Sushant Junnarkar on Building a Business, Running Out of Runway, and Knowing When to Stop

Six Times They Almost Shut Down; Today It Makes ₹60 Crore Every Month | Akshayakalpa CEO - Shashi Kumar

Akshayakalpa is known as India’s first certified organic dairy enterprise. But in this conversation, Shashi Kumar makes it clear that the deeper story has always been farming. In this episode of the Prime Venture Partners Podcast, Jerome Manuel speaks with Shashi Kumar, Founder & CEO of Akshayakalpa, about building at the farm level for 16 years, far away from the usual startup playbook of fast growth, quick scale and easy metrics. Akshayakalpa began with dairy because farmers needed reliable cash flow. Once that started working, the model expanded into animal care, soil management, manure-making, beekeeping, backyard poultry and diversified farms. Today, Akshayakalpa is a profitable ₹60-crore-a-month business working with 2,800 farmers, including 1,200 women farmers. Last financial year, the average monthly payout to each farming family was ₹1.28 lakh. The conversation explores: • Why Akshayakalpa raised no institutional money for 9 years • Why Shashi refused to sell investors a hypergrowth story • How Nithin Kamath invested ₹5 crore in 5 days during the pandemic • Why 27 people took equity in the company when it was struggling • Why each cluster takes nearly 7 years to build • How 2,800 farmers produce what would conventionally need nearly 100,000 farmers • Why 45,000 customers visited Akshayakalpa farms • Why premium pricing is a value play • What founders can learn from building with patience and truth For founders building in India, this episode is a reminder that every great company does not have to be built by chasing the fastest story. Some are built by saying the harder thing early, and still finding the right people to believe in it. Episode Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction 00:38 - What Akshayakalpa is really building 02:06 - Why young people are moving away from farming 10:17 - Making farming economically viable again 15:37 - Scaling through role models, clusters and culture 32:16 - Why Akshayakalpa started with dairy 39:13 - The first 9 years: struggle, frugality and survival 46:02 - Building customer trust through farm visits 48:09 - Why premium pricing is a value play 51:08 - Organic food and the challenge of fundraising in farming 1:15:42 - Investor expectations, Nithin Kamath and long-term capital 1:18:10 - What still keeps Shashi up at night Subscribe to the Prime Venture Partners Podcast for more conversations with founders building enduring companies in India. #AgriCapital #FarmEconomics #FoodSystems

How are Indians investing? Angel One CEO on SIPs, ETFs, AI and wealth creation

India’s UPI moment changed how money moves. But that may only be the first chapter. As millions of Indians become comfortable with digital payments, a bigger question is beginning to emerge: how will they save, invest, and build wealth over the next decade? In this episode of the Prime Venture Partners Podcast, Amit Somani speaks with Ambarish Kenghe, CEO of Angel One, about India’s shift from payment adoption to wealth creation. From his journey across Google, Myntra, Google Pay, and Angel One, Ambarish has seen India’s digital consumer evolve up close. In this conversation, he talks about what changed after Aadhaar, Jio and UPI, why Indian consumers remain deeply value conscious, how SIPs are becoming a default investing habit, and where the next wave of fintech opportunities may come from. The conversation also explores: • Why 2015 became a turning point for India’s digital economy • How UPI changed everyday money movement for consumers and merchants • Why India’s wealth creation story still has massive headroom • What is driving SIP adoption among new investors • How AI could create a personal CFO or family office like experience for more Indians • How Angel One is using AI across products, operations and customer education • Why learning, unlearning and ownership matter when building teams For founders building in fintech, wealth tech, AI, or consumer products in India, this episode offers a sharp view of where the market has been and where it may be headed next. 👉 Subscribe to the Prime Venture Partners Podcast for more conversations from India’s startup ecosystem. Episode Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction 02:22 - Why AK came back to India in 2015 after 18 years in Silicon Valley 06:26 - The ₹25 checkbox that Myntra shut down in two hours 09:41 - What UPI changed beyond transaction volumes 11:04 - The Google chef who used to get looted walking home with cash 13:12 - India now has million dollar millionaires. What does that mean for wealth creation. 15:57 - Where Indian retail wealth actually sits: 50% real estate, 15% gold, 15% FDs 16:37 - Equity investing at 5 to 8% in India versus 44 to 45% in the US 17:13 - Only 5% of Angel One users trade F&O exclusively 21:15 - The real opportunity for founders building in India's wealth space 27:30 - The family office for everyone and what agentic AI could make possible 29:35 - How Angel One is using AI today with Ask Angel 35:10 - What AK looks for when hiring: learn, unlearn, ownership 40:58 - The Indian founder worth a billion dollars who spends every Saturday on AI

