Article · ~12 min read

Sridhar Vembu is preparing Zoho for the rise of India

Harichandan Arakali · Forbes India Free Intermediate India

Vembu on why India is Zoho's fastest growing market and could become its largest, which is the strongest available counterargument to skipping the domestic market. Also good context on building GTM capacity outside the metros.

  • Zoho crossed 100 million users in 2023 with about 15,000 employees.
  • India is its fastest-growing market and third-largest after the US and EU; Vembu expects second place in three to four years.
  • The company is moving to a hub-and-spoke model, hiring away from the Chennai headquarters.
  • The market he sizes: close to two billion people in the global information worker base.

The question it answers

  1. We are an Indian company selling to global buyers. How do we position so that being from India reads as an asset rather than a question mark?

Read with it

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  2. Five GTM bets from an Indian founder who reached $600M+ ARR, including spending $45k early to find which inbound channel would... SaaStr Article · ~10 min read Building A Global SaaS Empire: 5 Bets That Paid Off with Freshworks Founder CEO Girish Mathrubootham Girish Mathrubootham
  3. Zoho's answer to the being-from-India question is local teams, local offices and local pricing rather than louder marketing,... diginomica Article · ~10 min read Zoho talks up 'transnational localism' as key to success Chris Middleton
  4. Podcast · 90 min listen 2X SaaS Founder: How To Sell Global Tech Products From India Siddhartha Ahluwalia with Sharath Keshava Narayana
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