Sanjay Swamy, Managing Partner at Prime Venture Partners, is one of the earliest believers in India’s startup ecosystem and someone who’s helped shape it from the ground up.From helping build AADHAAR, co-founding ZipDial and backing iconic startups through Prime, Sanjay’s journey is anything but conventional. His lens on trust, timing, and doing more with less has quietly influenced a generation of founders and investors.In this masterclass episode of #DamaniTalks, Sanjay opens up about the principles, partnerships, and pivots that shaped India’s early venture capital landscape.He breaks down:-How EasyTap and ZipDial were built from a 4BHK in Koramangala-Why backing smaller partners creates outsized opportunities-The philosophy behind “Get Rich Slow” and Prime’s early-stage discipline-How to choose the right co-founders and fund partners-Why conviction, not FOMO, should lead your VC strategy-And what it truly takes to stay relevant across downturns, pivots, and hype cyclesIf you're a founder, investor, or someone navigating the chaos of startups, this conversation is your reset button.Chapters 00:00 – Sanjay Swamy’s Early Influences10:08 – Xerox PARC Days: Innovation in Silicon Valley20:16 – Riding the Dot-Com Wave & Evolving Entrepreneurial Mindsets30:24 – Financial Hits & Coming Home: Lessons from a Reboot40:32 – Building mCheck: Solving Real Problems in India50:40 – Meeting Nandan Nilekani60:48 – Turning UIDAI into a Product-Led Powerhouse70:56 – Birth of India Stack: Laying the Rails for Digital India81:04 – Engineering Aadhaar at Scale: The Hidden Challenges91:12 – From Aadhaar to VC: The Leap to Prime Venture Partners101:20 – Prime Ventures’ Origin Story & Investment Philosophy111:28 – Backing Fintech Before It Was Cool: The Early Bets121:36 – India 2025: What the Future Holds for Founders & Funders131:44 – The X-Factor: What Makes a Great Founder141:52 – Failures, Pivots & Building Resilience152:00 – Customer Obsession: The Startup Superpower172:16 – Digital Infrastructure as India’s Competitive Advantage192:32 – Final Reflections: Advice for Builders & Dreamers202:40 – Rapid Fire with Sanjay: One Word, Many InsightsAbout Our Guest:Sanjay Swamy, Managing Partner – Prime Venture Partners (https://www.primevp.in/)LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theswamy/Twitter/X: https://x.com/TheSwamyFollow Us for More Stories:Website: www.showmedamani.comInstagram: @showmedamaniLinkedIn: ShowMeDamaniTwitter/X: @showmedamaniWhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029ValxvDNChq6Rd5AbUQ3H