<p>There was never any doubt about Tamil superstar Rajinikanth’s imposing influence on his fans. And on Saturday, a die-hard fan demonstrated what the film icon means to him by code-naming an initial public offering (IPO) by his US-based company as ‘Project Superstar’.</p>.<p>The die-hard fan is none other than Girish Mathrubootham, co-founder and CEO of Freshworks, a software startup now based in the United States. The company has filed for a $100 million IPO whose code word is named after Rajinikanth.</p>.<p>Through the IPO is being led by Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase & Co and Bank of America, the company wants to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.</p>.<p>Mathrubootham, who hails from Tiruchirappalli in Central Tamil Nadu, has never hidden his love for Rajinikanth — the actor who enjoys a demi-god status among millions of his fans. He had written a detailed blog titled ‘Dreams do come true’ in 2017 after meeting Rajinikanth along with his wife and kids.</p>.<p>In the post-script of the filing document, Mathrubootham called Rajinikanth his 'maanaseega guru' (loosely translated into Godfather) and thanked him for being more than an inspiration. </p>.<p>“The code name for our IPO was Project SuperStar, named after the most successful movie star from Tamil Nadu, Rajinikanth. I want to express my love and gratitude to him for being my maanaseega guru. There is no comparable English word to express what this means,” he wrote in the document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.</p>.<p>“It is a mentor; a role model that lives in your mind, from whom you learn a lot by watching from afar. SuperStar is a man who is loved and worshipped by millions of fans globally. He is immensely successful yet humble and down to earth. Thank you, Thalaivaa,” the start-up’s founder further wrote.</p>.<p>Freshworks, whose software products are used by more than 50,000 companies, was first launched in Chennai in 2010 in a 700 square foot warehouse before Mathrubootham moved to the US in 2019 to expand his start-up. Recalling the journey, the CEO said the company’s dream in 2011 was to get to $1 million in revenue and started dreaming of its second product – Freshservice in 2012. </p>.<p>“In 2014, we started dreaming of growing faster and building out an outbound go-to-market motion. Now, our dream is to be a disruptive player in the CRM market by breaking down the silos of marketing, sales, and customer support with a unified customer cloud. And in the future, we dream of breaking the silos of IT and HR, building a unified employee cloud,” Mathrubootham said.</p>
<p>There was never any doubt about Tamil superstar Rajinikanth’s imposing influence on his fans. And on Saturday, a die-hard fan demonstrated what the film icon means to him by code-naming an initial public offering (IPO) by his US-based company as ‘Project Superstar’.</p>.<p>The die-hard fan is none other than Girish Mathrubootham, co-founder and CEO of Freshworks, a software startup now based in the United States. The company has filed for a $100 million IPO whose code word is named after Rajinikanth.</p>.<p>Through the IPO is being led by Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase & Co and Bank of America, the company wants to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.</p>.<p>Mathrubootham, who hails from Tiruchirappalli in Central Tamil Nadu, has never hidden his love for Rajinikanth — the actor who enjoys a demi-god status among millions of his fans. He had written a detailed blog titled ‘Dreams do come true’ in 2017 after meeting Rajinikanth along with his wife and kids.</p>.<p>In the post-script of the filing document, Mathrubootham called Rajinikanth his 'maanaseega guru' (loosely translated into Godfather) and thanked him for being more than an inspiration. </p>.<p>“The code name for our IPO was Project SuperStar, named after the most successful movie star from Tamil Nadu, Rajinikanth. I want to express my love and gratitude to him for being my maanaseega guru. There is no comparable English word to express what this means,” he wrote in the document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.</p>.<p>“It is a mentor; a role model that lives in your mind, from whom you learn a lot by watching from afar. SuperStar is a man who is loved and worshipped by millions of fans globally. He is immensely successful yet humble and down to earth. Thank you, Thalaivaa,” the start-up’s founder further wrote.</p>.<p>Freshworks, whose software products are used by more than 50,000 companies, was first launched in Chennai in 2010 in a 700 square foot warehouse before Mathrubootham moved to the US in 2019 to expand his start-up. Recalling the journey, the CEO said the company’s dream in 2011 was to get to $1 million in revenue and started dreaming of its second product – Freshservice in 2012. </p>.<p>“In 2014, we started dreaming of growing faster and building out an outbound go-to-market motion. Now, our dream is to be a disruptive player in the CRM market by breaking down the silos of marketing, sales, and customer support with a unified customer cloud. And in the future, we dream of breaking the silos of IT and HR, building a unified employee cloud,” Mathrubootham said.</p>
