Hiring Playbook for New Markets: Founder-Minded GMs

Ever received a push notification on your phone? There’s a good chance it came through MoEngage.

Raviteja Dodda, founder of MoEngage, shares the story of building a SaaS company from India that now sends 80 billion messages to 2 billion users across 1,200 brands. A decade-long  journey of MoEngage from its early years to becoming a category leader in customer engagement. 

He shares how the company grew by focusing on Indian customers as the strongest validation of product-market fit, before expanding globally by building regional teams with autonomy and hiring people with a founder’s mindset to navigate new markets.

Ravi also shares the why behind differences in pricing between US and Indian customers (think Swiggy vs DoorDash) and how revenue margins vary when selling in India versus abroad.

Whether you’re curious about the software powering some of the most familiar brands and apps we use every day, or want a behind-the-scenes look at how MoEngage built an $800M global SaaS business from India,then this episode is for you.

0:00 – Trailer
1:12 – Founder of software powering messages to 2B Users
3:50 – Building one of India’s first mobile apps
8:49 – Acquiring India’s top consumer Internet companies
10:12 – Mobile → online → offline: Covering all touchpoints
13:19 – How MoEngage became a category leader
16:52 – Customer support is extremely rewarding in India
24:12 – Reasons for Pricing gap: Swiggy vs. DoorDash
27:55 – Revenue margins: India vs. abroad
28:30 – Moving OLA from internal solution to Moengage
29:54 – Key milestones in MoEngage’s journey
32:32 – Revenue split across customers
33:37 – GTM to take a product built in India global
41:19 – Why MoEngage should’ve entered Europe earlier
43:51 – Middle East as the fastest-growing market
44:21 – People who create v/s people who execute playbooks
50:05 – How to sign large global customers from India?
52:54 – Spotting early adopters in new markets
55:59 – Can new companies win in mature categories?
59:13 – MoEngage’s position in AI
1:01:54 – Building a $10M ARR SaaS: US vs. India
1:03:57 – Scale in India first or go US on Day 0?
1:08:45 – MoEngage’s IPO timeline
1:10:05 – Most exciting SaaS companies from India
1:14:11 – Regional teams as mini-startups
1:16:51 – What worked for MoEngage in fundraising?

-------------
India’s talent has built the world’s tech—now it’s time to lead it.
This mission goes beyond startups. It’s about shifting the center of gravity in global tech to include the brilliance rising from India.
What is Neon Fund?
We invest in seed and early-stage founders from India and the diaspora building world-class Enterprise AI companies. We bring capital, conviction, and a community that’s done it before.
Subscribe for real founder stories, investor perspectives, economist breakdowns, and a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re doing it all at Neon.

-------------
Check us out on:
Website: https://neon.fund/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theneonshoww/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beneon/
Twitter: https://x.com/TheNeonShoww

Connect with Siddhartha on:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharthaahluwalia/
Twitter: https://x.com/siddharthaa7

-------------
This video is for informational purposes only. The views expressed are those of the individuals quoted and do not constitute professional advice.

Send us a text