Our guest today is Arvind Parthiban, co-founder and CEO of SuperOps, a Silicon Valley and Chennai SaaS startup that is automating a bunch of processes for small managed services providers. In this conversation, Arvind talks about co-creating SuperOps with several MSPs, why SaaS startups are increasingly looking at more features from the get-go, and a new round of funding as well—led by Lee Fixel’s Addition.

Notes:

(00:40) Intro to The Daily Tech Conversation

(00:56) Our guest today — Arvind Parthiban, co-founder and CEO, SuperOps

(01:30) The problem that SuperOps is trying to solve — PSA and RMM

(02:35) Some basics about PSA and RMM

(02:55) The target customers for SuperOps — MSPs with five technicians and on

(03:25) More on why SuperOps has started with focussing on this particular customer segment of micro and small MSPs

(05:10) More on the MSP market — a very mature market, so SuperOps needed a sharp strategy and it still took two years to get to general availability

(06:25) A bit about what the scene is like today and why SuperOps will make a difference

(07:30) Most MSPs are still using on-premises software, but the need for cloud-based solutions has become urgent

(08:50) General Atlantic has invested $100 million in an Israeli vendor in the same space, which is hot

(09:30) Beginning to develop AI features, starting with automated intelligent alert

(12:00) Building a feature-rich product and not a bare bones MVP

(13:15) Vision — building the Baskin Robbins of IT tools for MSPs

(13:58) More on the need for a feature-rich product from the start

(15:08) Co-building the product with 150 MSPs

(16:45) On going from a beta version to a commercial product — urgently building much needed integrations

(19:02) Learnings over the years, building SaaS software products — knowing what to build in a limited amount of time that will also make money

(20:35) Importance of customer feedback before writing a single line of code

(22:50) The 18-month roadmap with the money from the latest funding

(24:00) The role of ‘consultative sales’ in SaaS

(25:26) The slightly longer term view — going upmarket to tap a much larger market

(27:00) Getting the total addressable market right

(29:30) Challenges of the Indian MSP market for SaaS startups

(30:20) The mindset difference between MSPs in India versus in the US

Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds:

https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds