'Price comes last when evaluating companies'

Raamdeo Agrawal’s QGLP (Quality, Growth, Longevity, Price) framework may be a decade old, but the thinking behind it has only deepened with time. In this conversation, the Motilal Oswal co-founder traces its roots—from his Buffett-inspired awakening to the Rs 100 crore mistake that reinforced his investing discipline. Your journey from Raipur to co-founding Motilal Oswal is inspiring. Could you share early life experiences, family values, and how you were introduced to business and investing before coming to Bombay? I grew up in a village 20–30 kilometres from Raipur, where conditions were primitive—no electricity, no bus connectivity. The school was basic, with a single teacher who sometimes couldn’t attend due to a flooded stream. Despite these challenges, I excelled in math and languages. My real education began in the fifth grade when I moved to Raipur and joined a proper school. In sixth grade, I stood first in class, which significantly boosted my confidence. My father was a large-scale farmer with 100 acres in Chhattisgarh, supporting a family of six or seven children. We weren’t poor, but it was hard work, and wealth was modest. I moved to Nagpur for Chartered Accountancy (CA), transitioning from Hindi to English medium, which was tough. BCom was a struggle—I passed with 42 per cent, below the 50 per cent required for CA, so I cleared an entrance exam. In Mumbai, securing a CA articleship was challenging—I approached 130 companies before joining a Delhi-based firm. The CA intermediate exam was my biggest hurdle—I failed four times due to poor handwriting. I practised for six months to improve it, but still failed once more because I couldn’t finish the paper. After practising speed-writing, I passed. That CA degree, earned through persistence, remains my greatest asset. The fear of returning to farming kept me pushing forward. That’s why I say I’ve never faced a challenge bigger than passing the CA exam. My greatest asset isn’t my net worth—it’s my CA de