Varsity: Crush your Learning Goals

Okay. Very quickly. How many of you can relate? You are a young to middle aged individual between 20-35 years of age. Since lockdown 1.0 you have a major FOMO of investing in stock markets because all your friends have been doing it. Apart from that, you are well versed with the pros and cons of investing without proper knowledge. There is also a general consensus amongst your peer group that learning curve of stock market is quite steep. After all, you don’t have the time to read the “The Intelligent Investor”. The book has no images and is 700 pages long for god’s sake.

So, what do you do? Give up? What if I tell you that there is a fun way out there to learn about stock markets? That is what today’s fintech platform all about. Varsity is a our fintech giant Zerodha’s baby. It is a free to use tool that will help you learn about stock markets from scratch. Zerodha Varsity can be accessed through it’s website or it’s app on Android and iOS.

At this moment, if you are thinking that there are tons of resources out there to learn about stock market, you are absolutely right. Then why is Zerodha’s varsity so special? Here are a some quirkiest propositions of this product which are hard to replicate and are not available elsewhere in the market:

1. Comprehensive and Structured:

Varsity has a very detailed course. The course is nicely structured and takes you through the prerequisites of learning about stock markets as well. There is a bit of economics and factors that impact stock markets. A little bit about the human behavior and how it influences the price of a stock.

You would also learn about the trading tool itself and how to use it. Introduction of the stock market will also tell us about the regulator and their role in the market. What are IPOs, clearing and settlement process.

Other modules include, technical analysis, fundamental analysis, All about futures and options, how taxation is handled in the markets, trading in currency and commodities. They have also thrown in a module for personal finance and psychology of trading.

2. Gamification:

That is where the fun begins. Varsity gamifies your learning experience so that you don’t feel the boredom. There are learning goals and notifications to remind you about them. You all make Snapchat streaks, but the streaks on Varsity are really going to add some value to your life (like literally).

You also get some points for completion of a course to keep you going. Completing of an entire module will also lead to getting a fancy certificate on your way.

3: Bite Sized:

Another USP of this application is that it caters to our shortened attention spans rather than fighting with it. With the onset of trends and culture that celebrates 30s videos, it has actually become harder for us to stay focused for longer intervals. Therefore, entire app and all it’s courses are divided into bite sized content called cards.

A typical card has no more than 150 words and can be consumed rather quickly. You can put up a reminder to open the app. I had synchronized the same with my morning routine. As soon as I started my washroom drill, I spent good 20 minutes in going through these cards one after the other. Imagine coming out lighter and smarter. What a combination!

4. Cliffhangers:

The content is also made in a way that you remain hooked for a longer period. Rather than plain texts of information, there are beautiful graphics and each card ends into a cliffhanger. I found myself completing the entire modules in one sitting because of that.

5. The Wall:

Thing about the world of finance is that once you are done with the basics, it becomes addictive. Therefore, as you learn about stock markets and it’s related stuff, there an entire section called The Wall, that brings about top financial news/article per week. These articles are well researched and fun to read. You might get an opportunity to apply one of your learnings from the modules in this article. Trust me, the real magic happens when you do that.

Conclusion:

Gone are the days when learning was entirely optional and responsibility of the learner alone. With the advancement in technology and UI/UX techniques, the onus lies on the course provider equally to make the content more intuitive. The Varsity app by Zerodha truly achieves that feat.

Have you given it a shot yet?

Got questions? Want to take it to the next level? Reach out to me using your preferred platform from the links below

Until next time..

This Blogpost is in association with Blogchatter’s #BlogchatterA2ZChallenge