more deliberately—learning primarily through books and recorded talks. Over time, my thinking has been influenced by investors such as Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Philip Fisher, Nick Sleep, Mohnish Pabrai, Li Lu, and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.
This letter marks the beginning of a more intentional, owner-oriented approach to capital allocation. The purpose going forward is not to avoid mistakes, but to make fewer of them—and to ensure that when they occur, they are understood.
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