Prime Venture Partners Podcast

A podcast for entrepreneurs who are looking to build & grow their startups. Avoid common traps & learn uncommon strategies & tactics from makers & doers of startup ecosystem. Prime Ventures is a early-stage venture fund which focuses on startups that not only need capital but also require mentoring to transform them into disruptive companies. We share a passion for working closely with entrepreneurs and enjoy sharing their journey in a high-frequency, interactive and fun environment.Read more about us at http://primevp.in

Prime Venture Partners Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 196 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Unknown Host hosts Prime Venture Partners Podcast, a business show with 196 episodes published.

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  Episode #196

  From Puma to one8 X Agilitas: The Ganguly x Kohli Partnership

  Sep 28, 202645 min

  How was Puma India built, how did Virat Kohli’s one8 come about, and what is Agilitas trying to build in India’s sportswear market? Abhishek Ganguly spent 17 years at Puma, joining when the brand was virtually unknown in India and helping build it into the country’s largest sportswear brand. Puma India went on to cross ₹2,000 crore in revenue, ahead of Nike and Adidas combined in India. Then, after nearly two decades in the industry, Abhishek chose to start again. Today, as Co-founder & CEO of Agilitas, he is pursuing a much bigger idea: can a sports brand from India compete with the best in the world? In this episode of the Prime Venture Partners Podcast, Amit Somani speaks with Abhishek about the journey from Puma to Agilitas and one8, how Indian consumers have changed over the last two decades, why past success can become a disadvantage, and what it takes to build a brand people genuinely care about. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 00:59 Building Puma India From Scratch 05:29 How the Indian Consumer Has Evolved 12:06 Staying Close to the Consumer 16:36 Why Consumers Don’t Need More Products 18:33 “Made in India, Unfinished on Purpose” 21:19 Why Start Agilitas? 24:20 The Risk of Past Success 25:12 “Disruptors Don’t Disrupt Again” 28:16 Building With Virat Kohli 32:09 Why India Needs a Global Sports Brand 34:16 Why Virat Kohli Backed Agilitas 36:45 Building a Brand From India 37:32 Virat Kohli Rejected 17 Prototypes 39:28 The Future of one8 41:35 Advice for Entrepreneurs A major thread in the conversation is Abhishek’s long-standing relationship with Virat Kohli. He goes back to 2016, when he proposed that Virat should build a brand of his own rather than remain only a brand ambassador. That idea became one8. Years later, when Abhishek left Puma to start Agilitas, Virat became one of the company’s early believers, investing in the business and merging one8 with Agilitas. The conversation also explores why Abhishek believes Indian consumers are evolving too quickly for old global playbooks, why founders need to stay close to the consumer, and why experience can sometimes become baggage. His own reminder to himself is simple: “Disruptors don’t disrupt again.” At the heart of Agilitas is a larger ambition: to build a sports brand from India that can compete with the best in the world, not on price, but on product, performance and brand. Connect with Abhishek Ganguly LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/abhishekganguly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abhishekganguly/?hl=en X: https://x.com/gangulyabhishek Follow Amit Somani X (Twitter): https://x.com/amitsomani?lang=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesomani/ Read the transcript for the entire podcast here: https://bit.ly/Abhishek-Ganguly-Agilitas About Prime Venture Partners Prime Venture Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm backing exceptional founders building category-defining technology companies across SaaS, fintech, AI, healthcare, consumer internet, and enterprise software. Learn more: Prime Venture Partners Follow Prime Venture Partners: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2780448/admin/dashboard/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/Primevp_in Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/primevp_in/ Learn more about Agilitas Website: https://agilitas.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/agilitas-sport/home/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agilitas_sports/?hl=en #SportsEntrepreneurship #BrandBuilding

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  Episode #194

  How India’s ₹5 Lakh Crore Alcohol Industry Works | 8X Bigger than Bollywood and Jewellery

