BUSINESS PROFILE
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Tell us a bit more about your business and how it started
The Freshworks ‘ origin story ’ is one of my favourite aspects of the company , because it perfectly demonstrates our purpose .
Around 10 years ago , Freshworks founder , Girish Mathrubootham , was having difficulty making an insurance claim on a broken TV . The customer service was so frustrating to deal with he ended up venting in an online forum and after it sparked much online conversation , he received a personal apology from the CEO and a full refund the very next day . This inspired him to set up Freshworks , partly based on the belief that the age of social media was significantly changing customer experience and expectations .
This is exactly what Freshworks set out to do – improve customer experience for everyone . Every day , we think : What can we do to make a difference for customers ? And it all comes back to one poor experience all those years ago .
How has the business grown since it started and how did you ensure growth ?
I joined Freshworks earlier this year , but since then we have continued to build on the company ’ s significant , rapid growth . In fact , we recently became the first Indian SaaS company to list on the Nasdaq – significantly beating initial IPO expectations by jumping 30 % on listing day and landing on a market capitalisation of nearly US $ 12 billion .
A huge part of our success can be attributed to Freshworks ’ single platform that delivers best-in-class solutions across CX , IT and CRM . In my opinion , no other competitor even comes close in terms of quality of product or ease of access across all platforms . It ’ s this integrated offering that compelled me to join and what our teams will be continuing to build on to ensure our customers and employees remain delighted .
Freshworks makes it easy for businesses to provide an outstanding customer experience and , in the modern era , this is crucial to a company ’ s success . John Crossan , VP and General Manager of Europe , Freshworks , talks to Intelligent CXO about what makes Freshworks stand out in the market , its unique end-to-end user experience and how he equips his staff with skills and knowledge .
What ’ s the business ’ approach to management ?
Our CEO , Girish , places a lot of importance on family . In fact , he rang the Nasdaq bell at our IPO in September with his wife , two sons and dog by his side in New York . This ‘ Kudumba ’ culture – meaning ‘ extended family ’ in Tamil – sits at the heart of how the business is managed .
All employees across the business call him ‘ G ’ and over three-quarters of us are shareholders in the company . After our successful listing , around 500 Indian employees became ‘ crorepatis ’ – someone whose net worth exceeds
Freshworks :
The customer and authenticity
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