Three SaaS companies, same starting point: the accounts existed, the process didn't. No onboarding path, no churn signal, no answer to "why did we lose that one". Each time the work was to build the operating layer under the book, then hand it to the team.
Bengaluru, via Delhi
Hey, I'm Anirudh 👋
Systems builder in places that don't have any yet: a company founded at 20, a public-speaking district, customer success stood up at three SaaS companies, a community of CSMs, and two newsletters that argue with how things are usually done.
Currently a Senior Customer Success Manager. Chronically unable to leave a broken process alone.
Customer success at
Humantic AI
Clueso (YC W23)
Attentive.ai
01 · Threads
Three threads, one habit.
- Systems. Every role so far has started with a book of accounts and no operating layer under it. Building that layer is the part that never gets old.
- Rooms. Toastmasters at twenty, CS Pulse Community now. Small groups, one real problem, no slides.
- Writing. Two newsletters: one on the craft of customer success, one on tools that let non-technical people work like technical ones.
02 · Work
The day job is customer success. The job inside the job is building the system.
63%
Production adoption lift, Aug 2025 to date.
1.5–2×
Expansion in key accounts, every quarter.
$1.2M
ARR book run on CS infrastructure built from scratch.
03 · Writing
Two newsletters. One about the job, one about the tools.
CS Pulse
What customer success actually looks like from inside the job. Written for practitioners, not vendors.
Hustlyst
AI and automation for people without a technical background. You don't need to be a tech person to work like one.
04 · Rooms & stages
I convene people. It's the thing I've done longest.
01
Join the community →
CS Pulse Community
Rooms of five or six CSMs working through one real scenario and one honest post-mortem. No slides, no vendor agenda. Three rooms run so far: AI for CSMs, churn predictability, onboarding.
02
Toastmasters International
Distinguished Area Director, 2019 to 2020, one of two of 62 directors across three countries to complete the Area Success Plan. Before that, one of the youngest club presidents in the district, and a winner of the International Speech Contest.
05 · How I work
Five things I keep coming back to.
- Clarity beats intelligence. The smartest idea in the room loses to the one everyone can repeat.
- Systems scale. People don't. If it depends on someone remembering, it's already broken.
- Output over activity. Busy is not a result.
- Speed only counts when the direction is right. Fast in the wrong direction is just far away.
- Adoption is the only metric. Everything else is a proxy for whether people actually use the thing.
06 · Off duty
The rest of it.
Grew up in Dwarka, Delhi. Engineering at NSIT, where I ran placements for 1,800 students and discovered I liked organising people more than circuits. Bengaluru since 2022.
I read a lot, travel when I can, and dance badly but with commitment. The travel photos are on Instagram as shotsofdesire, which tells you something about how I think about brands.
Building something with no playbook yet?
I'd like to hear about it. Email is fastest.
