The importance of having a university degree can never be questioned, but it might not always be the only way to achieve your goals and become successful. From Bill Gates to Zuckerberg, billionaires of the world have proven that dropouts can reach the epitome of success with vision and hard work. One such story from Bangalore, is of Kunal Shah, the founder of CRED.
From a dropout to an entrepreneur
Kunal, after completing his Bachelor’s in Philosophy from Wilson College, enrolled himself in a management course at NMIMS in 2003. After studying for a year, he decided to drop out and pursue his entrepreneurial dreams. Before having a breakthrough with CRED, he launched PaisaBack, a cashback and promotional discount campaign platform for retailers. In 2010, he decided to shut it down to start Freecharge, which was acquired by Snapdeal in 2015 for $450 million, as per Kunal’s LinkedIn. After functioning independently, in 2017, it was acquired by Axis Bank.
Kunal founded CRED in Bangalore in 2018. CRED is a fintech company, with a members-only feature that rewards people for paying their credit card bills on time by giving them access to special deals and premium experiences. Users of credit cards can manage several cards on this portal, which also provides a credit score analysis. Experian or CRIF score members can use the app to pay their credit card payments and qualify for special prizes.
Kunal Shah’s salary
According to a report by LiveMint, Shah took it to his Instagram story to tell his audience that he earns a monthly salary of Rs 15,000 and reasoned that he does not believe he should receive a decent salary as per his position as the founder until the company becomes profitable. Shah also mentioned that he is able to survive on this salary because he sold his previous company, FreeCharge, for a decent amount.
