How A Wave From Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath Changed An Early-Stage Entrepreneur's Life: 'Investors Pouring In...'

The co-founders of the leading digital brokerage Zerodha have continued to be a great inspiration and ideal entrepreneurs for the young generation who are dreaming of making a big impact in the business world. So what happens when Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath waves at a young entrepreneur based in Mumbai? The early-stage founder, Yash Gawde, expresses it in his own words!

Gawde, who is currently at his native place in Mumbai for the Ganesha festival, was not prepared for what awaited him when he visited the Bandra Subko Cafe earlier this week.

According to Gawde' post, he visited the Subko cafe recently, and while he sat with his VC friend, he was starstruck when he spotted Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath in the same cafe.

Unable to control his excitement and the urge to take the chance of expressing his admiration to Nikhil, Gawde scribbled a quick handwritten note and sent it to Nikhil through the cafe's staff.

Gawde and his friend were not expecting what would happen next. Because Nikhil read the note carefully, Gawde added, "He (Nikhil) looked up, smiled, and waved at me."

"That 2-second wave made the entire day worth it," said Gawde.

But there was more to come! This 2-second wave was going to change Yash Gawde's life and open the floodgates of opportunities.

The latest post by Yash Gawde was yesterday. He said, "I had 45 days of runway left and a wave from Nikhil Kamath changed the whole trajectory of my startup."

Here's what has happened:

After his post about Nikhil Kamath waving to him, the post broke the internet. Yash Gawde's post went viral to the point that every Indian media house was writing about it. He said, "Every single news outlet in the country was covering my story."

Gawde, who was unprepared and unaware of what was happening, faced a new wave of opportunity. He said, "Suddenly, my phone starts buzzing non-stop. WhatsApp is blowing up, 3 calls every minute."

When Gawde googled himself, he realised he was literally everywhere. He said, "The praises for just taking my shot were not stopping," adding, "From there, it went nuts."

"Investors started pouring in, so much that I lost track of it, it's a big deal cuz I am a pretty organised person," Gawde said.

The young entrepreneur expressed that his DMs were filled with questions related to his BeHooked, asking, "Why no free trial video?" So he clarified that "We don't have a free plan because we couldn't afford the burn," adding, "We aren't well funded."

"I literally had 45 days of runway left," said Yash.

What has happened is that four weeks ago, Yash Gawde, in his LinkedIn post, revealed that "My startup is going to die in 60 days." He added, "Unless I figure out how to hit Rs 6L MRR."

Yash runs BeHooked, an AI agent that automates content creation. Last month, BeHooked finally monetised Rs 50,000 in subscriptions, with BeerBiceps Skillhouse also using its app.

However, Yash faced a problem. His BeHooked runway is short, and he was left with only two options. Either he raises capital or gets paying users. Four weeks ago, Yash said, "So I'm going all in on Plan B. Users. Growth. Revenue."

"We've built something that clearly has demand. People are signing up. They're using it. But now it's time to scale. Or shut shop," said Yash four weeks ago.

That was four weeks ago, until his life-changing wave from Nikhil Kamath. Now, when there were 45 days of runway time left for BeHooked, Yash is flooded with investors. So he grabs this opportunity for his new-age startup.

"We're opening the floor for you to invest in BeHooked," he announced on August 29. Yash said, "If you want to bet on a hustler building AI in India, this is your shot."

BeHooked is engaged in automating content creation with AI. Simply put, it can automate Scripting, Shooting and Video Editing altogether to create the best content. When Yash started BeHooked, he scaled it to 3,00,000 MRR in just 60 days, yet something was MISSING! Maybe, now Yash will finally see the breakthrough his BeHooked was meant for!

The Kamath brothers Nithin and Nikhil started Zerodha on the 15th of August, 2010 with the goal of breaking all barriers that traders and investors face in India in terms of cost, support, and technology. Now, Zerodha has over 1.6+ crore clients place billions of orders every year through its powerful ecosystem of investment platforms, contributing over 15% of all Indian retail trading volumes.

Nikhil is an astute and experienced investor, and he heads financial planning at Zerodha. An avid reader, he always appreciates a good game of chess, as per the website.