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India
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Beginner
7 Lessons from Building an India-Based Global SaaS Business
From Freshworks, The Works by Girish Mathrubootham (Freshworks) via The Works ~12 min read
Why we picked it
Freshworks sold its first customer (a school in Australia) four days after launch and grew to a NASDAQ IPO without a US sales team in the early days, making it the definitive proof that Indian founders can sell globally from day one. This is the founder's own distilled playbook, not secondhand analysis.
- Act like a global company from inception even as a tiny Chennai team targeting the world
- Find a live market pain (Zendesk's price hikes) and be there when the door opens
- Hire for hunger and drive over pedigree in your early sales and product team
- Authenticity and founder story can resonate globally even without a known brand