HI, I'M VIVEK BAJAJ
MBA(IIM Indore), ACA, ACS, M.Com
My Journey
My Early school days
Greetings! I’m Vivek – an entrepreneur by profession and a Financial Knowledge evangelist by passion. Welcome to my personal space where we can have a tête-à-tête.
From a simple below-average student to a professional entrepreneur with over 600 full time associates working in multiple enterprises, it gives me a tremendous sense of fulfillment in life.
Through my page, I would like to give you three things : Dream, Believe and Achieve.
I’m a dreamer through and through and have founded some amazing ventures in the domain of financial market with some great partners. I guess my background of joint family has helped me think from others’ point of view.
I love anything to do with financial markets as I see myself as a learner first who is sharing the learnings with the public in large. My current passion to actively contribute through multiple social media platforms goes well with my personality.
Actually, there is a story behind it. During our school days you must have heard about Front and Back Benchers. Have you heard about No-Benchers ? There are students who did not exist because no one would remember them due to their inactivity in class. In all-boys school there is a high chance of locating such poor mortals. I was one of them. Not that I was not intelligent, but my passion for sports was always keeping me away from regular studies.
I was the district level swimming champion.
My treasured Swimming Certificates
I once read somewhere that the destination doesn’t matter, but it’s the journey you take. This philosophy is something I identify with and it holds true for me.
My initial underperformance has instigated deep inside me a desire that I wanted to do something exceptional with my life and this continues to motivate me to forge ahead. When in the ninth grade I had a life-changing conversation with my father about my career path and understood the reality and shifted gears to focus on academics. It changed my orientation towards myself and I realized the potential I had inside me.
I like to keep pushing myself and believe that you need to be adaptable to stay relevant. My love for reading and music help me stay grounded as I find them meditative.
My family is my strength and I look for inspiration in the most banal things. I grew up in a charged environment in Kolkata in a close-knit family comprising astute Marwari businessmen.
Fast forward to graduation, which I completed from St. Xavier’s in Kolkata, immersing myself deeply into academics. I pursued both CA and CS while balancing good grades in university. The confidence and self-belief led me to apply to IIM Indore to pursue my MBA. The desire to learn the nitty-gritty’s of what it takes to run a successful business fueling me forward.
Starting my IIM journey
Solid Network at IIM Indore
My time at IIM and interactions with B-school peers made me a confident individual. It helped transform me from an introvert to an extrovert, and expand my network. Moreover, during my time at IIM, the valuable exchanges I had with my classmates helped me grow as an individual and inculcated some important life lessons. I was elected to be a part of the Placement Cell, which gave me ample hands-on learning.
I completed my MBA in 2005 and went on to become a white collar professional, joining JM Financials in Mumbai as a commodity analyst. My tenure at the company gave me the confidence and self-belief that commodity trading was my path. My passion for the trade led me to believe that I could effectively channel my expertise in the area and mint money through investments. With this dream and single-minded focus, I threw caution to the wind and returned to my hometown Kolkata in 2006. Thus began my commodities trading journey, which I strongly feel was the best decision I made.
My Entrepreneurial Journey
The Sufi mystic Rumi said “what a joy, to travel the way of the heart” and this deeply resonates with me. It is with this philosophy in mind that I chose to follow my heart and kick started my entrepreneurial journey with INR 10 lakhs’ investment.
The first six months were a struggle and I ended up losing a significant amount but learnt some valuable life lessons about perseverance, patience and discipline, but most importantly turning a deaf ear to naysayers. I didn’t let this demotivate me and challenged myself and in 2006 I bagged a huge profit from a Natural Gas trade. Buoyed by this, I took a leap of faith and launched Kredent Trading Desk along with Kredent Academy – an institute where individuals could learn how to analyze and invest in the market in 2007.
My Commodities team in 2011
My Trading Desk in 2007 vs 2022
My Learning Trip to Wall Street
In 2009, I realized the need of having a strong technology setup for the next level of trading journey. Since I don’t have a tech background, I instantly identified few partners with IIT and IIM background and co-founded Irage Capital, which is now one of the top algo trading desks in India based out of Mumbai. In 2011 at Irage we also launched QuantInsti, global leader in algo training.
Irage Mumbai Team
I was doing well in my life professionally yet something was amiss, and I didn’t know what. I felt like I should be doing more to give back to society and wanted to create an actual impact. In my journey to figure out the purpose of my life, I joined various programs and workshops including Isha Foundation and Flame University in 2014. The program in Flame University was a 5-day stint where we were taught by industry stalwarts like Raamdeo Agarwal, Radhakishan Damani, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Ramesh Damani. It was this experience that helped me build the foundation of Elearnmarkets to democratize financial education in India and give back to society.
At Flame University with Utpal Sheth, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Nemish Shah, Radhakishan Damani, Ramesh Damani
I wanted to continue teaching but this time reach out to the masses including the people dwelling in the remotest areas of India. I saw an opportunity in the Edtech sector with the quick adoption of mobiles in India. This led to the launch of elearnmarkets.com to aid individuals who wished to have a career in financial markets, as well as bring market literacy.
I followed it up with financial data and analytics tool StockEdge in 2016. My biggest inspiration for this was Bloomberg, which I used but felt it was complicated and expensive for a layman.
In this quest to empower retail Investors, I was joined by two amazing professionals, Vineet Patawari and Vinay Pagaria.
With Vineet Patawari and Vinay Pagaria
With our first Investor, Shri Ramesh Damani
One of my greatest moments in life came in 2018 when my idol Shri Ramesh Damani wanted to invest in our venture as he found us doing great work for the Retail Investors of India.
I firmly believe that “investing in stock markets is a life skill” and dream to simplify finance for all. I envision that ELM and StockEdge become “an integrated solution provider for individual investors in India in the domain of personal financial management.”
My long-term goal is to develop a holistic community of like-minded people who benefit from a symbiotic relationship of learning from each other through interactions, and grow in the process. ELM and StockEdge are a step in this direction and look to bridge the gap between learning and practical learning. My fellow co-founders, my team of 250+ passionate individuals and me are all completely committed to meet our common goal.
My philosophy is simple: you should first inspire yourself before looking to become an inspiration for others. Always remember, there is no limit to your abilities, you are limitless.
I am continuously looking to reinvent and inject new life into the platform with your support. You can engage with me on my YouTube channel or Twitter @vivbajaj or Instagram @vivbajaj and I hope that my content adds value to you.
My Initiatives
Taking Initiative is a form of self-empowerment
Year- 2006
Year- 2008
Year- 2015
Year- 2019
Year- 2021
Year- 2008
Year- 2010
Year- 2016
Year- 2020
Year- 2022
Year- 2006
Year- 2008
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Year- 2010
Year- 2015
Year- 2016
Year- 2019
Year- 2020
Year- 2021
Year- 2022
My Thoughts
Follow to get inspired and learn from me
My Accomplishments
