Harshil Mathur

Today’s guest on First Principles is Harshil Mathur, CEO and co-founder of Razorpay.Razorpay claims to be India’s first full-stack financial solutions company. And if that sounds very much like how a coder would describe a company, it’s because that’s exactly what’s happening.When Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar, two coding enthusiasts fresh into their first jobs, started working on what would later become Razorpay, they never really set out to build a company or be entrepreneurs. They just wanted to solve a problem.But in doing so, they were compelled to create Razorpay.Today’s episode is a delightful mix of first principles thinking, thoughts on product development, and the importance of deliberately driving company culture. Earlier in August, The Ken’s journalist Shashwat Mohanty did a story on the challenges Razorpay faces in realising its neo-banking dream. The story is now behind a paywall but you can find it here.Feedback? Write to us on podcasts@the-ken.com

Harshil Mathur, co-founder of Razorpay and a key figure in India's fintech revolution, shares his inspiring journey from coding at IIT Roorkee to transforming digital payments. He discusses the early challenges of being young founders and the organic evolution of Razorpay from a side project. Harshil unpacks the complexities behind payment systems and the significance of UPI, as well as the regulatory landscape. Insights on balancing innovation with regulations and the future of biometric payments round out this enlightening conversation for aspiring entrepreneurs and fintech enthusiasts.