Freshworks CMO Kady Srinivasan on GTM - ICP, Not Product

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the B2B Go-To-Market Leaders Podcast, Vijay Damojipurapu sits down with Kady Srinivasan, Chief Marketing Officer at Freshworks, to explore what it really takes to build market share in SaaS, and why finding the right ICP is often the difference between accelerated growth and stalled momentum. Drawing from leadership roles across Dropbox, Klaviyo, Lightspeed, and Freshworks, Kady shares lessons from scaling PLG, inbound, outbound, and hybrid go-to-market motions, while navigating the realities of product-market fit, category expansion, and AI-driven disruption. The conversation dives into the evolution of modern GTM, from defining your initial ICP to expanding into adjacent markets without losing your positioning, and why many companies drift away from the messaging and audience that made them successful in the first place. They dive into: - Why GTM is ultimately about building market share through coordinated actions across product, marketing, sales, and customer success. - How great products still fail when they're sold to the wrong audience or positioned with the wrong messaging. - The concept of ICP+ and how successful companies expand beyond their initial customer base without losing focus. - Why many SaaS companies unintentionally drift away from their original positioning as they add products and features. - The differences between PLG, inbound, outbound, and enterprise sales motions—and when each makes sense. - How pricing, packaging, and expansion strategy influence long-term customer value. - Kady's ABCD Framework for positioning: Audience, Benefits, Compelling Reasons to Believe, and Differentiation. - Why storytelling frameworks like the Hero's Journey remain powerful tools for modern marketers. - How AI is creating a new generation of multi-threaded marketers who can operate across traditional marketing silos. - A creative CEO influence strategy that transformed LinkedIn engagement into pipeline and qualified opportunities. - Lessons from a major ICP pivot at Lightspeed that helped drive significant market share gains in targeted geographies. - Why defining and defending your ICP is one of the most important leadership decisions a company can make. Kady's core message is simple: The companies that win aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest products, they're the ones with the clearest understanding of who they're serving and why. This episode is a practical masterclass on ICP definition, positioning, GTM motion design, and the future of marketing in an AI-powered world.