Why Indian SaaS products fail (And how to win!)
Abhinav Arora, co-founder of Scenes, interviews me on SaaS marketing strategy
A couple of weeks ago, I recorded this video podcast with Abhinav Arora, co-founder and CMO of Scenes, a young startup building a DIY Discord for businesses. And though I’m annoyed at a couple of things I could have done better (wear black, for one!), it has come out well, and I think I have made the points I wanted to make.
Do watch, even if all it does is help you put a face to the guy you’ve been reading. :)
More seriously, a lot of the concepts I’ve covered in the newsletter over this year are in there, and the conversation can probably work as a little refresher.
Click to play.
I hope you enjoyed it!
I know told you that the last dispatch was the final one for 2021. Well, this one definitely is. But since I’m here now, I wanted to show you a sneak peek of what’s coming to The CMO Journal in the first quarter of 2022.
For the first time on The CMO Journal, I’ve invited a few special guest posts, and I have a super line-up for you:
Journalist, author of the definitive book on Xiaomi, and now head of community and content at CoinSwitch Kuber, JPK, is writing a guest article on podcasting and business content creation. I’m really excited about this one, because I just know it’ll be packed with insights.
Content marketing superstar Sadhana Balaji, now in the branding team at Freshworks, is writing a guest article on business newsletters. As the creator of two of India’s best: Chargebee’s SaaS Dispatch and SaaSBOOMi’s MRR, she knows how to create content brands, and is going to tell us how.
Sajeesh Sahadevan, who has been quietly building an incredibly successful education-led community at MoEngage, is writing about what building, maintaining, and running a community actually means. I’m personally looking forward to learning from his experience.
There will be more of these as the year goes on, as I try to fill in the blanks of the marketing aspects I’m not an expert in.
What am I writing, you ask?
Of course, here you go:
There’s a piece I’m working on about why product managers make lousy marketing leaders. This is a sore point, and has come up consistently enough for me to wonder why.
An essay I’ve been thinking about since mid-2021 on what we can learn from some of the worst tech CEOs and the decisions they made.
Continuing the Super Cool Startup series, a deep profile of a company that has got content and storytelling so right it has managed to get the attention of customers and investors alike.
2022 looks packed already, in a good way!
A Small Reminder
When I asked you last time to take a few seconds to endorse this newsletter, only a few folks did.
I get it, because if I understand anything, it’s that everyone is busy!
No worries, here’s a reminder: If this newsletter has helped you think through something or accomplish anything this year, please do endorse it on Twitter/LinkedIn.
I’ll make it easy for you again: Just click the button below, go to LinkedIn or Twitter, and share why you subscribe to The CMO Journal.
Here are a couple of prompts:
"I read Sairam Krishnan’s newsletter because.."
or
"You should subscribe to The CMO Journal because.."
I would really appreciate it! And yes, feel free to tag me.
Finally, I’m opening the comments section on this final edition of 2021, something I should have done last week but have thankfully remembered now.
I would love for any pointers, suggestions for topics you think I should write about, general encouragement, or even any criticism. I look forward to your comments.
Wishing you a merry Christmas again, folks, and a very happy new year!