{"id":41378,"date":"2024-05-02T19:46:21","date_gmt":"2024-05-02T19:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/02\/girish-mathrubootham-steps-down-as-freshworks-ceo\/"},"modified":"2024-05-02T19:46:21","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T19:46:21","slug":"girish-mathrubootham-steps-down-as-freshworks-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/02\/girish-mathrubootham-steps-down-as-freshworks-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"Girish Mathrubootham steps down as Freshworks CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Girish<\/div>


\n<\/p>\n

Freshworks founder Girish Mathrubootham has stepped down as the chief executive and is being replaced by Dennis Woodside. This and more in today\u2019s ETtech Top 5.<\/p>\n

Also in the letter:<\/span>
\u25a0 Creators trying to be kingmakers in polls
\u25a0 Cognizant Q1 results
\u25a0 Micron to roll out India-made chips in 2025<\/p>\n

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Freshworks CEO Girish Mathrubootham steps down; Dennis Woodside to take over<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Freshworks founder and executive chairman Girish Mathrubootham<\/em><\/p>\n

In a significant development, Nasdaq-listed software-as-a-service (SaaS) major Freshworks said its founder Girish Mathrubootham had stepped down as the company’s chief executive<\/a> effective immediately. <\/p>\n

Driving the news:<\/span> Marthrubootham, who will be taking on the role of executive chairman, explained his decision in an emotional message to employees<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/div>\n

Meanwhile, the Chennai and San Mateo, California-headquartered firm, which focuses on providing CRM (customer relationship management) software tools to enterprises, has named its president Dennis Woodside as the new CEO.

From the horse\u2019s mouth: <\/span>\u201cA couple of years ago, I started talking with our board about my longer-term plans for Freshworks. I shared that when the time is right, I would like to shift my focus to our long-term product vision and invest in our presence in India. These are areas where I get the most energy and where I\u2019m also playing to my strengths,\u201d Mathrubootham\u2019s note said. He also expressed confidence in Woodside as the next chief executive of the company.<\/p>\n

Stock slide: <\/span>The news sparked a massive selloff in the company stock as shares of Freshworks dropped nearly 25% during after-market hours trading on the Nasdaq on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"Corner<\/div>\n

About the new CEO: <\/span>The 55-year-old Woodside joined Freshworks in September 2022<\/a> as president and serves on the board too. Right before joining Freshworks, he was president of Impossible Foods and also served on the board of Freshworks\u2019 rival ServiceNow.<\/p>\n

Woodside has served as CEO of Motorola Mobility under Google\u2019s ownership from 2012 to 2014, and was also the chief operating officer at storage firm Dropbox.<\/p>\n

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Rakesh Singh replaces Varun Sridhar as Paytm Money CEO<\/p>\n

\"Varun<\/div>\n

(L-R) Varun Sridhar and Rakesh Singh<\/em><\/p>\n

Paytm Money, the wealth management platform of One 97 Communications, has appointed Rakesh Singh as its CEO<\/a>, replacing Varun Sridhar, who had been its chief executive since 2020, sources told ET.<\/p>\n

Details:<\/span> Before this appointment, Singh was the CEO of broking services at PayU-backed Fisdom. People in the know said he joined Paytm Money last month. Meanwhile, Sridhar has been moved to a different role within the group. <\/p>\n

Tell me more: <\/span>Paytm Money, which competes with the likes of Groww, Zerodha and Upstox, became profitable under Sridhar, with the wealthtech platform closing FY23 with a net profit of Rs 42.8 crore on revenue of Rs 132.8 crore. The stock and mutual fund broking arm of Paytm also recently appointed Vipul Mewada<\/a> as its chief financial officer.<\/p>\n

Recent departures: <\/span>Since the January 31 missive by the Reserve Bank of India asking Paytm Payments Bank to restrict its banking services, the company has seen several management changes across the board. <\/p>\n

In February, the company\u2019s founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma resigned from Paytm Payments Bank board <\/a>amid an overhaul of the company\u2019s banking unit. During the same month, the company announced that Paytm Payments Bank\u2019s independent director Manju Agarwal also resigned.<\/a><\/p>\n

In March, Praveen Sharma, senior vice president of business at Paytm<\/a>, also left the company. On April 9, it said that the payments bank\u2019s MD and CEO Surinder Chawla will also be stepping down.<\/a><\/p>\n

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With content king, creators trying hard to be kingmakers this Lok Sabha elections<\/p>\n

\"Prime<\/div>\n

PM Narendra Modi with YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia at National Creators Awards<\/em><\/p>\n

With elections underway, politics has become a lucrative topic for digital content creators as making politically-themed content<\/a> has fetched some creators hundreds of thousands of views in the last few months, a sharp rise from business as usual.

Driving the news: <\/span>Multiple influencer marketing professionals told ET that the top 10-20 creators across verticals \u2014 ranging from lifestyle to infotainment \u2014 travelled to New Delhi ahead of the polls to conduct interviews with prominent political figures.<\/p>\n

Flooding contents:<\/span> Over the last few months, YouTube has been populated with videos of creators such as Ranveer Allahbadia (more popularly, BeerBiceps) chatting with politicians like S Jaishankar and Nitin Gadkari of the BJP, Atishi Marlena and Raghav Chadha of AAP, among others.<\/p>\n

Where’s the money? <\/span>The monetary rewards for this kind of collaboration aren\u2019t much, said agency heads.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome creators have been offered cash via third-party agencies facilitating podcasts for less-prominent political leaders. But most creators are doing this for access and recognition in the political corridors,\u201d said Talha Rashid, a Delhi-based political consultant and researcher.<\/p>\n

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Cognizant Q1 revenue falls 1.1%, profit dips 6%<\/p>\n

\"Cognizant<\/div>\n

US-headquartered IT services firm Cognizant saw its net profit fall by 5.9%<\/a> on year to $546 million in the quarter ending March 2024, on the back of a continued slowdown in the sector.<\/p>\n

Key numbers: <\/span>Cognizant, most of whose employees are based in India, follows the calendar year cycle from January to December.<\/p>\n