From $900 to ~$19B: How One Indian Entrepreneur Built 2 US Unicorn Giants

Prime Venture Partners Podcast

💡 What does it take to build 2 multi-billion-dollar companies?
In this episode of the Prime Venture Partners Podcast, we sit down with Dheeraj Pandey, Co-Founder of Nutanix & DevRev, to unpack the real challenges, pivotal decisions, and insights behind building and scaling a successful enterprise tech company.
00:00 - Introduction
00:52 - Dheeraj’s Early Life
04:15 - Leaving IIT & Taking a Second Shot
07:40 - Studying Computer Science at IIT Kanpur
10:55 - Early Career: Oracle, UT Austin & Trilogy Software
14:20 - The Entrepreneurial Itch & Starting Nutanix
19:30 - Scaling Challenges & Near-Failure Moments
26:35 - The “Tightrope Mentality” for Founders 🎯
33:05 - Going Public: Nutanix IPO & Key Lessons
39:40 - AI’s Role in Enterprise Software 🤖
43:10 - The Shift to DevRev & His New Vision
46:05 - Advice for Founders Scaling SaaS from India
49:00 - Final Thoughts & Key Takeaways
🎙 What’s Inside This Episode?
🔥 Why he left IIT after 2.5 months and came back stronger
🔥 How he built Nutanix into a multi-billion-dollar company
🔥 The risks, near-failure moments, and biggest lessons he learned
🔥 Why AI is reshaping enterprise software & what’s next
🔥 His take on scaling a startup, hiring, and finding product-market fit
🔥 How DevRev is redefining enterprise software with an AI-first approach
📢 This is not just a startup success story—it’s a masterclass in resilience, innovation, and leadership.

With DevRev, Experience conversational AI at work. Startups can get $10K in credits (12 months free) to accelerate their AI-first journey. Apply now - https://devrev.ai/startups/apply
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Chapters

1. Introduction to Dheeraj Pandey (00:00:00)

2. Early Years and Education Journey (00:05:00)

3. Risks and the Pivot to Entrepreneurship (00:15:00)

4. Founding Nutanix: The Core Insight (00:30:00)

5. Key Takeaways from Three Near (00:52:00)

6. Exploring the Concept of Maya in Business (01:10:00)

7. Transition from Nutanix to DevRev (01:44:00)

8. The Role of Infrastructure in Enterprises (02:15:00)

9. Building a Knowledge Graph for Customer and Product (03:20:00)