KILLING THE SERVICES CASH COW TO BUILD A SAAS EXIT

ft. Ujwal Arkalgud

Ujwal Arkalgud, cultural anthropologist, exited founder, and author of Invisible Rules, joins Raman Sehgal to explore how hidden buyer psychology shapes growth and valuation. They unpack his journey from services to SaaS, the hard lessons behind a near-miss exit, and what it really takes to build a business buyers fully understand—along with the often-overlooked realities of life after selling.

IN THIS EPISODE

In this episode, Raman Sehgal sits down with Ujwal Arkalgud. He is a cultural anthropologist, exited entrepreneur, and investor specializing in “Valuation Engineering” for founder-led firms.

After bootstrapping MotivBase to a high eight-figure exit, he now helps leaders decode the hidden buyer psychology that often caps growth. Proven across VC, PE, and bootstrapped environments, his work ensures founders get full credit for the businesses they’ve built.

Ujwal is also the author of Invisible Rules, which examines how unseen cultural architecture influences careers, creativity, and leadership. His work invites people to question inherited assumptions and consider what becomes possible once those assumptions are made visible.

Invisible Rules is available now.

WHAT WE COVER

How an anthropological lens helped Ujwal cut through the ugly truth of market research and bring clarity to complex consumer behaviour
The selling approach that helped him break into major brands, including why he led with where the industry was headed rather than product features
Using services to generate cash and learn the invisible rules of decision making, then productising the methodology and turning it into SaaS
The cold turkey shift from services to SaaS, dropping revenue from $5m to $1.5m, losing clients, and riding the hockey stick back up
The 2020 failed sale process that became a silver lining, tightening the business around sales efficiency, EBITDA, and clean recurring revenue
Post exit reality, the jittery withdrawal, taking real time off, and resisting the urge to jump into the next company too fast

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Ujwal Arkalgud

Ujwal Arkalgud is a cultural anthropologist, exited entrepreneur, and investor specializing in “Valuation Engineering” for founder-led firms. After bootstrapping MotivBase to a high eight-figure exit, he now helps leaders decode the hidden buyer psychology that often caps growth.

Ujwal is also the author of Invisible Rules, which examines how unseen cultural architecture influences careers, creativity, and leadership. Invisible Rules is available now.

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