In 2010, a Zoho employee called Girish Mathrubootham read a comment on the internet that led him to quit his job and start his own company.
Today, his company is a $12 billion SaaS giant called Freshworks which just had a blockbuster IPO.
This is their incredible story👇👇
Today, his company is a $12 billion SaaS giant called Freshworks which just had a blockbuster IPO.
This is their incredible story👇👇
Girish joined Zoho as a pre-sales engineer in 2001. He rose rapidly in the company and was a VP of Product Management in 2010.
Around that time, a company called Zendesk increased its prices by 60-300% and people were very angry.
Around that time, a company called Zendesk increased its prices by 60-300% and people were very angry.
A person wrote a comment on HackerNews that another company can easily capture Zendesk's market at the right price with the right product. 
This comment changed Girish's life.
He realized that he could build a customer support software. Over the next few weeks, he kept thinking and analyzing his idea.
Finally, in October 2010, he quit his job at Zoho and started Freshdesk(they later changed it to Freshworks).
He realized that he could build a customer support software. Over the next few weeks, he kept thinking and analyzing his idea.
Finally, in October 2010, he quit his job at Zoho and started Freshdesk(they later changed it to Freshworks).
Their first office was an air conditioning duct warehouse in Chennai.
Their product was a hit: within a few weeks of launch, companies from India, Australia, America, etc were using it for customer support.
Their product was a hit: within a few weeks of launch, companies from India, Australia, America, etc were using it for customer support.
Within 18 months of launch, Freshworks got to $1 million in revenue!
In 5 years, they got to $100 million!!
And at the time of their IPO, their revenue is $300 million!!!
In 5 years, they got to $100 million!!
And at the time of their IPO, their revenue is $300 million!!!
A big reason for this crazy revenue growth is Freshworks' solid execution: after their customer support software became popular, they expanded into a full suite of products:
FreshService: IT helpdesk
FreshCRM: sales force automation
FreshTeam: human capital management
FreshService: IT helpdesk
FreshCRM: sales force automation
FreshTeam: human capital management
And Covid only made companies like Freshworks more relevant because every business now needs to sell online and requires the tools to do so effectively and efficiently.
Today, Freshworks offers more than 8 products to 52k customers across 120+ countries.
Today, Freshworks offers more than 8 products to 52k customers across 120+ countries.
But more than these financial metrics, Freshworks' success shows the power of Indian startups.
As Girish says: “We wanted to show that world-class products can come from India”.
As Girish says: “We wanted to show that world-class products can come from India”.
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