{"id":2007,"date":"2021-04-04T08:38:54","date_gmt":"2021-04-04T08:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.matsio.com\/matsio\/saasboomi\/?p=2007"},"modified":"2024-05-16T10:36:40","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T10:36:40","slug":"all-about-saasboomi-annual-2021-on-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.matsio.com\/matsio\/saasboomi\/saas\/initiatives\/all-about-saasboomi-annual-2021-on-air\/","title":{"rendered":"SaaSBoomi Annual 2021 OnAir – Taking on the Impossible"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cThis is going to be really hard. The whole idea of SaaSBoomi Annual is to provide founders a safe space where they can learn from each other. I don’t think it’s possible if we are doing an online event.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI agree, we will have to tone down our expectations from the event.\u201d

\u201cA SaaSBoomi Annual easily scores 9 out of 10 in leaving the founders inspired after the event. I doubt if we can get it to even a 6 out of 10 in an online format.\u201d<\/em>

These were bits and pieces from a conversation within the Program team that was put together to design the content and format for SaaSBoomi Annual OnAir 2021. These are some of the prominent names in the SaaS Industry in India – founders, operators, mentors – and folks who are ardent believers in the Pay-It-Forward motto of SaaSBoomi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ve all given back to the community in their own ways and are what I\u2019d like to call Rational Optimists. But this conversation seemed to be erring more on the rational side than on the optimism front. For a moment, as a SaaSBoomi volunteer I wondered if we are really going to have an Annual event in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then Krish, co-founder of Chargebee and SaaSBoomi broke the silence with a grin (that shows usually when he\u2019s commenting with a mix of vulnerability and helplessness about things that are not in his control)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, so what do we do? None of us are thinking of suspending the Annual for 2021 right?\u201d<\/em> There was silence, again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued, \u201cAll the concerns we\u2019ve discussed are well founded. But as we all know, there are founders out there who are expecting us to rise up to the occasion and deliver. So let\u2019s focus on how we can do that. Would that make sense?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t recall the Program team looking back again. SaaSBoomi Annual 2021 OnAir was on.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SaaSBoomi\u2019s Journey from Annual 2020 to 2021<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The apprehensions of conducting an online event cited by the Program team were valid, you see. I was one of the 1000+ startup founders who stood up and applauded when Girish Mathrubootham finished his keynote speech titled \u201cAll Constraints are Internal” during SaaSBoomi Annual 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was 30 mins of personal reflections by one of the flag bearers of the Indian Startup ecosystem and it was an authentic, vulnerable story relatable by all, maybe the reason why it left everyone in the room teary-eyed and with goosebumps. You could not have asked for a better ending to a 2 day event that was packed with learnings from the best SaaS practitioners in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was clear that it\u2019s going to be impossible to recreate a similar experience in the online world. And if that\u2019s so, it\u2019s natural to feel like toning down the expectations from the Annual gathering this year that can only be conducted online because of the Covid-19 pandemic and rightly so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Except\u2026 except for one thing. And that would be how SaaSBoomi stepped up since March 2020 to fill up the role of a friend, mentor, counselor, and cheerleader for many of the SaaS startups in India. The organisation kept evolving into something big and large-hearted, more like the Genie from Aladdin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n