An Extraordinary Founder who also does Ordinary Things

I have been reading Avinash Raghava’s blog on his interactions with different SaaS founders and people in the SaaSBoomi community through his Pay It Forward series. With SaaSBoomi happening next week in Chennai, and inspired by Avinash, I thought it would be good to share my experiences about an extraordinary founder and volunteer who also does ordinary things—just like you and me: Krish Subramanian, Co-Founder of Chargebee. 

I believe his story is worth sharing, and would be valuable for everyone. 

I like Chargebee for its focus on subscription and payments. If you’ve followed them or read a bit about them, you’ll appreciate what they do, and it wouldn’t be hard to gauge their scale. There’s a lot to learn from their ability to execute. 

I attended SaaSBoomi for the first time only last year, and after the event, I wished I had joined this community much earlier. You can read about my experiences here. Krish was at SaaSBoomi last year—that’s where I first met him. I still remember his attire: a traditional Indian kurta. Of course, I knew him, but he didn’t know me. From what I observed, Krish is a no-nonsense person—unassuming and someone who doesn’t like people talking about him. 

He hosted a workshop (Demand Gen and The Art of Giving Out Red Ferraris – Sales Cadence, Structure and Comp Design) at SaaSBoomi, which I attended. I found a lot of value in it; it was practical and insightful. I briefly exchanged a hello with him and asked for the best way to connect. He suggested LinkedIn. A few days after SaaSBoomi, I sent him a LinkedIn request, but he didn’t accept it. I wasn’t surprised—when you receive a flood of requests, those that aren’t checked immediately get buried under newer ones. My request simply didn’t make it to the top. (This happens often.)

Filter Kaapi

One of the great things about SaaSBoomi is its local chapters, and the Filter Kaapi (Filter Coffee) chapter in Chennai is particularly active. These meet-ups are valuable because people like Krish invest their time to attend. Given the scale of Chargebee, Krish doesn’t need to be there, but he makes it a point to show up whenever he’s in Chennai—it’s his way of giving back to the community. Many other amazing founders contribute as well. These meet-ups have a more relaxed setting, making it easier to talk to people without feeling intimidated. I attended a few of these meet-ups.

At the end of last year, we had a year-end meet-up on East Coast Road (ECR) in Chennai, with a great turnout. It was a fun lunch, and I had another brief chat with Krish. After the meet-up, people were thanking each other in the WhatsApp group, and Krish shared a message that stood out to me. It went something like this: “It’s great that we all met. We should also try to form even smaller micro-groups or meet in micro settings, as it’s hard to find friendships at this stage in our careers.”

That message resonated with me. I decided to send him a personal note, asking if he’d have time for coffee, lunch, or dinner—whatever was convenient for him. I had zero expectations; I wasn’t even sure if he’d respond. It never hurts to ask. To my surprise, he responded immediately and said he’d love to meet. Any place was fine with me, and we settled on breakfast in Adyar the following week. 

Breakfast in Adayar:

We met for breakfast. It was a very casual setting at a South Indian Vegetarian restaurant (no hi-fi stuff). We had Filter Coffee too 🙂 He shared the story of how they started Chargebee and hearing it directly from him was great. I shared my own journey, along with some of the challenges we’ve been facing. He asked a few questions and offered insights that really got me thinking. 

There were quite a few non-business takeaways as well from the meeting. For instance, when he found out I had traveled all the way from Anna Nagar (the other end of the city), he mentioned that I should have told him earlier—he would have suggested a midpoint instead. That gesture surprised me. Usually, people prefer meeting closer to their location, especially when they’re not the ones requesting the meeting. It was a great gesture. It helped change my approach too after this.  When we were leaving, I wanted to pay for breakfast, but he firmly refused and paid via GPay (thanks, UPI!). He also left a generous cash tip for the server—another lesson in humility and appreciation.

As we walked out, curiosity got the better of me. I wondered what kind of car he drove or if he had a chauffeur. He came in a hatch back economy car and self drove (I am not good with cars and do not remember the name of the car he drove). It was pretty modest.

I was very thankful for his time, and was wowed with his unassuming approach and shared my learnings with our team.

Krish, It is ordinary things like this which make extraordinary people. You are one. Thank you for everything that you do.

Thank you.