5 GTM Lessons From Last Week — ACKO, Razorpay, Zerodha, CRED, Zepto
The most shared insights from our first week of publishing. Revenue data, distribution strategies, and the one thing they all did differently.
1. ACKO: Remove the middleman, own the margin
15-30% of insurance revenue goes to agent commissions. ACKO spent Rs 0.
By eliminating agents, they priced each customer individually using driving data, not pooled averages. The result: Rs 2,837 Cr in revenue, 43% loss reduction, and a $2-2.5B IPO ahead.
GTM lesson: When you own the distribution, you own the margin. Removing the middleman is a pricing advantage AND a data advantage.
2. Razorpay: Win the developers, the enterprise follows
Payment gateways took weeks to integrate. Razorpay reduced it to one line of code.
Developers chose them. Startups adopted them. Enterprises eventually followed. Today: Rs 3,783 Cr revenue, 55% market share, 94% retention.
GTM lesson: Win the builders first. They will bring the enterprise later.
3. Zerodha: Bootstrapped discipline beats funded growth
Rs 20 per trade vs Rs 500. No VC funding. Rs 22,769 Cr in cash.
The Kamath brothers made 15-year bets because no investor asked about quarterly ROI. Varsity (free trading education) became their acquisition funnel.
GTM lesson: The best distribution moat is a pricing model your competitors cannot copy.
4. CRED: Serving the best customers better beats serving everyone
Most fintechs chase mass adoption. CRED only accepts users with 750+ credit scores.
Result: 70% gross margins, Rs 2,735 Cr revenue, Rs 22,000 Cr AUM.
GTM lesson: Segment by credit quality, not demographics. The best customers subsidize the rest in mass market models.
5. Zepto: Speed is a category, not a feature
Two 19-year-olds created a Rs 11,110 Cr category. Amazon and Flipkart were forced to follow.
Before Zepto, no one needed groceries in 10 minutes. After Zepto, no one wants to wait longer.
GTM lesson: Create new behavior instead of competing for existing demand.
Full analyses at newsletter.vridhilabs.com/companies