The Neon Show Exotel, a $60 Mn ARR SaaS startup serving 6000+ clients like Ola, Swiggy, Zerodha
Any idea what’s common between Flipkart, Ola, Swiggy, Zerodha and 6000+ other Businesses in India and South-East Asia?
They all rely on Exotel for their customer communications, no matter the size, scale, or industry within which the company exists; Exotel has the a product-solution for all of them.
In this episode, we talk with Shivakumar Ganesan, Founder of Exotel to learn more about his journey and challenges building and scaling the company.
During the episode, Shivakumar talks about his experience with VCs & Angel investors, having Ola as a customer and much more.
Notes -
03:48 - Early days, Family, background & career
06:40 - Entrepreneurial attempts before starting Exotel
09:51 - Initial Problem statement and solutions
13:50 - Raising money from Blume Ventures
18:30 - Scale and Customers at $1Mn ARR
30:21 - Cofounders leaving the company
37:30 - Dealing with thoughts about quitting
41:55 - How did A91 Partners chose to back Exotel?
49:38 - Current Capabilities & Scope for growth
52:15 - Proving naysayers wrong by building a $60Mn ARR SaaS from India for India
53:39 - Key lessons from his journey
55:56 - Advice for understanding market size