On the occasion of BankBazaar’s 12th anniversary, we asked our co-founders what these 12 years have taught them about work, life, and everything in between. 

BankBazaar co-founders Adhil Shetty, Rati Shetty and Arjun Shetty talk about lessons they’ve learnt over the course of the last 12 years, managing and running BankBazaar.

Adhil Shetty, CEO

What I’ve Learnt About Myself

I’ve learnt two things about myself in the last 12 years. One—I need to be more patient. Patience is a virtue I need to have much more of. Two—I’ve learnt that what keeps me motivated is that I find what I do very challenging. Today, what I do is different from what I was doing 12 years ago. But today, I still find myself challenged by different issues. Then, the challenge was how we get even one bank to sign a contract with BankBazaar. Today, the problem is how we grow revenues 100%. So the challenges are different. I’m challenged to my professional limit, which is what I actually enjoy about my job.

What I’ve Learnt About Fintech

Fintech is the flavour of the season. Every investor wants a piece of it today. During BankBazaar’s formative years, I also learnt that fintech is a cross-functional industry. For it to succeed, technology, regulators, and financial institutions must work in tandem. You are the sum of the entire ecosystem, and the entire ecosystem needs to work together to be able to disrupt the status quo.

What I’ve Learnt About Competition

In his 1988 film The Big Blue (Le Grand Blue), director Luc Besson captures the sporting rivalry of two deep-sea divers entwined in life and death. Deep-sea diving is a dangerous sport. The human body is not equipped to withstand the lethal pressures at great depths. However, divers Jacques Mayol and Enzo Molinari keep inspiring each other to greater depths, one striving to improve the record set by the other. At one point in the film, one diver pays for the airfare of the other so he may come to compete alongside him. He feels there’s no point in him winning the world championship without his greatest competitor pushing him. Competition is good. Competition makes us better. That’s the best way to look at competition.

We hear you, Adhil! Good competition inspires you to keep pushing the envelope and keep bettering your perfomance day after day.

Additional Reading: BankBazaar’s 10th Anniversary – A Trip Down Memory Lane

Arjun Shetty, COO

What I’ve Learnt About Failures, Teamwork, And Staying True To Your Goals

• Try, try, try again, until you succeed. Everything great that we’ve ever achieved has required us to fail over and over, but never to give up.
• Teamwork is everything. Packing BankBazaar with brilliant people, who are creative and committed to the company’s success was the best recipe for success.
• Every problem has a solution. If you haven’t found the solution, then you just need to look some more.
• Pick a north star needed for long-term success and never deviate. Tons of start-ups get sidetracked by constantly chasing trends that are currently in vogue with VCs.

Words to live by, isn’t it?

Additional Reading: BankBazaar’s Power Couple Rati & Arjun Featured In Elle India

Rati Shetty, CPO

What I’ve Learnt About Life, Tackling Challenges, And Failures

• Learning is a never-ending process. Analyse, approach with tact, iterate and analyse. Performance must always be the goal.
• Challenging times can be converted to winning and creating phenomenal success when teams are focused and work with excellent team collaboration.
• The importance of prioritisation and focus on organisational goals.
• Failure is never an option. Plan for backups, plan for the worst and have a plan B; expect to fail, but never give up.

That’s quite a novel way of looking at challenges that life throws at you, isn’t it?

Additional Reading: BankBazaar Weighs In On Working From Home Amid COVID-19

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