From IT services to SaaS.
Transform with clarity.

Feel like IT Services is from Mars, and SaaS is from Venus? Founders tell us that unlearning what works in Services is key to succeeding in SaaS. This saves them many years of “figuring out”. Learn what to unlearn from Upekkha’s community of founders.

iZooto made the shift and grew 20X in just 4 years!

After their stint building a VAS and Mobile App business, Neel and Vivek, Sachin, and Shrikant plunged into the SaaS entrepreneurial journey. They had to unlearn their service domain expertise to grow in the SaaS realm. With the help of a structured approach, they were able to grow 20X in 4 years!

Where do IT service founders struggle?

SaaS inexperience

Lack of understanding of the SaaS business model.

Product development

SaaS product development differs greatly from IT services delivery.

Marketing and sales

Tech experts usually find marketing and sales of SaaS products extremely hard.

Financial management

A recurring revenue software business requires significant investment and financial management skills that Tech founders lack.

Competition

Many IT service founders are killed by competition as they struggle to differentiate and position their brands appropriately.
Founders, who were engineers earlier and have built amazing tech products, find marketing a mystery. They think of marketing as voodoo; something that must be delegated to people who have practised witchcraft. The belief system and mental model they accumulated when pursuing an engineering degree and their professional lives after that are to be blamed. Once the mindset shift happens, and the engineering framework is changed, their marketing efforts will start seeing great results.

How does the Upekkha program help entrepreneurs make the mindset shift to SaaS?

Community founders help you realise what you need to unlearn.
SaaS-specific frameworks help you see what’s different in building a great SaaS business.
A structured approach gets you moving quickly to a deeper understanding of your market &you build your revenue flywheel faster.

Change maker Lessons from iMocha clocking 40X after the shift

Amit D Mishra & Sujit Karpe the Tech duo with deep domain expertise, who worked at IT giants like IBM got bitten by the entrepreneurship bug. They found out the hard way that building a services business and a product business are different ball games. Working with Upekkha iMocha grew their revenues 40X!They even raised a Series-A from 8 Roads and a top-tier VC firm.

What You Should Know
IT Services vs B2B SaaS

IT Services
B2B SaaS
Customer-driven: Customers approach the service provider with specific problems to be solved.
Problem-driven: Most customers are unaware of the problems they face. But the problem is the most important root of a SaaS business
Focus on problem-solving: Providing solutions to specific problems for individual clients.
Focus on value creation: Developing products that offer high value to a larger customer base.
Customization: Solutions are tailored to individual customer requirements.
Standardization: Though products can be configured, the standard model must fit multiple customers.
Changing requirements: Each customer's problem is unique, and requirements can change over time.
Consistent requirements: Products address common needs and must have consistent requirements.
Customers: Few large customers. Some at 5+% of revenue.
Customers: Many small customers. None above 5% of revenue (at scale).
Pricing model: Project-based contracts, consulting fees, time and materials
Pricing model: Number of seats, consumption, tiered by features
Emphasis on customization and consulting expertise.
Emphasis on product benefits, usability, and scalability.
High touch approach.
Product-led approach.

Save years in mistakes
Learn from 250+ SaaS founders

If you’re transitioning from IT Services to SaaS, reach out to us. Working with us, you can save two to three years of unforced errors!

Get your Flywheel spinning first! Balance product revenue growth and use your services cashflow wisely

Meaningful Founder Outcomes

Whatfix acquires NittioLearn

Upekkha had a big role to play in the exit. They not only connected us with Whatfix CEO Khadim but also closely guided us through the deal - from how to pitch and frame the ask, to driving strategy and project management.
Gagandeep Singh Josan
Co-founder, NittioLearn

Whatfix acquires NittioLearn

Upekkha had a big role to play in the exit. They not only connected us with Whatfix CEO Khadim but also closely guided us through the deal - from how to pitch and frame the ask, to driving strategy and project management.
Gagandeep Singh Josan
Co-founder, NittioLearn

Listen from founders who have shifted from services to SaaS

The Indian startup ecosystem needs more catalysts like Upekkha. They helped us reach our first $1M without any external funding and we have been growing stronger since. From being recognized as a top 10 bootstrapped company in India, to being named Industry Leader by G2, our journey has been spectacular, thanks to the Value SaaS lessons learnt at Upekkha. Upekkha’s secret sauce is the B2B SaaS-specific mentoring they provide.
Jimit Bagadia
Co-founder & CEO, Socialpilot
Upekkha's insights and playbooks are fantastic. They helped us get a lot of clarity on how to build a great SaaS business. We realized the importance of customer discovery through customer conversation. In fact, they forced us to talk to customers before writing even a single line of code. Ultimately this saved us from draining our resources unnecessarily.
Jayendran GS
Co-founder, Prudent.ai
The Indian startup ecosystem needs more catalysts like Upekkha. They helped us reach our first $1M without any external funding and we have been growing stronger since. From being recognized as a top 10 bootstrapped company in India, to being named Industry Leader by G2, our journey has been spectacular, thanks to the Value SaaS lessons learnt at Upekkha. Upekkha’s secret sauce is the B2B SaaS-specific mentoring they provide.
Jimit Bagadia
Co-founder & CEO, Socialpilot
Upekkha's insights and playbooks are fantastic. They helped us get a lot of clarity on how to build a great SaaS business. We realized the importance of customer discovery through customer conversation. In fact, they forced us to talk to customers before writing even a single line of code. Ultimately this saved us from draining our resources unnecessarily.
Jayendran GS
Co-founder, Prudent.ai

Get access to $700,000in Partner Credits

plus 20 more

Frequently Asked Questions

Who should apply?

B2B SaaS startups with early revenue.

What are the key dates?

Application to UP-23 Autumn Cohort closes on August 15, 2023.

What's the selection process?

The selection process involves two rounds of interviews – one with the Upekkha community startup founders and one with Upekkha Leadership Team

How long does the program last?

The accelerator program runs for 6 months. You become a lifelong member of the Upekkha Value SaaS community, with access to industry experts, Upekkha mentors, and 250+ peers in the SaaS industry.

What's the program like?

You will take part in an intense experience full of sprints, reviews and consultative sessions. The program includes carefully crafted concoction of SaaS frameworks, actionable insights and peer learning modules.

What is the program fee?

You get an investment of $125K for 7% equity. We charge $25,000 to participate, but the fees can be deducted from our investment. This is in line with the global accelerator models like 500 Startups.