  Sep 1, 20261h 25m

  India’s alcohol beverage industry is worth around ₹5 lakh crore, and spirits make up roughly three-fourths of the market. But building a successful alcohol brand in India involves much more than making a good drink. 00:00 Introduction 01:21 How Big Is India’s Alcobev Industry? 02:13 Why Spirits Dominate India 04:00 The Alcobev Ecosystem & Jobs 07:00 India vs Global Alcohol Markets 10:00 How the Indian Whisky Market Has Changed 14:00 Premiumisation & Changing Consumer Preferences 18:00 Building Premium Indian Alcohol Brands 24:54 How Radico Kaitan Built Categories 27:46 Are Alcohol Companies Profitable? 29:05 What Does It Take to Launch an Alcohol Brand? 35:00 Building a Brand Beyond a Great Product 40:00 Distribution, Retail & Getting on Shelves 45:00 Why Every Indian State Is a Different Market 50:00 Regulation, Excise & Government Control 55:00 How Alcohol Brands Scale Across India 1:00:00 Indian Whisky vs International Brands 1:10:00 The Future of Premium Indian Spirits 1:18:29 Ankur’s Favourite Spirits 1:21:52 Final Thoughts Ankur Sachdeva has spent around 25 years in the Alcobev industry, with stints at William Grant & Sons, Radico Kaitan, the Kajaria Group and Allied Blenders & Distillers. He was also involved in bringing Glenfiddich and The Balvenie to India, and today is building premium Indian whisky brands of his own. In this episode of the Prime Venture Partners Podcast, Jerome Manuel sits down with Ankur Sachdeva, Co-founder & CEO of Uppal Brewers and Distillers to understand an industry that most people consume, but few understand as a business. They start with the scale of the Indian market. Ankur explains why India's alcohol industry looks very different from global markets, where beer is the largest category, while spirits dominate India and account for around three-fourths of the market. The conversation then moves into the rise of premium Indian spirits. Ankur discusses brands such as 8PM, Magic Moments, Jaisalmer, Rampur, Indri and Royal Ranthambore, and how Indian companies have identified gaps in the market and built brands around them. But a good product is only the beginning. Ankur explains what it actually takes to launch an alcobev brand: from having a clear idea and building the product to manufacturing, capital, distribution and getting consumers to pick it off the shelf. He also talks about why a clever bottle or an unusual flavour may make an interesting product, but that alone does not necessarily make a successful brand. The episode also gets into the economics of the industry, including why established Alcobev businesses can operate at strong EBITDA levels, and what makes the category attractive once a business has established its model. For anyone interested in consumer brands, whisky, premiumisation, distribution, regulation or building businesses in India, this conversation gives a detailed look at how the alcobev industry actually works. Connect with Ankur Sachdeva LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asachdeva/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ankursachdevaind?igsi=MTdwNGljOGZ2dWtudg== Follow Jerome Manuel X (Twitter): https://x.com/JeromeAndManuel LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeromermanuel Read the transcript for the entire podcast here - https://bit.ly/Prime-Venture-Partners-And-Uppal-Brewers-And-Distillers About Prime Venture Partners Prime Venture Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm backing exceptional founders building category-defining technology companies across SaaS, fintech, AI, healthcare, consumer internet and enterprise software. Learn more: https://www.primevp.in/ Follow Prime Venture Partners: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2780448/admin/dashboard/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/Primevp_in Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/primevp_in/ Learn more about: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uppal-brewers-distillers/ Website: https://soorahi.com/ #IndianStartups #Alcobev #Whisky #ConsumerBrands #Entrepreneurship

