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Private, Bootstrapped, & Profitable: How Rajesh Jain Scaled to Over $100M As a Solo Founder

Funding a large acquisition from accumulated cash, and using interactive email to cut clickthrough friction

Rajesh Jain · Netcore Cloud

Published September 6, 2024
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What you’ll learn

Rajesh Jain discusses Netcore’s bootstrapped growth in email and SMS marketing, its expansion into marketing automation and new markets, and a large acquisition funded with accumulated cash. He also explains how interactive email can reduce clickthrough friction and support customer engagement across email, WhatsApp, and RCS.

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Turning channels into a cash engine

“because first 10 years we were too small not growing and then we did something right we basically started email and SMS Marketing in India and those just turned out cash so it's just perfect I didn't have to put much money in this was so we're looking at your Revenue graph right now 2003 you get going it was 2008 was that like your first million dollar year maybe yeah around that time around that time what started working really well like 2013 2018 we're going to 15 so two things happened 2013 uh 2018 2008 to 13 basically the”

Funding a major acquisition with cash

“you're like whoa that's a lot of digits uh you say what do I do with all this money and you say you know what let's bet it all let's spend 100 million bucks cash to go acquire unbox why'd you do this deal so so couple of reasons one is we wanted to look at adjacencies we want first we want to do a large deal we done a couple of small tucks where you sort of add on to the tech but that's not as exciting as a larger deal which can do which did two things for us number one”

Using services to deepen customer stickiness

“is we just don't want the platform add a thin Services layer so your platform becomes better and better every day it's what I call sort of Kaizen almost like the Japanese word continuous Improvement now as SAS companies most SAS companies are told not to get into services but the services layer actually can add a lot of stickiness so think of it as 80% SAS 20% services that thin layer I think can make accounts much more stickier especially when you're going to the mid to large- sized businesses and”

Moving actions inside email

“selling if your customers are selling to b2c uh the removal of the friction of the clickthrough to a website or app I mean we have seen five times 10 times increases in actions uh and just look at our own behavior you know when you see an email you got to click through how many times we do it but if you can now collect first party data Etc all inside the ma uh you can do gamification inside the mail ask questions do run surveys in newsletters right inside the mail and”

Removing clickthrough friction

“in India systematic invest monthly pay payments for for funds all of that's now happening inside email and the the game changer really is that this whole the the clickthrough friction which always hindered uh uh email ctrs now that goes away imagine if ctrs go up 5x 10x what does that do for brands that really helps them build deeper better hotlines for for with their own”

The bootstrapped growth story

“SaaSOpen, September 2024 How Rajesh Bootstrapped to $110m ARR … then spent $100m cash on 1 deal Rajesh Jain CEO, Netcore”

Frictionless omnichannel personalisation

“Unistack: Frictionless Omnichannel PersonalisationEnable deeper relationships, retention, and revenues Delivery to Engagement: Moved from marketing’s periphery to core”

Continuous product expansion

“Acquisitions + Investments = Constellation Customers for Life Continuous Product Expansion is key: either in-house development or acquisitions”

Inbox commerce response lift

“Myntra-Walmart Boosts Data Collection with Inbox Commerce 140% Increase in Responses”

Interactive commerce reactivation

“Photobook Reactivates Shoppers with Interactive Commerce 18% Increase in Active Users 400% Increase in ROI 100k Shoppers Reactivated”

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About the speaker
Rajesh Jain

Rajesh Jain

Founder · Netcore Cloud

Rajesh Jain is a technology entrepreneur based in Mumbai, India. He was a pioneer in Asia’s dotcom revolution, creating India’s first Internet portals in the late 1990s. He then started what is today India’s largest marketing technology company. In between, from 2012-2019, Rajesh worked as a political entrepreneur.

Rajesh is founder of Netcore Cloud, is a global marketing technology company that offers AI-powered marketing automation and analytics solutions. Netcore empowers modern marketers to map their customer journey to deliver exceptional 1:1 customer experiences. Netcore serves over 5,000 Indian and international corporates and sends more than 20 billion messages (emails and SMSes) monthly through its messaging gateways. Netcore is a proficorn — profitable, private, bootstrapped and highly valued.

Company revenue
$110M
Team size
1000

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Each slide with a short explanation of what it shows. Open the slide text for its exact wording.

12 passages

Netcore’s bootstrapped growth story

  1. Slide text

    SaaSOpen, September 2024 How Rajesh Bootstrapped to $110m ARR … then spent $100m cash on 1 deal Rajesh Jain CEO, Netcore

  2. Revenue accelerated over time

    The bar chart shows revenue climbing from almost zero in 2003 to just below 100 by 2023, with faster growth in the later years.

    Slide text

    Our Revenue Growth

Omnichannel personalisation and customer value

  1. Unistack connects marketing channels

    Netcore’s marketing cloud connects email, web, app, SMS, voice, WhatsApp, and social media to customer engagement, personalization, product experience, search, and a unified customer view.

    Slide text

    Unistack: Frictionless Omnichannel PersonalisationEnable deeper relationships, retention, and revenues Delivery to Engagement: Moved from marketing’s periphery to core

Product expansion through acquisition

  1. Acquisitions expand the product constellation

    The diagram combines acquisitions and investments into a broader customer engagement stack, with connected capabilities surrounding a shared platform.

    Slide text

    Acquisitions + Investments = Constellation Customers for Life Continuous Product Expansion is key: either in-house development or acquisitions

  2. Revenue growth continued

    The second chart repeats the long-term revenue pattern, showing a steep rise from 2013 through 2023.

    Slide text

    Our Revenue Growth

Interactive in-email commerce examples

  1. All-in email adds interactive actions

    The diagram places product search, wishlists, cart, payments, loyalty, delivery, reviews, preferences, ratings, and support inside an email experience.

    Slide text

    Innovation Example: All-In-Email No Landing Pages, No Clickthroughs

  2. Inbox commerce increased responses

    The Myntra example pairs an interactive in-email shopping experience with a reported 140% increase in responses.

    Slide text

    Myntra-Walmart Boosts Data Collection with Inbox Commerce 140% Increase in Responses

  3. Personalized inboxes lifted VIP orders

    The retailer example shows a preference-driven product selection experience alongside a reported 10x increase in purchases.

    Slide text

    Top 10 Lingerie Retailer Scales. VIP Orders with Inbox Commerce 10x Increase in Purchases

  4. Gamified email increased engagement

    The Nykaa example uses a spin-to-win promotion in email and reports a 54% increase in engagement and 10k coupons claimed.

    Slide text

    Nykaa Fashion Maximizes Engagement with In-email Gamification 54% Increase in Engagement 10k Coupons Claimed

Shopper reactivation and engagement outcomes

  1. Interactive commerce reactivated shoppers

    The Photobook quiz example pairs an interactive campaign with reported increases of 18% in active users and 400% in ROI, plus 100k shoppers reactivated.

    Slide text

    Photobook Reactivates Shoppers with Interactive Commerce 18% Increase in Active Users 400% Increase in ROI 100k Shoppers Reactivated

  2. Calculators drove engagement

    The MoneyTap example embeds a gold loan calculator in an interactive message and reports a 13x increase in engagement.

    Slide text

    MoneyTap Drives Engagement with Interactive Calculators 13x Increase in Engagement

  3. Thank you

    The speaker closes with a thank-you and contact details shown on the slide.

    Slide text

    SaaSOpen, September 2024 Thank you! [redacted email] Rajesh Jain CEO, Netcore