Hello everyone, welcome to The India Opportunity Show where you get a front-row seat to people building India’s future. We talk about unlocking the potential of the country with founders, investors, creators, and successful leaders from different fields to bring you real-life stories and behind-the-scenes of what it takes to be at the forefront of building the India Story.
Episode 14, Season 4 of The India Opportunity Show is out now! You can watch it on YouTube or listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
What Does It Take to Hold a 100x Stock?
Everyone wants to find the next multibagger. Far fewer investors talk about what happens after you find one.
Milind Karmakar has spent decades investing in Indian equities, identifying businesses such as Trent and Titan early in their journeys and then doing the harder thing: holding on as those businesses compounded through multiple market cycles.
Some of those investments went on to deliver returns as high as 140x.
In this episode of The India Opportunity Show, I sat down with Milind to understand the thinking behind these investments. How do you identify a company capable of compounding for decades? How do you resist the temptation to sell after it has already gone up 5x or 10x? And perhaps most importantly, how do you know when the story has actually changed and it is finally time to exit?
We also discuss why Milind believes India’s long-term growth story is still in its early stages, the sectors he believes could benefit as India’s per capita income rises, how he evaluates new-age companies, and the timeless investing principles that have guided him across multiple market cycles.
Key Takeaways
1. Finding a multibagger is only half the battle.
The extraordinary returns from companies like Trent and Titan were created not just by identifying them early, but by having the conviction to hold them for years as the underlying businesses continued to compound.
2. India’s consumption story may have decades left to run.
Milind believes rising per capita income can fundamentally change how Indian households spend, creating long runways for organised retail, discretionary consumption and other consumer-facing businesses.
3. Knowing when to sell is as important as knowing what to buy.
Rather than reacting to share price movements, Milind looks for deterioration in the business itself. Corporate governance issues, weakening fundamentals and changes in the original investment thesis are among the signals that can make him reconsider a position.
4. Valuation cannot be viewed in isolation.
A stock that appears expensive on conventional metrics can still create enormous wealth if the business has a sufficiently long growth runway. The real question is whether future earnings can justify today’s expectations.
5. Corporate governance is non-negotiable.
No growth opportunity can compensate for poor governance. Understanding management quality and how promoters allocate capital remains central to Milind’s framework.
6. India’s next multibaggers may emerge from structural shifts already underway.
From power ancillaries and banking to businesses benefiting from India’s expanding consumer economy, Milind discusses where he sees potential inflection points and which sectors he would rather avoid.
7. Long-term investing is not dead.
Markets move faster, narratives change constantly and investors have access to more information than ever before. But Milind’s experience suggests that patience, business quality and the ability to sit through volatility remain some of the most powerful advantages an investor can have.
Chapters
00:00 | Introduction
01:22 | A Contrarian Belief About the Indian Market
06:50 | Experiencing Massive Multiple Expansion
11:54 | Handling Client Pressure to Sell
13:53 | Why He Exited the EMS Trend Early
18:10 | How to Know When to Sell
26:35 | Assessing New-Age Company Valuations
32:08 | Why He Sold Thermax in 2007
35:24 | The Inflection Point in Power Ancillaries
37:19 | Where Could the Next Big Opportunities Come From?
39:08 | His View on FMCG Stocks
41:11 | Sectors He Would Avoid
41:28 | Timeless Investing Principles
43:45 | How to Identify a True Multibagger
46:41 | The Bull Case for Banking Stocks
50:04 | Rapid Fire
If you’re trying to find the next multibagger, this conversation is a reminder that the biggest wealth creation often comes not from predicting the next market move, but from finding an exceptional business and having the patience to let it compound.
Watch the full conversation with Milind Karmakar on The India Opportunity Show.
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Disclaimer: The content presented in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Viewers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
I feel, The 100x story is seductive, but the harder question is: how many future 100x stocks did investors hold patiently that never got there?
will someone answer this question?