7 lessons from building an India-based global SaaS business
In a new memoir, Freshworks founder Girish Mathrubootham reflects on his path to building a global brand
In 2010, Girish Mathrubootham was in a cab in Chennai when he stumbled upon a post on Hacker News about Zendesk raising its prices. “As I read through the 1,000-plus angry comments, my entrepreneurial brain saw gold,” he writes in a new book.Years of experience, market observation, and personal frustration clicked into place. By the end of the ride, he could see the shape of a new kind of company.
In his memoir, “All In,” Mathrubootham—or "G," as he's better known—reflects on the messy, thrilling journey of building Freshworks into one of India’s most successful SaaS businesses. For founders—especially those outside Silicon Valley—his book offers a field guide with sharp, hard-won lessons. Here are seven of them, each grounded in the key moments that shaped his path.
1. Start with what makes you angry
A year earlier, G had returned to India from Austin, only to discover that his TV had been damaged in the move. Dealing with the shipping company and the brand’s customer service was maddening: endless calls, emails, dead ends. So he tweeted. He blogged. He vented to his wife.
And then he started to think bigger.
“The idea for Freshdesk came from a place of irritation,” he writes. “I wanted to fix it.”
It was the first spark, later crystallized during that fateful cab ride.
2. Bet on people, not pedigree
When G was hiring his first employees, he ignored hiring norms such as screening for certain levels of education or types of experience. He recounts coming across one early team member who had no fancy resume, just a GitHub project and a hunger to learn.
“He had built a helpdesk on his own,” he recalls in the book. “That was it. I was sold.”
3. You don't have to look the part to play the part
In 2011, Freshdesk was selected by TechCrunch for a startup competition. G flew to the U.S. with $1,500 in his pocket, borrowed a blazer from a friend, and walked into a sea of hoodie-wearing, MacBook-toting Silicon Valley natives.
He felt like an outsider. But when he got on stage and told the story of how Freshdesk started, with that broken TV and that bad support call, he owned the room.
“I may not have looked like a typical Silicon Valley founder,” he writes. “But I knew I belonged.”
4. Timing beats talent
Freshdesk wasn’t the first helpdesk product. But it launched right when Zendesk changed its pricing model, angering a chunk of its user base. G tweeted about the change, offered to match Zendesk customers’ remaining contracts for free, and capitalized on the moment.
“It wasn’t just about being good,” he says. “It was about being there when the door opened.”
5. Be unapologetically global from Day 1
Despite being based in Chennai, G insisted on selling to the world from the start. He rewrote website copy to sound less “Indian.” He tracked U.S. time zones. He studied customer pain points with Silicon Valley precision.
“I wanted us to think and act like a global company even if we were still a team of 10,” he says.
That early mindset helped Freshworks attract customers across geographies, long before it had locally based sales teams.
6. Don’t be afraid to say no to investors
Freshworks famously turned down a large acquisition offer early on. Later, G chose investors who believed in his vision—even if they weren’t the highest bidders.
“Saying no was hard,” he says. “But I didn’t want someone else to steer the ship.”
Founders often forget: Fundraising isn’t about winning a prize. It’s about picking your partners.
I wanted us to think and act like a global company even if we were still a team of 10.
7. The journey is long—pace yourself
In the book’s closing chapters, G writes candidly about burnout and renewal. He stepped down as CEO after Freshworks went public, making space for a new chapter.
“I had given it everything,” he explains. “And it was time to make room for new leaders.”
“All In” is a personal journal written in full color: missed flights, broken televisions, office pranks, and product pivots. Underneath the stories, G aims to convince readers that you don’t need to be born in the Valley to build something world-class. The only thing you need, he writes, “is to be all in.”
