The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: Three Core Lessons Scaling Freshworks to a $5.2BN Market Cap | Biggest Product and Pricing Lessons from Scaling to $597M in ARR | How India Can Compete Globally in Tech and AI with Girish Mathrubootham, Co-Founder @ Freshworks

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Apr 19, 2024

Girish Mathrubootham, founder and CEO of Freshworks, shares insights from leading India's first SaaS company to a $5.2 billion market cap. He discusses the inspiration behind Freshworks' founding and his biggest challenges along the way. Girish reveals key lessons on product, pricing, and leadership that shaped the company's success. He emphasizes the need for Indian companies to adopt a global mindset, highlights mistakes made in building the team, and reflects on the evolving tech landscape in India, urging startups to think beyond local markets.

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ANECDOTE

Broken TV

Girish Mathrubootham's negative customer service experience with a broken TV inspired him to start Freshworks.
A frustrating insurance claim process highlighted the power of online communities.

INSIGHT

Measured Rollout

Freshworks' initial product launch involved a measured rollout, starting with a small group of users to avoid crashes.
This allowed for early feedback and ensured server stability.

ADVICE

Pricing Strategy

Starting with low prices and expanding upwards is more effective than starting high and lowering them.
Building more features and increasing prices for enterprise versions is a viable strategy.

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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:

From Online Forum to the Founding of a $5BN Company:

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?

Biggest Lessons on Product, Pricing and People Scaling to $5.2BN:

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?

The Biggest Lessons to 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?

How India Will Become a Global Player in Tech, AI and Football:

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?