Prime Venture Partners Podcast

Introducing Prime’s special series on ‘Fintech in India - Past, Present and the Future’. This is the 1st episode titled ‘India Fintech 1.0 - Pre Aadhaar & Smartphones’ in a 3 part series. In this special series of episodes, Sanjay Swamy, our Managing Partner speaks with industry stalwarts Srikanth Rajagopalan and Anshul Rai. Srikanth is currently the CEO of Perfios Account Aggregation (AA), an off-shoot from the Perfios legacy. Anshul is the Co-Founder and ex CEO of Happay, his claim to fame is Happay’s celebrated exit to CRED for $180M. Watch this episode to learn firsthand experience from 2 of India’s first mobile payments entrepreneurs Sanjay (mChek) and Shrikant (ngpay). They share memorable anecdotes and valuable lessons on frugal innovation such as how IRCTC and Telcos helped solve distribution at scale. This episode ends as a great segue to the 2nd generation of Fintech in India that will be highlighted in episode 2, stay tuned! Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

In this special podcast episode, our in-house Gaming experts Shripati Acharya and Gaurav Ranjan (Investments @PrimeVenturePartners) share everything about the ‘Gaming’ sector in India. They share deep insights on the current state, the future, game categories and what kind of companies Prime is excited to invest in. Why is Prime bullish about the Gaming Market in India? Watch the full episode to learn more about how today is the best time to be a ‘Gaming’ Entrepreneur in India and what kind of startup you should be building: ​​0:00 - Evolution and Future of Indian Gaming 4:12 - Evolution and Growth of Gaming Market 16:58 - Monetization Strategies in Mobile Gaming 25:09 - The Future of Gaming Investments 34:55 - Building Organic Distribution for Video Games 40:48 - Evolution of Web3 Gaming 52:53 - Gaming Entrepreneurship Opportunities in India P.S: you’ll learn why we invested in our portfolio companies like Hitwicket and Glip. Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: LinkedIn: / primevp Twitter: / primevp_in This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

In this podcast episode, Shivani Kulkarni (AVP, Investments @ Prime Venture Partners ) speaks to Nitin Agrawal (Founder & CEO @ Navadhan Capital), an IRMA graduate, a former CEO of Spandana Sphoorty and an inspiring leader passionate about rural India. Nitin highlights his journey from a lower middle class family in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh to CEO of India's leading micro-finance organisations. He encourages entrepreneurs by narrating personal stories in Rural India from his 20+ years of experience travelling across every nook and corner of the country. Tune in to learn about #bharat , rural mindset, demographics, smartphone penetration, #jandhanyojana and much more: 0:00 - Opportunities in Rural India 11:24 - Evolution of Rural Finance and Livelihoods 20:03 - Rural Tech Transformation and Opportunities 32:45 - Building a Tech-Led Scale-Up Business 45:32 - Parenting and Tech Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: LinkedIn: / primevp Twitter: / primevp_in This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

In this podcast episode, Amit Somani speaks to Gaurav Aggarwal the incredible Founder & CEO at Savaari Car Rentals who inspiringly led his company to be acquired by MakeMyTrip in 2023/2024. Savaari is India's largest premier chauffeur driven inter-city car rental service with presence in 2000+ Indian cities. Gaurav is a resilient, poster boy of Indian Startup M&A success story. He has silently built a ~₹100 Crore ARR startup by just raising 2 rounds of funding in a crowded space amidst the storms of global competition (with billions of dollars). This strategic Merger & Acquisition (M&A) with MakeMyTrip is a trendsetter and exemplar for all founders in the Indian startup ecosystem and VCs alike. He signs off saying, Savaari Car Rentals will be a ~₹1000 Crore company in 5 years! Watch this episode to learn key snippets on building an enduring startup the right way in a very difficult unorganised, crowded market! Listen to the podcast to learn more about: 0:00 - From Cisco to Car Rental Startup 4:16 - Transitioning to Entrepreneurship in India 7:45 - Intercity Transportation Market Insights 19:01 - Navigating the Competitive Landscape 23:33 - Staying the Course 30:59 - Entrepreneurship Evolution and Growth Strategy Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

