Sharan Hegde

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sharan Hegde

• Sharan Hegde is an Indian entrepreneur, content creator and finance influencer who is known for creating content on his Instagram page and YouTube channel titled ‘Finance with Sharan.’

• When he was a child, he was a very quiet student. He was a bookworm and used to complete his homework during recess when other kids used to play.

• According to him, he was always curious and got into trouble for asking many questions. His father owned a restaurant in Mysore, and during summer vacations, Sharan used to go with him to the restaurant. He enjoyed collecting money and asking about cash flow at the cash counter. This sparked his interest in business.

• Sharan developed an interest in finance while pursuing engineering. During that period, he started saving the money that he used to receive from his grandparents on festivals. By the third year of his college, he saved almost Rs 1 lakh and decided to invest it into the stock market.

• While pursuing engineering, he thought of joining big companies like Ferrari and BMW as a chief engineer, but later when he realized that there was no scope for that, he decided to pursue a career in a different field.

• His first experience with business came when he joined the Ashwa Racing Club in the first year of college. He joined the club and after some time was made the CFO of the club. He had to present a project on business and that is when he thought of learning about finance and business.

• During his fourth year of college, he sent his resume to big investing companies and found that they only hired people from IIT or IIM. He prepared for the CAT examination and managed to score 98% but still failed to get admission to the institute. Later, he decided to pursue an MBA from a prestigious college for which he needed to get a job first. When he applied for the job, he was rejected because he was not an IIT alumnus.

• In July 2018, he was hired as an analyst by KPMG, located in the Greater Bengaluru Area through college placement. After working there for more than two years, he left the job in November 2020. Later, he joined an NGO for voluntary work.

• He decided to make a 15-minute video on finance and upload it on YouTube. His first video gained him around 400 views and 80-90 subscribers.

• In an interview, he revealed that, initially, he used to make videos using his Mi phone, which produces low quality video, and it took him a lot of time to edit the videos. However, he later bought an iPhone to make videos.

• Sharan used to watch YouTube videos by several finance influencers such as CA Rachana Ranade which introduced him to mutual funds. Later, he opened a Zerodha account and began his journey into investing. He came across Ali Abdaal, whose accomplishments inspired him to begin his journey.

• In an interview, he revealed that he watched several videos and read numerous books to deepen his knowledge in the field of finance. Later on, he learned about taxation by not relying on a Chartered Accountant and chose to educate himself.

• He became an Associate Consultant at PwC, Greater Bengaluru Area in April 2021. He left the company in January 2022.

• In 2022, he got a chance to speak at IIMB.

  

• He created his YouTube channel ‘Finance With Sharan’ in May 2014, and he posted his first video on the channel in January 2021. ^[2]Finance with Sharan – Youtube During the COVID-19 lockdown, he thought of teaching finance through various social media handles, as he felt that people have less knowledge about this field. In January 2021, he started posting videos related to finance on his YouTube channel ‘Finance with Sharan,’ which he created in May 2014. ‘As of 2024, he has 2.5 million+ subscribers on YouTube channel.’

• In 2022, he received a YouTube Golden Play button for his channel Finance with Sharan.

  

• Amidst the pandemic, Sharan used to guide his friends on investment options.

• Sharan initially focused on making videos related to the topic of ‘Mutual Funds,’ as he was quite familiar with them. However, he later realised that covering topics like taxation and insurance would help in educating a broader audience.

• In an interview, he revealed that he was not much active on social media till the age of 22. He also revealed that his sister played a significant role in encouraging him to share videos on Instagram and later handled the video editing also. Recognizing the wide audience on Instagram, he started making videos for the platform.

• Sharan noticed that Instagram users enjoy light-hearted and entertaining content. To make his videos engaging, he combined information, humour, and skits. His content often includes Bangalore lingo and pop culture references like superheroes, making it relatable and relevant. ^[3]Sharan Hegde – Instagram As of 2024, he has around 2.4 million followers on Instagram.

• In the beginning, he faced negative comments but didn’t let them discourage him.

• Sharan’s manager assisted him in securing brand deals and negotiations. He emphasized the importance of the brand’s role in securing deals due to their extensive connections and understanding of industry pricing. His brand partnerships included The Souled Store, Coinswitch Kuber, Slice, and GoDutch, while his influencer collaborations involved Tanya Appachu and Raj Shamani. Sharan highlighted the strategy of leveraging the followers of both accounts by creating relevant content for each audience.

• According to him, he does not spend all day on his mobile phone. To reduce his social media usage, he set up reminders that alert him when he spends too much time online. When he is at home, he prioritizes eating meals with his family.

• Sharan received various recognitions including Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2023, Economic Times Mega Influencer 2023, Forbes Top 100 Influencers 2022 and Finance Influencer of the Year 2022, 2023.

• In April 2022, he became the founder and CEO of The 1% Club. The club is a members-only community that helps people achieve financial independence.

• In January 2024, his initiative The 1% Club teamed up with numerous popular creators and teachers nationwide to grow into areas like the stock market and planning for taxes.

• The club later started a new program called “Tax Planning Strategy” in collaboration with Rishita Motwani, a well-known Chartered Accountant and Advocate. The programme was made to make it easier for people to learn tax rules, plan their taxes smartly, and save as much as they can on taxes.

• In 2024, he was featured on the cover of Social Ketchup magazine.

  

• He likes trying various adventurous sports.