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Girish Mathrubootham (HINDI): Biggest Product and Pricing Lessons from Scaling to $597M in ARR

Dubbed by ElevenLabs - Girish Mathrubootham is the founder and CEO of Freshworks, India’s first SaaS company to list on NASDAQ. Today, Freshworks has over $596M in ARR with a $5.27BN market cap, with investors like Accel Partners, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, and CapitalG. Girish is also a founding member of SaaSBOOMi, Asia’s largest community of founders and product builders, and has invested in over 60 startups. On top of that, Girish is also the Founder of Together Fund, a $150M fund focusing on Indian B2B companies going global from day 1. ----------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Girish Mathrubootham We Discuss: 1. The Founding Moment Behind Freshworks: How did a horrible customer service experience prompt Girish to start Freshworks? What was the aha moment? What were Girish’s biggest challenges founding Freshwork in 2010? How was building the first product? What worked? What didn’t work? 2. Scaling Freshworks to a Global Company: Why does Girish believe Indian companies have to win globally before winning India? What were Girish’s biggest mistakes scaling Freshworks? What were his lessons? Why does Girish believe starting high and going down never works in software? When does Girish think is the best time to build the second product? How did Freshworks lose against Slack? What did he learn from the experience? 3. Becoming the Best Leader: How has Girish’s leadership style changed over time? What were Girish’s biggest hiring mistakes? What was Girish’s biggest challenge in building culture during COVID? What is one piece of advice Girish believes every CEO should follow? 4. Investing in the Future of India Tech: Why does Girish believe now is the time for India tech? What are the most common misconceptions of India tech? What traits does Girish look for in founders he invests in? What was Girish’s biggest investment mistake? What did he learn from it? ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Girish Mathrubootham on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrgirish Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #20vc #harrystebbings #girishmathrubootham #freshworks #product #partnership #founder #venturecapital #hiring #techworld #leadership #indianbusiness #hindi

Girish MathruboothamguestHarry Stebbingshost
Apr 20, 20241h 1mWatch on YouTube ↗

Episode Details

EPISODE INFO

Released
April 20, 2024
Duration
1h 1m
Channel
The Twenty Minute VC
Watch on YouTube
▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Dubbed by ElevenLabs - Girish Mathrubootham is the founder and CEO of Freshworks, India’s first SaaS company to list on NASDAQ. Today, Freshworks has over $596M in ARR with a $5.27BN market cap, with investors like Accel Partners, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, and CapitalG. Girish is also a founding member of SaaSBOOMi, Asia’s largest community of founders and product builders, and has invested in over 60 startups. On top of that, Girish is also the Founder of Together Fund, a $150M fund focusing on Indian B2B companies going global from day 1. ----------------------------------------------- In Today’s Episode with Girish Mathrubootham We Discuss:

1. The Founding Moment Behind Freshworks: How did a horrible customer service experience prompt Girish to start Freshworks? What was the aha moment? What were Girish’s biggest challenges founding Freshwork in 2010? How was building the first product? What worked? What didn’t work?

1. Scaling Freshworks to a Global Company: Why does Girish believe Indian companies have to win globally before winning India? What were Girish’s biggest mistakes scaling Freshworks? What were his lessons? Why does Girish believe starting high and going down never works in software? When does Girish think is the best time to build the second product? How did Freshworks lose against Slack? What did he learn from the experience?

1. Becoming the Best Leader: How has Girish’s leadership style changed over time? What were Girish’s biggest hiring mistakes? What was Girish’s biggest challenge in building culture during COVID? What is one piece of advice Girish believes every CEO should follow?

1. Investing in the Future of India Tech: Why does Girish believe now is the time for India tech? What are the most common misconceptions of India tech? What traits does Girish look for in founders he invests in? What was Girish’s biggest investment mistake? What did he learn from it? ----------------------------------------------- Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j2KMcZTtgTNBKwtZBMHvl?si=85bc9196860e4466 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twenty-minute-vc-20vc-venture-capital-startup/id958230465 Follow Harry Stebbings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarryStebbings Follow Girish Mathrubootham on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrgirish Follow 20VC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/20vchq Follow 20VC on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@20vc_tok Visit our Website: https://www.20vc.com Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/contact ----------------------------------------------- #20vc #harrystebbings #girishmathrubootham #freshworks #product #partnership #founder #venturecapital #hiring #techworld #leadership #indianbusiness #hindi

SPEAKERS

  • Girish Mathrubootham

    guest
  • Harry Stebbings

    host

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of The Twenty Minute VC, featuring Girish Mathrubootham and Harry Stebbings, Girish Mathrubootham (HINDI): Biggest Product and Pricing Lessons from Scaling to $597M in ARR explores from Broken TV Claim To $597M ARR: Girish’s Playbook Girish Mathrubootham traces Freshworks’ journey from a scrappy, low-priced helpdesk product born from a bad customer support experience to a $597M ARR, multi-product global SaaS company.

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