Vijay Shekhar Sharma Success Story: Founder & CEO of Paytm

Introduction

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO of Paytm, is a well-known name in India because of his smart, innovative work in Fintech that made the comfort for millions of Indians, Government offices, Hospitals, Educational Institutions, etc. Yes, we are talking about Paytm (owned by its parent company One97 Communications Limited), the very famous yet effective platform to make online payment so easily in just 3-5 seconds.

In this blog, we are discussing how with just 10 Rs. in pocket, Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma now owns a net worth of $1.2 billion. 

 

Early Life and Education

Vijay Sharma was born on July 8, 1973 in Aligarh, India into a very humble family and the passage to success was difficult for him. His father was a teacher in a school, and they lived a hand-to-mouth existence, but Vijay decided that he would change the fate of his family.

After completing his schooling, Vijay began his formal education in a Hindi medium school, which made very early in life English a challenge for him regarding writing and reading. He managed to work very hard on that, with much focus placed on Basic English that would aid him in getting admission into any good college. 

Vijay had a passion for technology and entrepreneurship from a very tender age. He was great at mathematics and was also an enthusiastic techie. His feeling was that of a passionate wish to impact technology to create his mark. 

He chose to see this not as a disadvantage but as a challenge, and he began self-training in English, a special kind formulated in his mind by poring through really old magazines and borrowing whatever books he could from friends. His dual-book approach involved learning sentence precedents in one book and translations in the other on an alternating basis. 

After getting into an engineering college in Delhi, this brilliant student started to find it tough. His grades started declining, going from excellent to average.

Slowly, instead of attending college, he completely dropped out and thought less about engineering while developing a real love for entrepreneurship.

 

Personal Life

Vijay Shekhar Sharma married to Mridula Parashar, and the two of them have a child.

 

Entrepreneurial Journey of Vijay Shekhar Sharma

For the very first time, Vijay set foot into business when he started a content management company, XS Communications. CMS was later adopted by reputed publications like The Indian Express.

In his quest for funds for his company, he borrowed Rs.8 lac from the bank at 24% interest. He was sucked into an unstopping cycle of debts that kept going beyond his control. While still at college, he took a variety of different jobs just to repay debt. 

Initially, he was not very lucky in getting the deal done, but finally made a small profit on the selling of this company. Such a taste at the beginning of his entrepreneurship only whetted his appetite for more.

This is what gave the actual transformation of Vijay's journey when he founded the Payment bank under the name Paytm in 2010. The word "Paytm" stands for "Pay Through Mobile." It had been established with the vision of making mobile recharges and bill payments as easy as possible for Indians. During that time, this concept was all the more doubtful because mobile payments had almost no presence in India.

However, Vijay's vision was way ahead of the times. Paytm's growth was because of Vijay's direct desire on constant innovation as well as customer satisfaction. The company then added mobile wallets, allowing cashless payment for a variety of items and services.

 

Challenges Faced

Difficulties have been at hand for Vijay. The digital payment venture in India was hard with competition, regulatory changes, and evolving consumer behavior. Unaffected, Vijay showed resilience and adaptability, steering Paytm through the crises and holding on to its leadership. 

 

One97 Communications Limited’s Performance

 

 (Source: Screener)

 

 

Achievements

• The Best Serial Entrepreneur Award at the Rural and Urban Development Summit Awards 2022 was presented by the Minister of State for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India.

• Forbes has recognized him as the Youngest Indian Billionaire.

• AIMA awarded him Entrepreneur of the Year 2018.

• Time listed him among the 100 most influential persons in 2017.

• ET Entrepreneur of the Year awarded by The Economic Times, Year 2016.

• GQ's 50 Most Influential Young Indians of 2017.

• Dataquest IT Man of the Year in 2017.

• Honorary Doctorate from Amity University, Gurgaon, 2016.

• Businessman of the Year-GQ Men of the Year Awards 2016.

• Bestowed with NDTV Indian of the Year in 2016.

• Conferred Impact Person of the Year in 2016.

• Named Hottest Business Leader under 40 by The Economic Times in 2015.

• CEO of the Year by SABRE Award-Sept 2015.

 

Net Worth & Investment

Forbes estimates that Vijay Shekhar Sharma's net worth as of September 2022 is US $1.1 billion.

 

His few major investments are-

 

Did You Know?

Vijay Shekhar Sharma faced such days when he had only Rs.10 in his pocket. 

 

Conclusion

The life of Vijay Shekhar Sharma has transformed dramatically from having just Rs.10 in his pocket to being a billionaire. He proved how the hard work, dedication, and creativity of a single man can transform Paytm into a huge success in the digital payment landscape of India. Despite facing many challenges he stayed positive and focused. 

 

Read the mamaearth cofounder Ghazal Alagh Success Story whose first day salary was Rs.1200 only.

Explore Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal Success Story, who is also called ‘India’s Elon Musk’.

Read the founder and CEO of Nykaa Falguni Nayar Success Story.

DISCLAIMER: NOT a buy or sell recommendation. No investment or trading advice is given. The content is purely for educational and information purposes only. Always discuss with an eligible financial advisor before investing.