Saas Sessions With Sunil

Smrithi is a product leader passionate about marrying great user experiences with technology to deliver business value.With over a decade of experience, Smrithi has spent her past 7 years with Freshworks in their product function, working on products like Freshdesk, Freshchat, and Freshcaller, Freshconnect.In this episode, we discussed how do you go about deciding what new products to build? What are the building blocks needed to make these a success? How do you measure the success of new products? When is it right for companies to start exploring multiple products?All this and more with Smrithi on this episode.Connect with Smrithi on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/smrithiparameswar/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Shubhi Agarwal, Co-founder of Locobuzz to talk about the story of Locobuzz.Locobuzz is an Enterprise SaaS platform for Digital Customer Care, Engagement, Experience Automation & Analytics for B2C companies and Governments.She talks about the challenges she faced in building and scaling up Locobuzz as a bootstrapped company. And how they are selling to large enterprises in India.Connect with Shubhi on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shubhi/Check out Locobuzz - https://locobuzz.com/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Saravana Kumar, CEO at Kovai.coSaravana is an Entrepreneur, Investor, and Technical enthusiast.Kovai is a premier enterprise software company offering multiple products at scale both in the Enterprise arena and in the B2B SaaS space.Here’s a story of Kovai's businesses in numbers They have raised 0 outside funding They have grown 150% YoY in the last 3 years They have grown their team from 10 to 130+ people They reached $8.5m+ in Q2 2020Connect with Saravana on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/saravanamv/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Pranjalee Lahri, AVP Marketing at UpsideLMS to talk about neuro-marketing.Pranjalee has over 13 years of experience and spent the last decade at UpsideLMS. Pranjalee explains what is neuro-marketing, and why brands are using this technique to capture their audience.She also talks about her experience and best practices to follow while implementing this strategy.Connect with Pranjalee - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pranjaleelahri/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Kuppulakshmi Krishnamoorthy (Kuppu), Product Evangelist at Zoho, to discuss how storytelling can make larger impacts in a B2B SaaS.We discussed building, selling, and scaling up with stories. Kuppu explains how storytelling impacts different stages of the funnel.Kuppu also runs Zoho for startups program, where storytelling is crucial as Zoho is a leader who has to pave the success path for many startups worldwide.All this and more with exciting insights on storytelling with Kuppu in this episode.Connect with Kuppu on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuppukrish/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

I believe many of us are working remotely now because of Covid. But something interesting about our today’s guest is that she’s working remotely before it was cool.Meera Sapra joined Zoho in 2008 as their first remote employee. And she’s been working remotely for the past 12 years now.In this episode, we discussed how Meera managed to work remotely in 2008. How did she tackle the daily workflow? She also explains the challenges she faced and how did she overcome them. We also discussed, how can you build a good relationship with your team even when you're working remotely.Connect with Meera on LinkedIn - https://in.linkedin.com/in/meerasapraVisit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Vartika Verma, VP of Global Marketing at Yellow Messenger. It's a conversational AI platform that helps enterprises automate their core business functions - Sales, Marketing, ITSM, Customer Support, Procurement, and more.With over 14 years of experience, she’s previously worked with companies like Payoneer, Hike Messenger, DirectI, and more.We talked about the current state of customer service in India and how can you supercharge it with AI Chatbots?She also shares how different brands are using AI chatbots for customer service differently.Are AI bots replacing humans or aiding humans at their job? Listen to what Vartika has to say in this episode.Connect with Vartika on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vartikaverma/Check our Yellow Messenger - https://yellowmessenger.com/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Sharmila Sundaram, CEO at Corefactors to talk about her journey with Corefactors.We discussed how they're selling in India and scaling up. We also discussed hiring the first few people for the company.Connect with Sharmila - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharmilas16/Check out Corefactors - https://www.corefactors.in/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Priya Mohan from the leadership team at Venture Highway.Priya has been an entrepreneur for the last 8 years. In 2012, she co-founded Vidyartha, an edtech platform that she exited successfully to Bujy’s. Prior to that, she spent 9 years in the investment banking space.Connect with Priya on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyamohan246/Check out Venture Highway - http://venturehighway.vc/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Max Armbuster, CEO of Talkpush.Connect with Max on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxarmbruster/Check out Talkpush - https://talkpush.com/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Arjun Pillai, Founder & CEO of Insent.ai to talk about his entrepreneurial journey with Profoundis.Fun fact about Profoundis, it was the first-ever product exit in Kerala's history.We talked about Arjun's early days of starting up, scaling, and the exit.We also discussed his newest venture, Insent.ai, and how it's taking on the wave of conversational marketing platforms.Connect with Arjun on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rarjunpillai/Check out Instent.ai - https://insent.ai/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

