The recurring advice is that global is a starting position, not a later phase. Manav Garg built Eka out of India when SaaS was not yet a word and had to win Fortune 500 trust from a standing start. Rocketlane's Srikrishnan Ganesan ran over 100 customer conversations and built a community before launch, reached 30 paying customers in two and a half months, and over 80 percent of its enterprise customers are now in the US, on the explicit view that you do not need to win in India, you need to win in the US. The most repeated mistake is the first US sales hire: founders hire on quota attainment at a big company instead of on adaptability, and they hire expensive reps before there is enough demand for them to work. And Sharath Keshava Narayana's point is blunt, the founder has to be a great seller first.
4 resources, 4 India-specific, 4 link-checked.
A SaaSBoomi co-founder walking through how an Indian SaaS business is actually run, including the operating discipline and numbers, in one sitting. Rare to get this much India-specific ground covered in one place.
On The Neon Show by Suresh Sambandam 90 min
Two companies past 20 million in revenue, both run with India engineering and US selling. He is direct about the founder having to be the great seller first, which most India to US advice dances around.
On The Neon Show (YouTube) by Siddhartha Ahluwalia with Sharath Keshava Narayana 90 min
The best Indian example of building demand before a product exists: a community launched nine months ahead, a podcast for the same buyers, 100 plus customer conversations, then a launch timed with the funding news. Concrete on the demand gen channels that followed too.
On The Neon Show by Siddhartha Ahluwalia with Srikrishnan Ganesan podcast episode
Has the number that makes the point: over 80 percent of Rocketlane's 600 plus enterprise customers are in the US. Also carries the no MVP stance, build what you are proud to show the world.
From Forbes India by Siddhant Konduskar Long read
How how great operators think reads from a different seat.
