Prime Venture Partners Podcast

🎙️ Bala Parthasarathy - Chairman & Co-founder, Freo, Director at People+AI, Senior Adviser, EMK Capital (London) -  joins us for one of our most insightful episodes.

In this full conversation, Bala discusses:
🔹 Snapfish’s dotcom-era growth, crash, and acquisition by HP
🔹 Building Aadhaar from the ground up with Nandan Nilekani
🔹 The truth about raising and deploying venture capital
🔹 What’s broken (and what’s working) in fintech
🔹 The founder's mindset in the age of AI

If you're a founder, investor, or operator, this episode is packed with lessons, stories, and perspective.

📌 Episode Timestamps:
00:00 – Bala’s background & Snapfish origins
03:00 – Dotcom boom, bust & Snapfish acquisition
06:30 – Understanding VC: what founders often get wrong
10:00 – Building Aadhaar at scale with Nandan Nilekani
13:00 – Freo, fintech & operating in regulated markets
16:00 – AI disruption & founder readiness
23:00 – How every function is being reshaped by AI
28:00 – Founder life: balance, energy & playing the long game

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#BalaParthasarathy #Startups #AI #VentureCapital #Aadhaar #FintechIndia #Entrepreneurship  #PrimeVenturePartnersPodcast 

What happens when a techie starts brewing in his garage and ends up building one of India’s most iconic craft beer brands?

Just as refreshing as Geist’s beer, this episode has Narayan Manepally, CEO & Co-founder of Geist Brewing Co., chatting with Sanjay Swamy.  It has all the flavours and ingredients - from sharing his journey as an Intel engineer in the U.S. to innovating and succeeding as a beer entrepreneur.

What you’ll learn:
🍺 How one batch of California Golden Ale changed everything
📜 Why Narayan brewed in Belgium and brought it back to India
📦 The science of building a cold chain for beer
🌳 How Geist Brewing Co.  turned adversity into an open-air beer garden
📈 From 0 to 450+ locations without compromising on quality

Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction

03:27 – Tech at Intel → Garage Brewing

08:09 – First Brew = The Big Idea

10:08 – “Now They Say: We Love Geist!”

12:42 – What Makes a Beer ‘Craft’?

15:00 – Brewing Abroad When India Said No

18:04 – The 600K Month & Scaling B2B

20:33 – COVID Pivot: Sell to Myself

23:47 – Cold Chain & the Science of Fresh Beer

34:03 – Advice for Founders

📌 Follow us:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp
Twitter: https://twitter.com/primevp_in
Website: https://primevp.in

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#GeistBrewingCo. #CraftBeerMovement #StartupIndia #FounderInsights #EntrepreneurMindset #RegulatoryChallenges #B2BtoB2C #FoodAndBeverageIndustry #ConsumerBranding #ScalingStartups #BootstrappingStories #COVIDPivot #BusinessOfBeer #FounderPodcast #PrimeVenturesPartnersPodcast

What happens when a founder builds and exits four companies, including a multi-million-dollar edtech company, before India even started talking about startups?

In this episode, K. Ganesh (Author & Partner at Growth Story) - the man behind BigBasket, Portea, Bluestone, and more breaks down the hard truths, lucky accidents, and pivots that shaped his journey.

🎙️ Hosted by Sanjay Swamy | Prime Venture Partners
📘 Featuring: Mastering Disruption by K. Ganesh

🧠 What you’ll learn:

How he went from engineer to entrepreneur by accident
The pivots that saved his companies during the dotcom crash
The GrowthStory model vs. traditional venture capital
His take on AI, relevance after 60, and learning to reinvent yourself

👉 Don’t just listen - learn, reflect, and share. This is founder wisdom in its purest form.

📌 Follow us:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp
Twitter: https://twitter.com/primevp_in
Website: https://primevp.in

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#SerialEntrepreneur #KGanesh #StartupIndia #FounderStories #MasteringDisruption #BuildInIndia #BusinessWisdom #ConsumerTech #VCIndia #PrimeVenturePartnersPodcast

What if your product manager, designer, developer, AND CEO were all AI?

In this game-changing conversation, Xiaoyin Qu, Founder of HeyBoss, joins Pankaj Agarwal (VP @PrimeVP_in) to share how she’s building a startup where software is shipped in minutes, led entirely by AI agents.

Before founding HeyBoss, Xiaoyin was a Product Manager at Facebook and Instagram. Today, she’s scaling her company with support from the OpenAI Startup Fund.

What you’ll learn:
🤖 How HeyBoss evolved from a kids' gaming idea to an AI development agency
👩‍💼 Why Xiaoyin stepped away from day-to-day operations and let “Astra”, their internal AI, lead the team
🧱 The infrastructure behind AI agents that ship full products from a single sentence
📊 Lessons in product design, QA, and customer feedback loops — all powered by AI
🧠 Why “taste,” strategy, and human intuition still matter (and always will)

⏱ Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction
01:00 – From Stanford MBA dropout to COVID-era startup success
04:30 – Building the first AI-run dev agency
06:40 – Meet Astra: The AI CEO
08:46 – How AI manages product, design, dev & delivery
14:53 – Prioritising quality over speed in an AI world
21:49 – Humans vs. AI: What still needs us?
33:19 – The one human skill AI can’t replace

💡 Key Takeaways:

How to structure teams of AI agents to deliver finished outcomes
Why non-technical founders are a massive unlock for AI-driven products
What the future of work looks like when humans and agents collaborate
Tactical lessons for founders exploring AI-powered SaaS

This is not just a conversation - it’s a first-hand look at where the future is already headed.