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  Episode #193

  How VCs Choose Founders to Back | Why Accel Backed Flipkart, Myntra & More

  Aug 17, 202647 min

  Subrata Mitra, Co-founder and Partner at Accel India and co-author of Down But Not Out , shares what decades of backing Indian startups have taught him about building companies that survive setbacks, adapt through uncertainty and keep going long enough to succeed. 00:00 Introduction 01:01 Why Subrata Wrote Down But Not Out 03:08 The Founder Stories Behind the Book 09:29 The Map, the Compass & “Long-Term Greed” 13:44 What Makes a Founder Resilient? 15:46 How Investors Evaluate Founders 17:21 How Founders Learn, Adapt & Evolve 21:12 The Role of Mentors, Coaches & Family 25:13 Finding Your Mission Beyond Money 27:32 From Generalist to Specialist 30:01 The 2 Things Founders Should Focus On Every Day 30:50 Why Relationships Matter More Than Grades 36:55 Find Your Unique Skills & Double Down 39:08 Why Startup Culture Should Make Room for Joy 43:01 What Subrata Would Tell His Younger Self 44:40 Why No Startup Goes Straight Up & Advice for Young Founders When Subrata Mitra wrote the first cheque to Flipkart founders Sachin and Binny Bansal, he says a $200 million outcome would have made them happy. Flipkart crossed that milestone so quickly that nobody stopped to treat it as a major marker. It eventually became one of India’s biggest startup success stories. But the more interesting story is everything that happens before the outcome: ideas that do not work, difficult decisions, founders who have to change, co-founder challenges, unexpected opportunities and the resilience required to stay in the game for 10 to 15 years. On this episode of the Prime Venture Partners Podcast, Amit Somani sits down with Subrata to discuss the ideas behind his book Down But Not Out , which brings together stories of Indian founders who experienced major setbacks but continued to build. Subrata explains why entrepreneurship is more like a Test match than a T20: you need the stamina to stay long, but you must also recognise the right opportunity and hit the ball when it comes. The conversation explores what Subrata looks for in founders, why it can take eight to nine months to understand whether a founding team has what it takes, and why the ability to evolve may matter as much as what a founder knows when they start. They also discuss coaching, mentorship, family support, complementary co-founder skills and the transition from being a generalist founder to becoming a more specialised leader as the company grows. Connect with Subrata Mitra https://www.linkedin.com/in/subratamitra/ Follow Amit Somani X (Twitter): https://x.com/amitsomani?lang=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesomani/ Listen/Watch this podcast on Spotify: Apple Podcasts: Read the transcript for the entire podcast here - https://bit.ly/Prime-Venture-Partners-And-Accel-India About Prime Venture Partners Prime Venture Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm backing exceptional founders building category-defining technology companies across SaaS, fintech, AI, healthcare, consumer internet and enterprise software. Learn more: https://www.primevp.in/ Follow Prime Venture Partners: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2780448/admin/dashboard/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/Primevp_in Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/primevp_in/ Learn more about: Accel: https://www.accel.com/news/portfolio #IndianStartups #VentureCapital #StartupInvesting

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  Episode #192

  How India Should Actually Compete in the Global AI Race

  Aug 5, 202656 min

  Piyush Shah, a legendary Indian Founder of 2 Unicorns (InMobi & Glance) shares why India's AI strategy has to look nothing like Silicon Valley's or Beijing's, and what founders should build instead. 00:00 Introduction 00:48 Why the Country That Invents AI Rarely Wins 02:16 US vs China vs India: India's AI Opportunity 03:55 How China Is Winning the AI Race 09:38 AI Startup Ideas for India 12:52 Consumer AI vs Enterprise AI 14:20 Why Consumer AI Can Bankrupt You 16:45 Why Enterprise AI Will Win First 19:57 Distribution Is Still the Biggest Moat 21:43 How AI Startups Should Go to Market 25:14 Physical AI Startup Opportunities 28:37 What US Enterprises Want From AI Startups 32:45 Why Purpose Is a Competitive Moat 35:58 How InMobi Uses AI Internally 37:47 AI Sales, AI Agents & Enterprise Automation 42:16 How Leaders Should Drive AI Adoption 44:50 AI Won't Replace You. Fear Will. 46:09 The Fastest Way to Learn AI 47:32 My AI-Native Chief of Staff 48:52 How AI Changed My Personal Life 52:38 Final Thoughts Every general purpose technology gets invented once and scaled somewhere else. Germany invented the printing press. Britain built an industry on it. America turned that industry into an economy. Piyush Shah, Co-founder of InMobi and Glance, thinks the same pattern is repeating with AI right now, and he's convinced most founders are drawing the wrong lesson from it. On this episode of the Prime Venture Partners Podcast, Amit Somani sits down with Piyush to make the case that copying America's invention-first approach or China's industrialisation-first approach would be the wrong move for India entirely. Instead, Piyush lays out what he believes India's real opportunity looks like: not the smartest AI for the world's most sophisticated users, but AI that raises the floor for a billion people who've never had access to a tutor, a doctor, or a financial advisor in their life. The conversation doesn't stop at strategy. Piyush and Amit get into why consumer AI has a cost problem nobody's fully solved (he calls it inference CAC), why distribution remains the real moat even in an AI-native world, and why "purpose" might be the one advantage that's genuinely hard to copy. Piyush also opens up about how InMobi and Glance have rebuilt themselves around AI internally, and how AI has changed the way he runs his own life, from an 18-year-old AI-native chief of staff to using AI to understand his family's health reports. If you're building an AI startup, thinking about India's AI strategy, or trying to figure out whether your business model can survive the AI shift, this conversation offers a real framework, not another hype-cycle. Connect with Piyush Shah LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/piyush-shah-0583412/ Follow Amit Somani X (Twitter): https://x.com/amitsomani?lang=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesomani/ About Prime Venture Partners Prime Venture Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm backing exceptional founders building category-defining technology companies across SaaS, fintech, AI, healthcare, consumer internet and enterprise software. Learn more: https://www.primevp.in/ Follow Prime Venture Partners: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/2780448/admin/dashboard/ X (Twitter): https://x.com/Primevp_in Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/primevp_in/ Learn more about InMobi: https://www.inmobi.com/ Glance: https://glance.com/?c=BAU&pid=Social_X_bio&shortlink=6md9fteh&source_caller=ui