In this podcast episode, Amit Somani speaks to Mukesh Singh a.k.a Mukri (Founder of ZopSmart) a winner of the ‘Economic Times Comeback Kid Award Winner, 2023’. Mukri is a maverick entrepreneur who has staged an unimaginable dramatic pivot shutting down a 70%-80% revenue business to focusing on a newer product based on market estimation and gut. He talks about his inspiration from ‘Lego’ and ‘Intel’ to have made the most important decision in building this mammoth ~800 Crore company at ~70%-80% margins! Another valuable piece he shares on the US GTM strategy including how he does 300 hours of preparation before every customer meeting. This episode is a rollercoaster enlightening current and future entrepreneurs in the most remarkable way. Tune into this episode to get inspired, learn and traverse across a marvelous entrepreneurial journey. Listen to the podcast to learn more about: 0:00 - Entrepreneurial Journey With Mukri Singh 4:10 - Discovering Self and Startup Lessons 14:42 - Entrepreneurship Journey 19:00 - Challenges and Opportunities in E-Commerce / Retail 28:53 - Importance of Core in Business Strategy 36:59 - Value Over Uniqueness in Startup Growth 49:09 - Entrepreneurial Insights and Reading Habits Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

In this exciting new episode, Amit Somani spoke to Hemant Sahal - a missionary entrepreneur solving a critical problem of digitizing Indian universities and institutions. Hemant’s insights on the necessity for specialized enterprise software (SaaS) in education institutions are compelling, as he recounts his multifaceted experiences as a student, teacher, and administrator. These experiences shaped his realization of the significant gap in technology that educational institutions faced, which led to the inception of Digii. Listen to the podcast to learn more about: 0:00 - Entrepreneurship in EdTech for India 7:10 - Education Institutions in India 12:20 - Transformation and Future of Higher Education 23:05 - Technology Adoption in Indian Institutions 32:13 - How to sell Edtech in India? 35:57 - Lessons Learned in Entrepreneurship Journey Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Digii - The Ed’Tech’ transforming India’s education Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

In this podcast episode, Sanjay Swamy one of the first institutional investors in Bolt.Earth embarks on a reminiscent journey with Jyoti, as we uncover the story of India's most exciting EV charging startup. Jyoti shares insights from audacious beginnings selling EV software solutions to Chinese manufacturers and how COVID helped them 'Make in India' for India launching the world's most affordable EV charger during the pandemic. He explains the critical pivot, business strategy, technology and team-building that has led to Bolt.Earth gaining 65-70% market share for 2 and 3 wheeler EV charging in India. With 30K+ charging points across 1300+ cities, Bolt.Earth is building the Android for EVs - watch this episode to learn the story of how this visionary entrepreneur has built their incredible startup.

Unlock the secrets of India's electric vehicle (EV) revolution with our latest guest, Mohit Yadav, the co-founder of Bolt. Earth. Mohit breaks down the EV adoption race, showcasing how micro-mobility is taking the lead where two-wheelers and three-wheelers rule Indian roads with gadget-like features and smart integrations. He simplifies the EV charging infrastructure, decoding the convenience of L1 charging to the speed of L3 charging breaking all myths. He demystifies Bolt's approach to developing India's largest EV charging network including the revolutionary concept of a peer-to-peer charging network that enables individuals and businesses to monetize their charging points, similar to an Airbnb model for EV charging. With 30K+ charging points across 1300+ cities, Bolt.Earth is building the Android for EVs - watch this episode to learn how this visionary entrepreneur is sparking EV transformation across India. Listen to the podcast to learn more about: 00:00 - EV Ecosystem Overview in India 06:07 - EV Features and how Software is a game changer 13:03 - EV Charging Levels (L1, L2, L3) Explained 20:07 - EV Charging Infrastructure in India 24:23 - EV Charging in Real Estate Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

Welcoming 2024 with this exciting episode, we have our three partners Sanjay Swamy, Shripati Acharya and Amit Somani share their predictions and thoughts for what this leap year holds! If you’re a founder raising funds or even thinking of starting this year you must watch this conversation as hot topics such as '$20B dry powder, Unicorns, 70h/weeks, how to fundraise in 2024' and much more are covered in detail! Listen to the podcast to learn more about: 00:00 - Preview of the Podcast 01:22 - How can Indian founders build for the globe? 06:07 - Type of Founders who should talk to Prime in 2024 09:26 - Blue Ocean vs Red Ocean 14:25 - Prime's advice to Portfolio companies in 2024 18:21 - Sectors/Trends that Prime might invest in 2024 22:36 - SaaS Opportunity in India & the World 28:22 - Is there a Real business opportunity in 'Bharat'? 34:43 - Tips for Fundraising in 2024 40:24 - Unicorns in 2024 46:05 - ‘X’ factors in successful founders Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