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/primevp_in
Website: https://primevp.in

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#HeyBossAI #XiaoyinQu #AIStartups #FutureOfWork #ArtificialIntelligence #StartupLeadership #TechInnovation #AIxProduct #AIAgents #PrimePodcast #IndiaStartups #VCInsights #WomenInTech #PrimeVenturePartners

AI is no longer experimental—it's foundational.

In this explosive episode, PrimeVP Founder & Partner Shripati Acharya and Principal Gaurav Ranjan unpack how AI is reshaping B2B software—and what that means for evaluating and investing in early-stage startups.

What you’ll learn:
⚙️ The rise of Enterprise AI and its real-world applications
📈 Prime’s investment thesis in AI-first SaaS startups
🧠 What separates hype from defensible value in AI
🚀 Advice for founders building in vertical SaaS, AI agents, and more

Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction

02:00 – AI’s impact on startup scaling and team size

03:20 – Faster sales cycles with enterprise AI

07:26 – Will AI unlock India’s SaaS market?

13:36 – Has AI neutralised India’s cost advantage?

20:19 – Models vs APIs: Where’s the real business?

25:52 – Why UI still wins in enterprise software

27:27 – Building moats through workflow depth

34:38 – How to price AI products right

39:43 – Prime’s investment themes in enterprise AI

44:58 – Final thoughts

💡 Key Takeaways:

Where AI is driving real enterprise value today
Prime's active investment thesis in AI + SaaS
The rise of function-specific AI agents across verticals
Shifts in software buying behaviour—from IT to HR budgets

This is your tactical guide to the next generation of enterprise innovation.

📌 Follow us:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp
Twitter: https://twitter.com/primevp_in
Website: https://primevp.in

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#AIRevolution #EnterpriseAI #SaaSInnovation #FutureOfWork #AIEcosystem #StartupGrowth #FoundersFirst #VCInsights #TechLeadership #AIInvesting #B2BInnovation #IndiaStartups #AIxSaaS #PrimeVenturePartnersPodcast

What’s next in fintech? In this high-signal episode, Sheel Mohnot (GP at @ Better Tomorrow Ventures) shares deep insight into the future of financial services, AI’s impact on SaaS, and how VC is evolving in 2025.

🔍 In Sheel’s candid chat with Sanjay Swamy, You’ll learn:

 • What US fintech can learn from India’s public infrastructure (UPI, DEPA, account aggregation)
 • Why SaaS isn’t dead—but must evolve beyond subscription revenue
 • How Sheel evaluates founder-market fit, velocity, and tenacity
 • The co-lending revolution in India—and why it’s a structural shift
 • Why BTV is betting big on hands-on accelerators and early-stage velocity

📌Timestamps:

 00:00 – Introduction

 01:30 – Sheel’s journey from Pittsburgh to VC

 08:15 – U.S. vs India: Fintech regulation 

 15:30 – Is SaaS dead? The AI disruption

 20:15 – India Stack vs U.S. payments

 27:30 – Can Indian fintech go global?

 30:00 – IPO readiness: India vs U.S.

 34:00 – Will BTV invest in India?

 45:00 – Red flags & founder filters

 50:00 – What gets a “yes” from Sheel

 54:00 – Fintech outlook for 2025

 57:10 – Clubhouse, Bieber & Taco Bell wedding

🔑 Key Takeaways:
✔️ Vertical SaaS is fintech in disguise – and it’s how modern software will scale revenue
✔️ AI is not just augmenting work—it’s replacing it in areas like accounting and underwriting
✔️ Regulation ≠ obstacle – In the U.S., a patchwork system creates an edge for savvy startups
✔️ Early-stage investing is about founder-market fit, and spotting overlooked “superpowers”

📌 Follow us:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp
Twitter: https://twitter.com/primevp_in
Website: https://primevp.in

#Fintech #SaaS #AI #Startups #VentureCapital #IndiaStack #SheelMohnot #BetterTomorrowVentures #DigitalTransformation #FounderInsights #InvestorInsights #FutureOfFinance #PrimeVenturePartnersPodcast

What happens when creativity meets sharp market insight?

In this episode, Raffic Aslam (ex-Creative Director at Zoho) breaks down the 3 campaigns that defined Zoho’s global marketing playbook:

1️⃣UAE VAT Campaign – A masterclass in cultural targeting that unlocked a new market via a single character: Kutty, the Malayali accountant.
2️⃣ Made in India for the World – A bold declaration of Indian innovation for a global SaaS audience.
3️⃣Super Bowl Ads – Frugal but fierce, this campaign helped Zoho stand out in a sea of enterprise giants.

