# Girish Mathrubootham

> Girish Mathrubootham co-founded Freshdesk with Shan Krishnasamy in Chennai in 2010, led the renamed Freshworks through its 2021 Nasdaq listing, and served as CEO until May 2024. He retired as executive chairman and left the board in December 2025 to focus on Together Fund, where he is co-founder and managing partner. He also founded FC Madras, helped establish SaaSBoomi, and wrote the 2025 memoir All In with Pankaj Mishra.

- **Role:** Co-founder & Managing Partner at Together Fund
- **Organizations:** Together Fund, Freshworks (co-founder; former CEO and executive chairman), SaaSBoomi (founding member), FC Madras (founder), Zoho / AdventNet (former employee)
- **From:** Tiruchirappalli, India
- **Nationality:** American (United States citizenship stated in Freshworks Schedule 13G filing)
- **Education:** Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Bharathidasan University, MBA in Marketing, University of Madras
- **Known for:** Led Freshworks from its 2010 founding to a September 2021 Nasdaq listing under FRSH, raising approximately $1.03 billion in the IPO., Co-founded Together Fund and helped establish the SaaSBoomi founder community., Founded FC Madras, which opened a 23-acre residential football academy in 2023.

## Career timeline

- **2001** — Joined AdventNet, later Zoho, as a presales engineer; eventually became VP of product management in ManageEngine.
- **2010** — Co-founded Freshdesk in Chennai with Shan Krishnasamy.
- **2011** — Shared the founding story on Hacker News; Freshdesk raised a $1 million Series A.
- **2017** — Freshdesk Inc. became Freshworks Inc. as an umbrella for multiple products.
- **2018** — Founded FC Madras.
- **2021** — Co-founded Together Fund; led Freshworks to its September Nasdaq listing.
- **2023** — FC Madras opened its 23-acre residential academy near Mahabalipuram.
- **2024-05** — Handed the Freshworks CEO role to Dennis Woodside and became executive chairman.
- **2025-04** — Published All In: Memoirs of the Freshworks Founder with Pankaj Mishra.
- **2025-12** — Retired as executive chairman and left the Freshworks board effective December 1 to focus full-time on Together Fund.

## Achievements

- Led Freshworks from its 2010 founding to a September 2021 Nasdaq listing under FRSH, raising approximately $1.03 billion in the IPO.
- Co-founded Together Fund and helped establish the SaaSBoomi founder community.
- Founded FC Madras, which opened a 23-acre residential football academy in 2023.
- Authored All In: Memoirs of the Freshworks Founder with Pankaj Mishra (2025).

## Latest updates

- **2025-12** — Freshworks retirement became effective on December 1, ending his executive-chairman and board roles as announced in its September 2025 Form 8-K.
- **2025-09** — Announced plans to focus full-time on Together Fund.
- **2025-04** — All In: Memoirs of the Freshworks Founder, written with Pankaj Mishra, was released on April 15.

## Links

- Website: https://productmanager.wordpress.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/girish1/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/mrgirish

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/girish-mathrubootham
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-20