I heard him before I saw him. That’s the best way I can describe the first time I met Prasanna Krishnamoorthy.
This story starts about a dozen years ago, when Prasanna was associated with Microsoft Accelerator. At the time, he was known to the startup community as a founder who had pivoted to nurturing startups through one of the largest companies in the world. His strong business fundamentals and the boldness with which he championed startups were unique. I had heard people in my network talk about him in reverent tones, and they always described him as a serious person.
I was taken aback when I heard Prasanna’s booming laugh at an iSPIRT event. Is he the same person? Prasanna wore his heart on his sleeve. He cared deeply and laughed loudly. But what struck me in our first meeting was his curiosity about new ideas. This curiosity urged him to sign for iSPIRT and later SaaSBoomi. At iSPIRT, he helped founders in their 0 to 1 journey and unknowingly started building the framework for Upekkha. I say that because he then met Rajan, who would later become his co-founder.
Their unique ideas about entrepreneurship meant the program they anchored for iSPIRT took off. The two men built this program with the tools of frugal entrepreneurship. They argued that turbulence was a feature of a founder’s life, and keeping their calm through the turbulence while continuing to follow first principles would enable founders to claim their peaks. Prasanna would instill in founders one remarkably prescient message: funding cycles may be seasonal, but companies are eternal. This attitude made him a darling for the founders, and when SaaSBoomi was born, I had to reach out to Prasanna and request him to join the community.
Once he wore the SaaSBoomi volunteer hat, Prasanna transformed. He wanted nothing in return but manifested the spirit of giving. Nothing was off limits, and no founders, established or new, were refused advice or direction. Just like at iSPIRT, Prasanna became a favourite at SaaSBoomi as well.
I would love to write about how we continued to find new layers in our friendship and grew closer over the years, but I made a mistake. A mistake that hurt Prasanna deeply and damaged our relationship. For months, I often wanted to turn to Prasanna just to realise he wasn’t there.
I mentioned how Prasanna wore his heart on his sleeve; it isn’t far from the truth. Prasanna is one of the most passionate people I’ve ever met. As much as he can love with all his heart, the wounds take time to heal when he’s hurt. I had to work to build our levels of trust again.
The wounds healed, and Prasanna was back in the fold. His fingerprints on Annual 2025 were visible to all involved. Ashwin and Prasanna took up the vertical track and created one of the most impactful properties in our calendar. Its popularity is such that we plan to spin it off as an event. And, of course, I will ask Prasanna to be a mentor.
As I write this, I am struck by how our friendship has evolved. I was told friendship was like a silk thread when I was younger. Any break would mean there’s always a little knot in it. But that’s not true, as my experience is that friendships are closer to being kintsugi. Every break is filled with gold, creating a beautiful, unique design.
Prasanna, I hope the two of us keep evolving. This is our time.
