Jul 12, 2021 · 38m · neon-show
Nazara Technologies founder on IPO and future of the Company @NazaraGames
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of the 100x Entrepreneur Podcast, Nazara Technologies founder Nitish Mittersain discusses his 20-year journey building India's first publicly listed gaming company. He shares key insights on financial discipline, navigating market crashes, scaling through strategic acquisitions, and the long-term potential of the Indian gaming ecosystem.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
Siddhartha as informed peer 3.0 Guest teaching 1.8 Guest disagreement 0.4 Siddhartha pushing back 0.2
speaking balance: gold is Siddhartha, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 29:49 Refusing to claim India is harder for founders
Nitish rejects Siddharth's leading premise that building a company in India is uniquely burdensome compared to global markets, stating he refuses to make baseless comparisons without US operating experience.
Hardest push from Siddhartha ▶ 36:50 Reframing the question to human multipliersSiddharth presses Nitish by clarifying that his question was specifically about identifying collaborative partners and co-leaders like Manish Agarwal, rather than personal hobbies.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 19:25 Correcting the viral in-app purchase storyNitish gently corrects Siddharth's news anecdote regarding a child spending 2.5 lakhs, pointing out the incident occurred in the UK under specific Apple settings, before explaining the true nuances of Indian in-app monetization.
Siddhartha holds their own ▶ 16:53 Citing the PlaySimple acquisition benchmarkSiddharth demonstrates his domain awareness by bringing up PlaySimple's $360M acquisition on minimal venture backing as a landmark indicator of Indian gaming market maturation.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Siddhartha as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Siddhartha pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitish Mittersain's Early Life and Roots in Gaming | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Siddharth sets a warm, conversational baseline asking about Nitish's background, early coding roots, and the initial dot-com crash. Nitish shares his journey collaboratively with zero tension. | |
| Pivoting to Mobile Telecom Gaming and Profitability | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Nitish explains the shift to mobile telco gaming, accumulating 200+ crores in profits, and the 'Friends of Nazara' acquisition strategy. The host prompts with open-ended clarifying questions. | |
| Navigating Industry Cycles and Balancing Profitability with Scale | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | The host asks whether it was tempting to keep raising VC capital rather than remaining strictly profitable. Nitish highlights his Marwadi DNA and caveats that modern startups may need different growth approaches. | |
| Financial Trajectory and Listed Equity Advantages | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Nitish runs through Nazara's financial progression and briefly clarifies revenue periods when the host asks for specific figures, highlighting the power of listed equity for acquisitions. | |
| Public Market Valuation and Shareholder Commitment | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | Siddharth brings up recent gaming industry benchmarks like PlaySimple's acquisition and an anecdote about in-app purchasing. Nitish politely clarifies that the referenced news was from the UK and educates on Indian monetization dynamics. | |
| Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's Investment and Strategic Mentorship | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Siddharth asks about the investment by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and whether he liquidated any stake during the IPO. Nitish explains the strategic alignment and Jhunjhunwala's long-term orientation. | |
| Entrepreneurial Burnout and Creative Outlets | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | The host inquires about burnout and whether Nitish sees himself as a 0-to-1 or scale founder. Nitish discusses his saxophone hobby and current focus on scaling via partnerships. | |
| Lessons from the Indian IPO Process | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Nitish details the dual-attempt journey to take Nazara public in India and praises the proactive approach of regulatory bodies like SEBI, while Siddharth queries the pace of Indian tech IPOs. | |
| Resilience as the Core Trait of Entrepreneurship | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | Siddharth asks whether being an entrepreneur in India is uniquely harder than elsewhere. Nitish explicitly declines the premise, noting he lacks a comparative frame having only built in India. | |
| Guiding Principles: Avoiding Litigation and Large Commitments | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Nitish shares his core personal philosophy of avoiding litigation and heavy long-term commitments that jeopardize peace of mind, presenting a calm, practical operational ethos. | |
| The CEO Partnership: Working with Manish Agarwal | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Siddharth asks about stepping back and later restates his question on 'multipliers' when Nitish initially talks about personal self-reinvention (Krav Maga) rather than partner selection. | |
| Concluding Thoughts and Farewell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A quick sign-off where the host thanks the guest (briefly slipping on the name) and concludes the recording pleasantly. |
Statements from this episode (19)
Mittersain: Raised 3 to 4 crores from family to launch Nazara
“First from my parents helped fund it, then from friends and family. So I put in three, four pros right at the start to get the business started in the early years.”
