Why Nithin Kamath finds this ‘core principle’ shared by Elon Musk beautiful, praises brother's podcasting skills

Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath took to social media to praise brother Nikhil Kamath's interview with Elon Musk on WTF podcast. He also shared a clip from the interview where the billionaire shared advice with budding entrepreneurs.

Nithin shared the clip adding that Elon Musk's advice to “strive to be net contributors to society” describes his own brother's efforts with WTF podcast and praised the co-founder for his growth in the space.

Nithin Kamath, the proud brother on social media

In a long post on X (owned by Elon Musk, and formerly Twitter), Nithin Kamath expressed his feelings on the developments. “Nik(hil) has been on a roll, and for someone who started ~50 episodes ago and does it as a side gig, he has really improved over time. Full pro-podcaster he has become. Goes on to show that the odds of success are much higher when you build things around what you love,” he stated.

He went on to praise Nikhil as someone who is curious and listens well, adding, “the magic sauce is launching the podcast at the right time when podcasting in India was just taking off”.

Why did Elon Musk's core principle resonate with Nithin Kamath?

Nithin went on to point to a core principle shared by Elon Musk, which he said, “stood out to me” because it “also describes much of what Nik(hil) does with WTF, which I’m proud of as a brother.”

Here's what Elon Musk said: “I’m a big fan of anyone who wants to build. Anyone who aims to make more than they take has my respect. That’s really the core principle: strive to be a net contributor to society.

It’s similar to the pursuit of happiness. If you want to create something valuable or financially successful, the goal shouldn’t be the money itself. Instead, focus on providing genuinely useful products and services. When you do that, the financial rewards tend to follow naturally. Just like happiness—you don’t chase it directly; you pursue the things that lead to it: fulfilling work, learning, friendships, loved ones. The happiness is a byproduct.

It might sound obvious, but anyone starting a company should expect to work extremely hard, accept that there’s a real chance of failure, and stay focused on ensuring that the output is worth more than the input.

Are you creating value? That’s what matters. Make more than you take.”

The world's richest man engaged in a nearly two-hour long conversation with Nikhil Kamath on his popular WTF Podcast, about “work, consciousness, family, money, AI and how the future might unfold”.

The video titled ‘Elon Musk: A Different Conversation w/ Nikhil Kamath’ was posted to Nikhil Kamath's official YouTube channel on 30 November. It has till time of writing garnered over 4,789,026 views, over 1,80,000 likes and almost 14,600 comments.