Fundamental Investing — From Zero¶
An in-depth, India-first course in fundamental equity analysis — from "what is a balance sheet?" to building a three-statement model, valuing banks, catching accounting fraud, writing an investment memo and sizing a position.
It is written for numerate people who know markets but have never studied accounting: traders, engineers, quants, analysts from other fields. It assumes nothing about finance theory and goes deep quickly.
Educational material, not investment advice
Nothing in this course is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Real companies appear as historical illustrations of method. Two running-example companies (Kaveri Pumps and Nirmal Finance) are entirely fictional. See Disclaimer.
What's inside¶
| Part | Modules | You will learn to… |
|---|---|---|
| I · Foundations | 00 Orientation · 01 Money, companies & markets | think in claims on cash flows; understand shares, EV, capital raising, Indian market plumbing, returns maths |
| II · Accounting & filings | 02 Accounting foundations · 03 Reading filings | read all three statements and the notes; know where every Indian disclosure lives and how to read it |
| III · Analysis | 04 Financial statement analysis · 05 Business & competitive analysis | compute and interpret growth, margins, returns, working capital, leverage, earnings quality; judge moats, industries, management and governance |
| IV · Valuation | 06 Valuation · 07 Valuing special companies | build a DCF, cost of capital, multiples, reverse DCF; value banks, insurers, cyclicals, loss-makers, holdcos |
| V · Sectors | 08 Sector playbooks | analyse 11 Indian sectors with the right KPIs |
| VI · Skepticism | 09 Forensic accounting | spot aggressive accounting, cash-flow games and governance red flags |
| VII · Doing the work | 10 Modelling · 11 Process & portfolio · 12 Macro & special situations | model a company in Python; generate ideas, write memos, size positions, sell; use options to express views |
| VIII · Case studies | 13 Historical case studies | learn from 25 real episodes — compounders, bubbles, frauds, collapses (10 global, 15 Indian) |
| IX · Practice | 14 Mocks & drills · 15 Capstone | test yourself under time pressure; run full case studies of your own |
Plus: syllabus · glossary (500+ terms) · formula sheet · reading list · data sources · Python tools · Anki flashcards.
How the course works¶
- Lessons follow one template: why it matters → objectives → concepts with worked examples → Trader's lens and India notes callouts → common mistakes → key terms → self-check questions with hidden answers → further reading.
- Two fictional running-example companies carry through every module so that the same numbers reappear in accounting, ratios, valuation, forensics, modelling and the mocks: Kaveri Pumps & Motors (a manufacturer) and Nirmal Finance (an NBFC). Their statements are generated by code and always balance. Kaveri also has a reference valuation.
- Every module ends with exercises in four tiers — Warm-up, Core, Stretch and a Real-world task on an actual listed Indian company — with fully worked solutions.
- Mocks at four checkpoints plus a four-hour final exam and a stock-pitch mock.
- Case studies are written "you are the analyst": you get the information available at the time, answer questions, then read what happened and what was knowable in advance.
Suggested path¶
About 20 weeks at 8–10 hours a week — see the study plan. Start with 00.1 What fundamental investing is.