Mittersain: Nazara launched roughly a decade too early for Indian gaming
“Now I think, you know, we probably in 1908, 1909 when we started from India gaming perspective, we were maybe a decade too early. You didn't have proper internet. You didn't have the devices.”
Mittersain: WestBridge Capital invested $3M total across 2005 and 2007
“Westbridge Capital had invested in 2005 and 2007 small amounts of money, 1.5 million dollars each. It raised a total of three million dollars, and by then the company had become profitable.”
Mittersain: Nazara Accumulated ₹200–250 Crore in Profits from 2007 to 2015
“So from 2007 to about 2015, we raised, I mean, not raised, we kind of accumulated profits of about 202 150 crores. And hadn't raised any more capital.”
Mittersain details Nazara's portfolio acquisitions across gaming verticals
“We acquired Nodwin Gaming, which is the leader in e-sports in India. A majority stake in that company. We acquired Nextwave Multimedia, which is the producers of World Cricket Championship. Then later on, we did Paperboat Apps, which have extremely popular kit…”
Mittersain: Nazara gives acquired companies 100% operational autonomy
“The structure that we follow in the friends of Nazara is where we give a hundred percent operational freedom to, you know, the investee companies. And their original founders and management teams should run it as if you know, they own a hundred percent of the …”
Mittersain: Bootstrapping via slow profit accumulation is no longer the ideal strategy
“So I think strategies may need to change and just trying to run a profitable business today may not be good enough. If the opportunity to scale and create a massive business exists, it was you have investors who are willing to back you. And therefore I think w…”
Mittersain: Nazara generated 460 crore INR in FY21 revenue
“Now in 2021, we've done, I mean, we closed this year with four 60 crores in revenue which was a good growth over the previous year as well.”
Mittersain: Nazara holds 480 crore INR in deployable cash reserves
“The company today has close to 480 crores of reserves that we can deploy to invest in companies.”
Mittersain: Nazara is India's only listed gaming company
“Now also one big advantage we have is that we are the only listed gaming company today in our market.”
Mittersain: Nazara Technologies is valued at around 5,000 crores post-IPO
“We today priced at about 5000 crores.”
Mittersain: PlaySimple exit will kickstart a boom in Indian gaming startups
“Similarly, I think the Play Simple deal will show a lot of Indian entrepreneurs That gaming is coming of age in India. Also, Indian gaming companies can tackle global opportunities, scale globally, and also create immense value over a fairly short period of ti…”
Mittersain: In-app purchases will dominate Indian gaming revenue by 2026
“So I think in the next three to five years, you will see in-app being the predominant source of revenues for gaming in India.”
Mittersain: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala invested in Nazara after a single meeting
“And he really, we just had one meeting before he decided to invest in the company.”
Mittersain: Jhunjhunwala sold zero Nazara shares in the IPO
“No, he hasn't. He hasn't sold any shares, and at least in my conversations with him, he generally says, you know, he's invested for the long run with a seven to 10 years you know, annual, because that's the kind of trend he really looks at in terms of gaming b…”
Mittersain: Indian tech company IPOs will accelerate significantly by 2024
“And in the next two, three years, you will see that accelerate significantly. So I think that bell has been rung, and now you're going to see a long queue of quality companies. And also a lot of groundwork has happened, right, over the last decade. Investors h…”
Mittersain: Nazara has faced almost no litigation over two decades
“Nazara in its two decades journey has had
Very little to no litigation, either by us or on us, right?
And in over two periods of two decades of journey, that's a long period of time.”
Mittersain: Resolving disputes face-to-face beats fighting to preserve mental energy
“So it's always better to meet up face to face, sort the problem out.
Even if you need to leave something on the table, leave it, but move on.
Because the amount of time you will save on that negative energy and convert it into positive energy will make a world…”
Mittersain: Nazara avoids entering contracts with large future commitments
“For example, we rarely enter into contracts that have large future commitments that we have made.
Because
We know what we can commit today, right?
In present moment, we don't know what we can commit three years later.
So that's kind of a philosophy that we ha…”