On this special episode we have our three partners Sanjay Swamy, Shripati Acharya and Amit Somani discuss what happened in 2023 across the global and Indian startup ecosystem. They deep dive on GenAI, ChatGPT, the India Opportunity, ‘funding winter’ and many such themes that dominated the world of startups! Listen to the podcast to learn more about: 00:00 - Preview of the Podcast 01:20 - ChatGPT and GenAI in 2023 14:24 - Indian Startup ecosystem in 2023 19:39 - Exciting sectors and trends in 2023 25:33 - Top performing startups of 2023 35:36 - Why are well funded startups failing/shutting down? 38:58 - What is the ONE thing startups should focus on in 2024? 43:50 - Personal takeaways & Closing thoughts Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

Shripati Acharya, Managing Partner Prime Venture Partners & Amit Somani Managing Partner Prime Venture Partners discuss BAD MATHS in the Startup world on this episode. Say goodbye to relying on "magical numbers" and instead focus on a thorough understanding of your market and customers for better results. We discuss key business metrics for growth, such as customer acquisition cost, campaign effectiveness, and churn calculations. We also stress the significance of segmentation, clear customer profiles, and willingness to pay for each segment. So don't miss this insightful episode full of valuable advice and perspectives to help you navigate the challenging world of startups. Listen to the podcast to learn about: 01:30 - Common Pitfalls When Calculating TAM 07:20 - What is a Good TAM from an Investor’s Perspective 09:00 - Calculating TAM for a category-creating company 11:00 - The Right Way to Calculate CAC 18:30 - How to Think About Churn 28:00 - Change the Question from LTV to Payback 30:15 - Revenue, Retention & Cohort Based Analysis 41:00 - Returns, Promotions, Discounts & Refunds 46:00 - Averages Vs Medians 50:00 - Smile Curve for SaaS Companies Click here to read the full transcript Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review and subscribe so you don't miss future episodes. Follow Prime Venture Partners: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

Satya Chakravarthy Co-Founder The ePlane Company in conversation with Shripati Acharya, Managing Partner Prime Venture Partners. Listen to the podcast to learn about: 04:00 - Entrepreneurship is About Solving a Problem 16:00 - Flying Taxis for City Travel 20:00 - Aviation Will Get Disrupted by Electrification 30:00 - Infrastructure & Defrastructure 33:20 - Startups in Engineering Colleges in India Click here to read the full transcript Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

Rahul Garg Founder Moglix in conversation with with Shripati Acharya, Managing Partner Prime Venture Partners. Listen to the podcast to learn about: 01:00 - B2B Commerce Needs to Transform like B2C commerce 05:30 - Opportunity to Become a Disruptor Globally 14:00 - Find What Customers Don't Want To Do 18:00 - How B2B Marketplaces differ from B2C Marketplaces 25:00 - The China Plus One Strategy & Opportunity for India 31:00 - How to Evaluate a B2B Opportunity as an Entrepreneur Click here to read the full transcript Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

Tushar Vashisht, Co-Founder & CEO HealthifyMe with Shripati Acharya, Managing Partner Prime Venture Partners. Listen to the podcast to learn about: 01:30 - HealthifyMe Inspiration: Aadhaar & 100 Rupees a Day 07:00 - From Google Sheets to a Website to a Mobile App 13:00 - The Most Effective: Human, AI or Human+AI? 18:00 - Near Death Experiences in the Life of a Startup 27:00 - "Too Much Money Can Harm a Company" 32:00 - AI, HealthTech & the Next Trillion Dollar Company 37:15 - Time of Less Noise and More Efficient Growth Click here to read the full transcript Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

Srinath Ravichandran, Co-Founder & CEO AgniKul with Shripati Acharya, Managing Partner Prime Venture Partners. Listen to the podcast to learn about: 03:30 - How AgniKul is Making Going to Space Easy 10:30 - Can Rockets also Shrink? 20:00 - How ISRO works with Indian Space Tech Startups 26:30 - Who will be the New Customers 35:00 - Think of Space as a Platform 42:00 - Many Exciting Opportunities in Space Tech 47:00 - India is a Space-Faring Nation Today Click here to read the full transcript Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

