Khadim Batti, Co-founder and CEO, Whatfix, addresses EPGP students at IIM Bangalore on Leadership, Business Opportunities and Career Possibilities in SaaS on 3rd Aug 2022
12 August, 2022, Bengaluru: Khadim Batti, Co-founder and CEO, Whatfix, addressed students of IIM Bangalore’s one-year full-time MBA, the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP), on: ‘Leadership and Careers in SaaS Start-ups’, as part of the EPGP Seminar Series, on 3rd Aug 2022.
Talking about his own career journey, Khadim Batti said that he started his career working at Huawei. In 2010, he set up his own start-up ‘SearchEnabler’. His current organization, Whatfix, is a byproduct of SearchEnabler. “Whatfix today has 550-plus customers, and over 60 fortune 500 accounts, and is operational in more than 30 countries”.
He discussed the evolution of unicorns in India. “In 2011, India had its first unicorn. As of today, there are 105 unicorns with a total valuation of $341 billion, more than 50% of which have been created in the last 18 months”. Talking about VC funding, he pointed out that VC funding has been on an increasing trend over the recent year. “Before 2020, annual VC funding used to be ~$10 billion. In 2021, it was $ 36 billion and in 2022 H1, it has been $ 15.6 bn. All this indicates that VCs are seriously interested in start-ups in India”
He went on to talk about SaaS solutions. “SaaS is software solutions sold online on the cloud. Mostly, it is charged on a recurring basis. There are two types of SaaS solutions – Horizontal and Vertical. Horizontal SaaS targets a wider audience of business users regardless of their industry, while vertical SaaS targets a particular niche or industry-specific standards.”
Speaking about the challenges of SaaS start-ups, he highlighted that SaaS is dominated by large players who already have a strong presence and network with business partners. However, he added, whenever there is any shift/new wave, or new category creation, there is space for a new company to enter. “Whenever any company grows and gets employees more than 1000, there are challenges in the adoption of new software. More than 90% of the revenue of Whatfix is from companies with 1000-plus employees.” Talking about the growth opportunity, he said: “As long as you are not one of many, there are opportunities everywhere.”
He also addressed queries on topics such as go-to-market strategy, expansion strategies and career opportunities in SaaS. He pointed out that career in a start-up is more focused on growth through hustle, however, a career in MNC is more focused on growth through scale.
About Khadim Batti
Khadim Batti is an alumnus of the University of Mumbai and the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore. Over his 23-year career, he has worked in various leadership roles for technology products and SaaS businesses. Over the last decade, he has co-founded two start-ups. As the CEO at Whatfix, he helps businesses drive growth through their Digital Adoption Platform that analyzes and automates organizational processes.
Khadim Batti, Co-founder and CEO, Whatfix, addresses EPGP students at IIM Bangalore on Leadership, Business Opportunities and Career Possibilities in SaaS on 3rd Aug 2022
12 August, 2022, Bengaluru: Khadim Batti, Co-founder and CEO, Whatfix, addressed students of IIM Bangalore’s one-year full-time MBA, the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP), on: ‘Leadership and Careers in SaaS Start-ups’, as part of the EPGP Seminar Series, on 3rd Aug 2022.
Talking about his own career journey, Khadim Batti said that he started his career working at Huawei. In 2010, he set up his own start-up ‘SearchEnabler’. His current organization, Whatfix, is a byproduct of SearchEnabler. “Whatfix today has 550-plus customers, and over 60 fortune 500 accounts, and is operational in more than 30 countries”.
He discussed the evolution of unicorns in India. “In 2011, India had its first unicorn. As of today, there are 105 unicorns with a total valuation of $341 billion, more than 50% of which have been created in the last 18 months”. Talking about VC funding, he pointed out that VC funding has been on an increasing trend over the recent year. “Before 2020, annual VC funding used to be ~$10 billion. In 2021, it was $ 36 billion and in 2022 H1, it has been $ 15.6 bn. All this indicates that VCs are seriously interested in start-ups in India”
He went on to talk about SaaS solutions. “SaaS is software solutions sold online on the cloud. Mostly, it is charged on a recurring basis. There are two types of SaaS solutions – Horizontal and Vertical. Horizontal SaaS targets a wider audience of business users regardless of their industry, while vertical SaaS targets a particular niche or industry-specific standards.”
Speaking about the challenges of SaaS start-ups, he highlighted that SaaS is dominated by large players who already have a strong presence and network with business partners. However, he added, whenever there is any shift/new wave, or new category creation, there is space for a new company to enter. “Whenever any company grows and gets employees more than 1000, there are challenges in the adoption of new software. More than 90% of the revenue of Whatfix is from companies with 1000-plus employees.” Talking about the growth opportunity, he said: “As long as you are not one of many, there are opportunities everywhere.”
He also addressed queries on topics such as go-to-market strategy, expansion strategies and career opportunities in SaaS. He pointed out that career in a start-up is more focused on growth through hustle, however, a career in MNC is more focused on growth through scale.
About Khadim Batti
Khadim Batti is an alumnus of the University of Mumbai and the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore. Over his 23-year career, he has worked in various leadership roles for technology products and SaaS businesses. Over the last decade, he has co-founded two start-ups. As the CEO at Whatfix, he helps businesses drive growth through their Digital Adoption Platform that analyzes and automates organizational processes.