Penned by Z47 x SaaSBoomi. In January 2020, just as the world stood on the brink of a global pandemic, Vignesh Girishankar made a rare and difficult call. He turned down term sheets from top-tier VCs for his new idea. “We’ll come back when we’ve thought this through.” Vignesh, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Rocketlane, told investors. It wasn’t his first high-stakes call. 

Avoiding the Infrastructure Trap: The Wrong Race, and the Smarter Road Ahead for AI in India.

We often use the restaurant analogy to describe how SaaSBoomi functions. It borrows from my childhood memory and a dream to run a small, intimate restaurant in the hills. I will extend that metaphor further to describe each member of our community and the roles they play.

As I stood at the back of the packed main hall at ITC Chola, a quiet realisation came over me like a wave. In front of me were about fourteen hundred founders, CXOs, operators, and investors engrossed in deep conversations, swapping notes, exchanging ideas, and sharing laughter. It was vibrant, loud, and full of purpose.  […]

Across the undulating fields of rural India, where earth meets horizon in a tapestry of crops, a silent revolution is taking root. 

The land – ancient, knowing, patient – welcomes a different kind of seed.

“What is your motivation?” That was one of the first questions Mohit Garg asked me in a brightly lit cafe in Pune. Mohit had a few hours before he had to board a flight that would take him to the US permanently.

Ever been thrown into the deep end with no playbook, no step-by-step guidance, and barely a moment to catch your breath? It’s frustrating. It’s stressful. At times, it feels like you’re drowning. But here’s the thing—somehow, you learn to swim.

I’ve often heard people use the expression “learn from your mistakes.” It’s really valuable, but I am going to offer up a new one: learn from your successes. Often, we celebrate a win but don’t examine the reasons behind it. We ignore the reasons for success, especially the quiet, unseen roles others played in it. […]

My hunch proved accurate when I finally met her in Chennai at our volunteer lunch a few months later. She had instinctively taken up roles where she was helping people at the event. It may have been her first time at that meeting, but she glided effortlessly across the room when talking to people.