⏱ Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction

02:15 – The birth of the Zoho logo

06:30 – Why simplicity & color made the logo unforgettable

08:37 – Branding vs. Performance Marketing

14:25 – Campaign 1: UAE VAT Campaign – Meet “Kutty”

20:45 – Lessons from targeting expat accountants

23:02 – Campaign 2: Made in India, Made for the World

27:00 – Building pride in Indian-built software

30:55 – Campaign 3: Zoho’s Super Bowl Ad Strategy

35:10 – How Zoho kept it frugal but memorable

38:00 – Branding advice for SaaS founders

41:20 – Final takeaways for startup marketers

💡 Top Takeaways for Founders & Marketers:
✔️ Go deep, not broad: Hyperlocal targeting can unlock massive markets
✔️ Your logo is a strategy: Visual identity drives brand recall & lowers CAC
✔️ Brand building ≠ media spend: Authentic storytelling beats big budgets

🔔 Subscribe to Prime Podcasts for more insights

🎙 Hosted by Jerome Manuel, Head of Community at PrimeVP

📌 Follow us:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/primevp
Twitter: https://twitter.com/primevp_in
Website: https://primevp.in

#Zoho #SaaSMarketing #StartupBranding #IndianStartups #MarketingStrategy #B2BMarketing #MadeInIndia #SuperBowlAds #FrugalMarketing #GrowthMindset #PrimeVenturePartnersPodcast

How do you scale a product to 70M+ users without spending a dime on marketing?

Deepak Joy Cheenath (Co-founder of Quizizz) reveals:

✅ The moment Quizizz found its viral growth loop

✅ How teacher-driven adoption fueled massive organic scale

✅ The mistakes they made along the way—and what they learned

✅ Why they held off on monetisation for years (and why it paid off)

Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction

02:15 – The early days of Quizizz & WizenWorld

05:40 – The teacher-driven insight that changed everything

09:10 – Scaling to 70M+ users with zero marketing

12:30 – Why Quizizz delayed monetisation 

20:20 – The lean team behind a global product

28:30 – Key challenges & lessons from scaling

36:50 – Competing with larger EdTech players

45:15 – The power of community & word-of-mouth growth

49:30 – Key insights & takeaways for founders

Prime  Venture Partners backed Quizizz early, helping them scale from a startup to a global EdTech leader.

🎙 Key Takeaways from This Episode:

📌 Growth isn’t always about paid marketing—sometimes, organic adoption wins.

📌 The right users can be your biggest growth engine.

📌 Delaying monetisation can lead to long-term success.

📌 Simplicity scales—more features don’t always mean better engagement.

💡 What’s the biggest lesson from Quizizz’s journey that applies to your business? Drop your thoughts in the comments! 👇

🎙 This episode is packed with insights for founders, product leaders, and anyone scaling a startup. Don’t miss it—watch or listen now! 🚀👇

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#Quizizz #EdTech #StartupGrowth #ZeroMarketing #ProductLedGrowth #FounderLessons #ScalingStartups #TeacherDriven #BusinessGrowth #Entrepreneurship #SuccessStory #UserAdoption #MarketingStrategy #PrimeVenturePartnersPodcast

💡 How do you scale a SaaS company from SMB customers to billion-dollar enterprise deals?

In this Prime Venture Partners Podcast episode, we sit down with Praerit Garg, President of Product & Innovation at Smartsheet, to uncover the secrets of scaling SaaS, AI’s role in work management, and the game-changing lessons from Smartsheet’s journey.

⏳ Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction 

01:28 - Praerit Garg’s Career Journey: From Microsoft → AWS → Smartsheet

04:46 - What is Smartsheet? How It Serves SMBs & Enterprises

07:11 - The Land & Expand Strategy: How Smartsheet Scaled Enterprise Deals

10:27 - Finding the "Magic Metric" That Drives SaaS Growth 

12:55 - Smartsheet’s IPO Journey & Why It Later Went Private Again

15:37 - AI’s Role in Work Automation & How Smartsheet Uses It 

21:03 - The Enterprise AI Trust Challenge – Why Big Companies Are Cautious

24:58 - What VCs Look for in AI SaaS Startups 🚀

36:30 - Why Learning from Non-Customers Unlocks New Market Opportunities

43:00 - Closing Thoughts 


🔥 Inside This Episode:
✅ How Smartsheet transitioned from PLG to enterprise sales
✅ The pricing strategy that maximized SaaS revenue
✅ Why AI is transforming work management & automation
✅ The #1 mistake SaaS founders make when scaling
✅ How learning from non-customers can drive new product innovation
✅ What VCs look for when investing in AI-driven SaaS startups

📢 This isn’t just a SaaS success story—it’s a must-listen masterclass on scaling, pricing, AI, and product innovation.

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/Primevp_in 

#SaaS #ScalingSaaS #Smartsheet #StartupGrowth #AI #TechInnovation #EnterpriseTech #VentureCapital #FounderMindset #Entrepreneurship #B2BTech #SaaSStartups #BusinessGrowth #FutureOfWork #PrimeVenturePartnersPodcast