Why mChek Failed Before UPI Took Over India | Sanjay Swamy on Building Too Early

Long before UPI, smartphones and Aadhaar transformed digital payments in India, mChek was trying to turn mobile phones into wallets. The vision was ambitious. The execution was complex. And the ecosystem was still years away from catching up. In this episode of the Prime Venture Partners Podcast, Shripati Acharya speaks with Sanjay Swamy, former CEO of mChek and Managing Partner at Prime Venture Partners, about one of India’s earliest attempts at building mobile payments. They discuss what it feels like to build ahead of the market, the hidden cost of ecosystem dependency, and why timing is often the hardest variable for founders to get right. The conversation also explores: • Why being early can sometimes look exactly like being wrong • How telcos, banks and regulators shaped the mChek journey • The operational chaos of building fintech in 2006 India • Why distribution does not always lead to adoption • What changed between mChek, Paytm and the UPI era • Why products depending on too many stakeholders are harder to scale • The difference between having the right idea and having the right timing If you are building in a market that still feels early, this episode is worth your time. 👉 Subscribe to the Prime Venture Partners Podcast for more conversations from India’s startup ecosystem. Episode Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 01:07 - “Unsuccessful” vs failed entrepreneurs 02:25 - Why timing is the hardest thing to judge 03:05 - The moment Sanjay saw phones as payment devices 05:40 - India’s telecom ecosystem in 2006 09:49 - The original thesis behind mChek 17:14 - The hidden problems nobody anticipated 27:35 - Building a payments app inside a SIM card 39:00 - The moment Sanjay felt it might not work 44:04 - The biggest lesson for founders

The Psychology of Exceptional Founders | Dr. Julie Gurner, Executive Performance Coach

Some founders build solid companies. A few build something far bigger than what looked reasonable at the time. What explains that gap? In this episode of the Prime Venture Partners Podcast, Amit Somani, Managing Partner at Prime Venture Partners, speaks with Dr. Julie Gurner, Executive Performance Coach on the psychology behind exceptional founders. They get into the self belief, audacity, resilience, and invisible rules that shape how far people go. The conversation also explores: • What “maniacal focus” looks like in standout founders • The imaginary rules that limit what founders build, earn, and pursue • Why tying your identity to your company can lead to worse decisions • Why playing to your strengths creates more leverage than trying to do it all • What AI can and cannot do for leaders and founders If you are building something and want to understand the mental side of exceptional performance, this episode is worth your time. 👉 Subscribe to the Prime Venture Partners Podcast for more insider stories from India’s startup ecosystem. Episode Timestamps 00:00 - Intro 00:45 - Dr. Julie’s journey into coaching 02:55 - Key lessons from psychology & prisons 06:11 - Traits of great vs good founders 09:28 – Survivorship bias & real success factors 12:33 - “Imaginary rules” explained 17:34 - How to identify your limiting beliefs 20:32 - Separating identity from your business 25:30 - How great founders pivot 28:34 - Handling tough days as a founder 30:46 - Playing to your strengths 33:41 - Why AI is non-negotiable 41:03 - Final tips & recommendations 👉 Don’t forget to subscribe to the Prime Venture Partners Podcast for more real founder stories and insights from India’s startup ecosystem!

Inside the Dark Stores Behind Blinkit & Zepto | How 10 Minute Delivery Works

Most people think quick commerce is just about delivering in 10 minutes. But it’s not. Behind every Blinkit or Zepto order is a tightly run system of dark stores, pick paths, manpower, and real-time execution that has almost no margin for error. In this episode of the Prime Venture Partners Podcast, Brij Bhushan speaks with Sumit Anand and Rupesh Thakare, co-founders of Inamo, the company building the operational backbone behind India’s quick commerce ecosystem. They break down what it actually takes to make this work at scale, from stores that process orders in minutes to systems designed for speed, consistency, and precision. In this conversation: • What really happens inside a dark store • Why 10 minute delivery is no longer the real moat • The economics behind every quick commerce order • Why platforms are rethinking in-house vs outsourced operations • Why platforms are rethinking in-house vs outsourced operations • Why platforms are rethinking in-house vs outsourced operations 👉 Subscribe to the Prime Venture Partners Podcast for more insider stories from India’s startup ecosystem. Episode Timestamps 00:00 - Introduction to Quick Commerce 01:07 - Guests: Sumit & Rupesh from Inamo 03:36 - How Inamo Started 07:30 - Quick Commerce Growth & COVID Impact 10:45 - Dark Stores & Order Fulfillment Explained 16:24 - Team Size, Attrition & Training 17:57 - Economics & Orders per Dark Store 23:51 - Why Outsourcing Dark Stores Works 30:50 - Differentiation & Scale Advantages 33:09 - Inventory & Demand Management 40:12 - Future of Quick Delivery & Innovations 44:44 - Consolidated Inventory & Seller-Fulfilled Models 46:02 - Market Growth & Long-Tail Opportunities 49:02 - Founders’ Vision for the Next Few Years 👉 Don’t forget to subscribe to the Prime Venture Partners Podcast for more real founder stories and insights from India’s startup ecosystem! #Startups #Entrepreneurship #FounderJourney #VentureCapital #StartupLessons #Podcast #primeventurepartnerspodcast