Mohit Bhandari (K K Birla Goa Campus, ’16) and Gaurav Sangle (K K Birla Goa Campus, ’16) are the co-founders of Stratzy, a FinTech startup. The application provides an easy understanding of stock trading strategies for beginners and retail investors.

How it all started?

I was a part of the WallStreet Club in K. K. Birla Goa Campus which introduced me to the capital markets. I became the Vice President of the club and that is when I got to understand the problems that the new age investors and traders face when starting. India is still at an early stage and the capital markets are not that developed as compared to other markets. So the opportunity to grow was abundant because there was a huge gap in the market. It was at the club that I met my co-founder and both of us were interested in the fintech space. Both of us had complementary skill sets- I was deep into quant-finance and product, while he was the tech expert. I learned about tech from him and he learned about the products from me.

Stratzy: Early Days

Gaurav and I, along with a few of our friends started by ideating around the algotrading and quant finance. We started building a basic product and getting users for it. With the user feedback, we learned more about the market and the problems. We incorporated a company at the end of the second year and learned about compliance and all the processes that come up with the formation of a company.

Investments: What I learned?

I understood the importance of investments during my first year. In today’s times, being financially aware and having a basic understanding of investment is very important. In the current scenario, with inflations reducing the purchasing power of money, it becomes important to invest in a planned manner and not lose to inflation in the end. Having a balanced approach to investing is of utmost importance for people who are just starting. A diversified portfolio in gold, equity, and debt would make sure you can sail the stormy seas smoothly.

For new investors, I would advise them to stick to Index ETFs and bluechip mutual funds. All stocks have two basic analyses to be done- Fundamental and Technical. Fundamental analysis helps in understanding the formation of the business fundamentals, profits made by the company and the speed at which the revenue is growing, cash a company has for uncertain times, the future of the company, etc. In the Stratzy app, we have created a framework called MOST (Management, Outlook, Strength, Trend) which rank the stocks like AAA, BBB, etc. It looks at all the fundamental aspects and ranks accordingly.