# Varun Shoor

> Varun Shoor founded customer-service software company Kayako in Jalandhar in 2001 at age 17 and bootstrapped it before exiting through its acquisition by ESW Capital in 2018. A self-taught programmer with a strong interest in design, he later worked with founders through SaaSBoomi GrowthX and co-hosted its marketing podcasts. His public accounts cover early sales, management mistakes, engineering recruitment, pricing and the changing work of a founder.

- **Role:** Founder & former CEO at Kayako
- **Organizations:** Kayako, SaaSBoomi
- **From:** Jalandhar, India
- **Known for:** Built and bootstrapped Kayako from a teenage software project into an international customer-service software business., Exited Kayako through its 2018 acquisition by ESW Capital., In his January 2023 account, PipeCandy and Wingman doubled revenue after participating in GrowthX/SGx and were subsequently acquired; he worked with both.

## Career timeline

- **2001** — Founded Kayako in Jalandhar at age 17.
- **2004** — Added live chat to Kayako’s product offering.
- **2005** — Opened Kayako’s first office.
- **2010** — Introduced per-seat pricing in November.
- **2011** — Opened a Delhi-area engineering office to improve recruitment.
- **2016** — Kayako was reported to be profitable, operating in three countries and without outside funding.
- **2018** — Exited Kayako following acquisition by ESW Capital.
- **2021** — Shared bootstrapping lessons through SaaSBoomi and co-hosted its BTS marketing podcast.
- **2023** — Wrote about founder mentorship and community, and continued hosting marketing conversations.

## Achievements

- Built and bootstrapped Kayako from a teenage software project into an international customer-service software business.
- Exited Kayako through its 2018 acquisition by ESW Capital.
- In his January 2023 account, PipeCandy and Wingman doubled revenue after participating in GrowthX/SGx and were subsequently acquired; he worked with both.

## Latest updates

- **2025-05** — Avinash Raghava published a retrospective describing their twenty-year friendship and Shoor’s contributions to the founder community.
- **2023-12** — Co-hosted a SaaSBoomi podcast with Arvind Parthiban and Almabase founder Kalyan Verma on customer development and partnerships in the US.
- **2023-01** — Published a SaaSBoomi essay describing mentorship of PipeCandy and Wingman and his views on pricing and community.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/varunshoor
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/varunshoor

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/varun-shoor
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-12