Empowering Hiring 150+ countries: Sagar Khatri, Multiplier | Founder's Deep Dive E21 | SaaSBoomi Podcast

This episode is special because its the first time we are having
a founder from Singapore join the SaaSBoomi Podcast! 


Suresh Sambandam, CEO of KissFlow has a virtual sit down with
none other than Sagar Khatri, the founder of Multiplier, a
Sequoia surge backed SaaS business that helps business hire
talent globally. We dive deep to talk about Sagar’s motivations
to start Multiplier, how AI disrupts his offering and his dream
of running a public company.
Key Takeaways

00:19 - Multiplier and Sagar’s intro


01:50 - Multiplier's value prop and its benefits


16:15 - Sagar's story behind starting Multiplier and why it's a
SaaS business


21:14 - Sagar's vision for making payroll an employee-driven
phenomenon


26:02 - How Multiplier deals with legalities and potential
challenges in their business model


36:48 - Importance of having a strong product background for
Platform dev


39:27 - How AI influences Sagar's business


46:10 - Role of governments in employment and the gig economy's
effect on social contributions


53:15 - Sagar's go-to-market strategy and their sales cycle for
inbound and outbound leads


56:09 - Sagar's thoughts on "The Ride of a Lifetime" by Bob Iger


57:10 - What Sagar envisions for the future of Multiplier and his
dream of running a public company
Key Mentions


Amazon: Sagar mentioned employment use cases
with companies like Amazon and Orange.


Orange: Sagar mentioned employment use cases
with companies like Amazon and Orange.


Sequoia: Sequoia has been an investor in
Sagar's previous startup and was indirectly involved in his
experiences that led to the founding of Multiplier.


GCP: Sagar talked about the shift from having
server rooms to using cloud solutions like GCP.


Azure: Sagar discussed the shift from having
server rooms to using solutions like Azure.


Kissflow: A platform that Sagar mentioned his
company Multiplier uses for their backend.


ADP: ADP was mentioned as a traditional
payroll processing company that Multiplier aims to outpace with
its more modern, employee-driven approach.


Tiger Global Management: Tiger Global
Management is an investor in Multiplier for their Series B
round.


DST Global: DST Global is an investor in
Multiplier for their Series B round.


Pine Labs: Pine Labs is another investor in
Multiplier.


IIT Bombay: The co-founders of Multiplier are
both alumni of IIT Bombay.


Kelly Services: Kelly Services was mentioned
as a traditional staffing services firm similar to what
Multiplier aims to disrupt with their platform.


Talent Wiki: Sagar mentioned that they have
created a Talent Wiki of 150 countries to help customers with
labor law information.


Ranstad: Ranstad was mentioned as a
traditional staffing services firm similar to what Multiplier
aims to disrupt with their platform.


Robert Walters: Robert Walters is a
recruitment agency where Am Paul Sing, Co-founder of
Multiplier, previously worked.


Lazada: Lazada is an e-commerce company in
Southeast Asia where Multiplier’s CTO previously worked as SVP
of Engineering.


Freshworks: Sagar compared his company's
go-to-market model with that of Freshworks.


MTR: A restaurant in India that Sagar loves,
mentioned while discussing a meeting in Chennai with Suresh.


Sangeetha Restaurants: A restaurant in Chennai
that Suresh suggested Sagar visit when he comes to the
city.
 



Multiplier is a platform that allows companies to hire talent
globally without the need to set up legal entities in each
country. With coverage in 150 countries, Multiplier handles all
aspects of employment such as contracts, payroll, benefits,
taxes, and social contributions, allowing companies to focus
on sourcing the right talent. Although Multiplier itself does not
do recruitment, it provides the infrastructure necessary for a
company to hire globally.


The employee is technically on Multiplier's payroll since the
legal entity belongs to Multiplier. What seems to matter more is
the work relationship and the emotional connection that employees
have with their team and their work, not the legal
specifics.