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  Episode #191

  How to Run B2B GTM When Your Buyer Asks ChatGPT First

  Jul 21, 202646 min

  What You’ll Learn: 00:00 Introduction 02:13 Why Marketing Owns Zero Board KPIs 08:54 There Is No Killer Marketing Campaign 15:41 Why Your First 10 Customers Matter More 24:16 The Biggest GTM Mistake Founders Make 33:48 How AI Is Changing Customer Discovery 43:11 Demand Generation Beats Chasing Leads 53:02 Why Value Wins Over Price 1:02:47 The New Rules of B2B Go-to-Market 1:11:26 Rapid Fire with Alon Waks Rethink your B2B SaaS GTM strategy from pipeline to persona SpotDraft’s CMO Alon Waks shares the framework behind $100M raised and 450+ customers. Ask a B2B founder about their killer marketing campaign and most will have an answer ready. Alon Waks will tell you that answer is wrong. There is no killer campaign. There is no one channel. And most of what founders think of as marketing is stuck in one-to-many land when it should be one-to-few. That is where this conversation starts, and it does not slow down. Alon is the CMO at SpotDraft, the AI-powered contract lifecycle management platform backed by Vertex, Qualcomm, Prosus, and P&G Invest, now serving customers across the US, UK, and APAC. In this episode with Prime Venture Partners, he opens up the playbook he actually runs day to day: - How he defines persona versus segment (and why founders keep starting with the wrong one) - What changes as a company moves from 0 to 1 to 10 to 100 - Why he thinks paid marketing has become a race to the bottom that most founders are still throwing money at. He also opens up his playbook for B2B influencer marketing, an angle most CMOs will not talk about publicly. He explains why validation has quietly shifted away from Gartner and toward peer-to-peer conversations on Reddit, LinkedIn, and community forums. And for the Indian founders trying to crack the US, he lays out exactly which cities matter, what not to do on outbound, and when to make your first local hire. Toward the end, Alon gets uncomfortably honest about what marketing actually owns on the board KPI list (spoiler: almost nothing) and why that changes everything about how you should measure your team. If you are a founder, a marketer, or a CMO building a B2B SaaS GTM strategy from scratch, this is the one to bookmark. Connect: Alon Waks on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alonwaks/ Spotdraft: https://www.spotdraft.com/ Prime Venture Partners: https://www.primevp.in/ Jerome Manuel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeromermanuel/ About Prime Venture Partners: Prime Venture Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm partnering with exceptional founders building category-defining companies from India. #GoToMarket #B2BMarketing

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