How do you decide to spend your marketing budget? Do you tend to repeat your last year's plan? Or do you experiment?How can you be sure which part of your marketing strategy has the highest return on sales? How much should I invest in which channel?Which media gives me the highest ROI? What is the most cost-effective campaign?If you don’t know what’s working and what’s not, it’s hard to plan for the future.If you have asked these questions to yourself, and wondering what are the answers to them, then you’re listening to the right podcast. Because in this episode, we hosted Bharath Gaddam, Founder of Data POEM to answer all these questions and more.Connect with Bharath on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bharath-gaddam-3355a821/Check out Data Poem - https://datapoem.com/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Scindia Balasingh, Head Of Marketing - Global ISV Partnerships at Freshworks to talk about setting up partner marketing for a B2B SaaS company.Scindia started at Freshworks just a year ago in 2019, and their team was awarded as the best performing team in the org. Prior to Freshworks, She was the Head of Marketing at Redington India.We talked about why this channel is a great channel to generate revenue and increase the retention of your customers.Additionally, Scindia shares how to do GTM with your partners.Lastly, she shares her tips which are useful for any business just starting up with a partner marketing channel.Connect with Scindia on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/scindia-balasingh-084301144/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode of State of SaaS in India, we hosted Anand Datta, VP at Nexus Venture Partners.Anand is passionate about helping entrepreneurs build high impact enterprises. He believes in the immense scope that “Bharat” presents for innovative India specific models.Connect with Anand on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ananddatta/Follow Anand on Twitter - https://twitter.com/Anand_dattaVisit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Karishma Rajaratnam, Head of Growth at ChartMogul (previously Head of Growth at Chargebee) to talk about the evolution of marketing from $1m ARR to $10m ARR.We discussed the strategies that you can implement when you're on the 1-10 journey and also when you're at $10m ARR.We covered persona segmentation, determining product-channel fit, and figuring out new personas when you evolve.Connect with Karishma on LinkedInFollow Karishma on TwitterVisit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Vikas Potta to talk about how he managed the impact of Covid-19.Vikas is the VP of Sales at FusionCharts. FusionCharts helps you build beautiful charts for your web and mobile apps. Started in 2003, It’s one of India’s very first SaaS company. It now serves more than 28K customers globally. Prior to FusionCharts, Vikas was a founding member at Zepo, an eCommerce platform.He explains how he and his team were impacted by Covid-19 and how they managed to sustain the growth. They also saw a rise in renewals and expansion, so the did few activities to fuel those deals.Vikas shares the strategies that worked for him during these uncertain times in this episode. Tune in now!Connect with Vikas on LinkedInCheck out FusionChartsVisit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Francois Kulik, Head of Global Pipeline Generation at Algolia to talk about how he manages the global B2B pipeline for Algolia.He also tells how his teams' collaboration with marketing helped them achieve more during this pandemic.Pipeline prediction is hard, but Francois tells us how he does it at Algolia. All this and more in this episode.Connect with Francois - https://www.linkedin.com/in/francois-kulik-b161735/Check out Algolia - https://algolia.com/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, Deepika Vani from Whatfix hosted Anish Thambi, Director of Field Marketing at Automation Anywhere to talk about the status of field marketing in 2020.Anish talks about how they pivoted their events for the digital world and saw a great rise in demand and brand.He also shares different activities and campaigns that Automation Anywhere did to drive this demand, which largely impacted their revenue.How sustainable is this new model for events? Will everyone adapt to it? Find out more in this episode with Anish.Connect with Anish - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anishthambi/Connect with Deepika - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepikavani/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Aadil Bandukwala, Director APAC Field Marketing at HackerRank to talk about evangelizing your product.Aadil was previously the Chief Evangelist at Belong. He explains what is product evangelism and how it differs from branding.If you're new to this, he also tells us how can individuals/companies can get started with product evangelism. All this and more with Aadil in this episode.Connect with Aadil - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aadil/Follow on Twitter - https://twitter.com/aadilVisit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, we hosted Kevin White to talk about overcoming growth plateaus.Kevin is currently the Head of Marketing at Retool. Retool is a fast way to build internal tools. You can use their Drag-and-drop building blocks and connect them to your databases and APIs to build your own tools, instantly.Previously, he was heading Growth marketing function at Segment, which is one of the leading customer data platforms.To start with, Kevin explains what's a growth plateau and his experience with reaching a stagnated growth stage.He also shares tips on how he overcame those plateaus and shares a tried & tested way of foreseeing the plateau. We also discussed, "Growth at all costs mindset" - good or bad?Connect with Kevin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevbosaurus/Check out Retool - http://retool.com/Visit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/