Episode 301

301 Srikrishnan Ganesan - The Second Sale: Rethinking Onboarding as a Revenue Lever

Most SaaS companies treat onboarding like a checklist Rocketlane turns it into a competitive edge.

In this episode of SaaS Fuel, Jeff Mains welcomes Srikrishnan Ganesan , co-founder and CEO of Rocketlane. Sri shares how strategic onboarding builds trust, boosts expansion revenue, and drives customer success from Day 1.

They explore how AI is transforming service delivery from reactive to proactive, and why onboarding is the second sale that most founders overlook. Whether you're scaling a SaaS product, leading a customer success team, or building from zero, this episode is packed with frameworks, strategies, and insight.

🔑 What you’ll learn:

Why onboarding is the biggest untapped growth lever in SaaS
How to build trust early and drive outcomes that last
The power of proactive partnership and strategic alignment
What most founders underestimate about onboarding
How Rocketlane uses AI to scale delivery and boost CS

🎯 Ready to slash churn and create long-term advocates? Don’t miss this.

Key Takeaways

00:00 – Building trust through governance and standardization

03:18 – Why onboarding is the real start of the customer journey

04:10 – AI’s role in scaling onboarding and CS

10:07 – What Rocketlane solves for onboarding teams

11:59 – Why poor onboarding triggers early churn

12:28 – The second sale: onboarding as activation

14:54 – Building confidence post-sale with seamless onboarding

18:44 – Acting as a partner, not just a vendor

20:18 – Lessons learned from being acquired by Freshworks

23:18 – What Srikrishnan had to unlearn as a second-time founder

25:42 – Testing market traction before building

28:02 – Marketing with customer language

29:11 – The Captain’s Keys: leadership meets drama

30:20 – Biggest challenge in building Rocketlane

32:13 – Hiring with empathy and strategic insight

33:09 – Power of onboarding communities and shared lessons

34:06 – Early missteps that shaped Sri’s leadership

36:07 – Bootstrapped or funded? Capital strategy breakdown

39:12 – How Rocketlane uses AI in onboarding

43:22 – Thinking beyond operations: AI in professional services

45:20 – Final advice: optimize your onboarding this quarter

46:06 – Where to find Rocketlane and connect with Srikrishnan

47:20 – Upcoming guests: Pete Stagg and Andreas Voniatis

Tweetable Quotes

"Onboarding is the second sale. That’s where trust is built or broken." – Srikrishnan Ganesan

"When the vendor is chasing progress, not the customer, that’s when partnerships thrive." – Srikrishnan Ganesan

"You win onboarding when customers say: ‘Wow, that was easy.’" – Jeff Mains

"Poor onboarding is the silent churn trigger hiding in plain sight." – Jeff Mains

"The best onboarding teams think like strategists, not just project managers." – Srikrishnan Ganesan

"AI lets us scale delivery, elevate service, and stay one step ahead of customer needs." – Srikrishnan Ganesan

SaaS Leadership Lessons

Onboarding is the second sale. It’s your chance to reaffirm the customer’s decision and set the tone for a long-term partnership.
Governance builds trust. Standardizing how you deliver results creates confidence and drives repeatable success.
Proactive support beats reactive fixes. When vendors lead the relationship and stay ahead of issues, customers see them as true partners.
AI is redefining customer success. From flagging bottlenecks to guiding implementations, intelligent automation elevates the onboarding experience.
Great onboarding reduces churn before it starts. Poor setup makes customers second-guess their purchase—before they even log in.
Your onboarding team needs strategic thinkers. It’s not just about delivery—it’s about insight, empathy, and aligning with customer goals.