Product-First Growth: A Tech Startup Story with Konnect Insights
In this episode of Tech Startup Stories, we explore how Sameer Narkar turned Konnect Insights from a bootstrapped idea into a global SaaS platform. Joined by host Natalie Binns, Sameer shares why product excellence has always been his north star, how a culture of learning shaped the company’s growth, and why innovation matters more than hype.
Listen to the Podcast
Available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
When Sameer started Konnect Insights, he knew the market didn’t need another flashy sales story. What it needed was a robust product that could genuinely solve problems. From day one, his belief was that true scale doesn’t come from founder-driven hustle alone — it comes from building something so good that customers stay, grow, and advocate for it.
Relentless innovation at the core
Konnect Insights set out to become a unified customer experience hub, bringing together social listening, omnichannel care, and analytics in one place. But Sameer and his team didn’t stop there. They built an open API marketplace so the platform could integrate seamlessly with CRMs, contact centres, and other business tools. They invested heavily in AI infrastructure, not just through APIs but by developing their own homegrown AI to meet enterprise-grade security and performance standards.
The result? A product trusted by some of the world’s largest telecoms, airlines, banks, and retailers across more than 30 countries.
From interns to architects
What makes the Konnect Insights story even more unique is the culture of continuous learning inside the company. Sameer recalls coding alone in a small office until early interns joined him. A decade later, those same interns are now senior leaders — one is an AI architect, another heads big data architecture. Their growth mirrors the growth of the company itself: relentless curiosity, willingness to learn, and commitment to solving complex problems the right way.
Bootstrapped, but built to last
Unlike many SaaS companies at a similar stage, Konnect Insights hasn’t rushed into fundraising. The company has been bootstrapped for almost a decade, relying on services revenue in the early years, then recurring SaaS revenue as the product matured. Sameer admits they are now preparing for their first funding round, but the focus remains clear: raising only what’s needed, with minimal dilution, to fuel customer growth rather than chase vanity metrics.
Lessons from the journey
Sameer’s story is a reminder that every stage of a startup brings new challenges. Early on, the biggest struggle was servers and infrastructure. Today, it’s hiring the right talent and expanding globally. His hindsight lesson? They could have entered international markets earlier, but the product-first mindset gave them the resilience to get there on their own terms.
For founders, Sameer’s advice is simple but powerful:
Hustle can get you to your first million, but only a great product can take you further.
Build with integrations in mind, no SaaS platform scales as a silo.
Keep learning, both as individuals and as a company, and make it part of your DNA.
Focus on excellence for your customers, and the rest will follow.
Listen to the Podcast
Available on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
Connect with Sameer Narkar and learn more about Konnect Insights.