Gaurav Singh Kushwaha, Founder & CEO Bluestone with Amit Somani, Managing Partner Prime Venture Partners. Listen to the podcast to learn about 03:00 - When Starting Up: Defensibility & Differentiation 11:00 - Online is Much More Than a Sales Channel 20:00 - First Click, Last Click: Building the Right Attribution Models 30:00 - Don’t Let Your Biases Define Your Metrics 35:45 - CAC/LTV Fallacy: VCs & Entrepreneurs Click here to read the full transcript Want to learn about about building a global SaaS business from India? Listen to this episode with Khadim Batti, Co-Founder & CEO Whatfix where we talk about Finding PMF & The Right Customer Segment, Pricing & Product For Enterprise, Building Sales Cycle & Sales Force in US, Four Pillars of Category Awareness and a lot more. Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

Jen Abel Co-Founder JJELLYFISH chats with Amit Somani, Managing Partner Prime Venture Partners. Listen to the podcast to learn about 01:30 - Early Stage Sales & PMF 11:00 - How to Discover Your Customer’s Problems 14:30 - The Product Doesn’t Drive Customer Discovery 16:00 - How to Run a Great Demo 21:00 - How to Think About Price Discovery 28:30 - Role of Marketing in the 0-1 stage 36:00 - 3 Big Things Every Indian SaaS founder Should Know Click here to read the full transcript Want to learn more about about building a global SaaS business from India? Listen to this episode with Khadim Batti, Co-Founder & CEO Whatfix where we talk about Finding PMF & The Right Customer Segment, Pricing & Product For Enterprise, Building Sales Cycle & Sales Force in US, Four Pillars of Category Awareness and a lot more. Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

Stephen Wunker Managing Director New Markets Advisors chats with Shripati Acharya, Managing Partner Prime Venture Partners. Stephen is a frequent writer and speaker on how firms can create new growth platforms. His award-winning books include Capturing New Markets, Jobs to be Done , and Costovation. Listen to the podcast to learn about 02:00 - Jobs to be done for SaaS Companies 11:30 - How to Find Underlying Motivations of Your Customers 22:00 - How NOT to use Jobs to be done Framework 34:45 - How Often Should a SaaS Company Talk to Its Customers? 40:00 - The Best Innovation Book Click here to read the full transcript Next, listen to a serial SaaS founder, Srikrishnan Ganesan talk about How He Used Jobs to be Done Framework, When an MVP is Not Enough, Building a Community as a SaaS Business, Working with Industry Analysts and a lot more. Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

Prime Mailbag: A special episode for you where we answer your questions on startups and entrepreneurship. We have Amit Somani & Sanjay Swamy, Managing Partners Prime Venture Partners, answering your questions. And if you have a question that you'd like us to answer in next episode you can submit here Listen to the podcast to learn about 00:50 - Investing in Pre-Revenue Startups 06:00 - Building and Evolving Startup Culture 13:09 - Finding Product-Market Fit 21:30 - Balancing Product and Distribution 26:10 - Saying “no” to Investors 28:34 - Maintaining Financial Discipline Post-Funding 31:25 - Avoiding Bad Hiring Decisions 35:50 - The Importance of Building in Public Click here to read the full transcript Next, listen to a veteran of Indian startup world sharing lesson from his 20+ years long entrepreneurial journey. On the episode with Sanjeev Bikhchandani we talk about Crowdsourcing customer feedback in real time; How naukri built a virtuous circle as a moat; Customer-led innovation Vs Competition-led Innovation; Why customer’s money is more important than investor’s money and a lot more. Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback

Piyush Shah Co-Founder InMobi and President & COO, Glance chats with Amit Somani, Managing Partner Prime Venture Partners. Listen to the podcast to learn about 06:00 - Inmobi’s Story of Survival and Scale 20:00 - How to Evaluate Persistence & Grit 27:30 - 100 People Who Operate Like Co-Founders 30:45 - Building Pro Sports Team & a Family 36:00 - Why Intent > Capability Click here to read the full transcript Next, listen to a veteran of Indian startup world sharing lesson from his 20+ years long entrepreneurial journey. On the episode with Sanjeev Bikhchandani we talk about Crowdsourcing customer feedback in real time; How naukri built a virtuous circle as a moat; Customer-led innovation Vs Competition-led Innovation; Why customer’s money is more important than investor’s money and a lot more. Enjoyed the podcast? Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and subscribe wherever you are listening to this. Follow Prime Venture Partners: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp/ This podcast is for you. Do let us know what you like about the podcast, what you don't like, the guests you'd like to have on the podcast and the topics you'd like us to cover in future episodes. Please share your feedback here: https://primevp.in/podcastfeedback