What InVideo, Sarvam, & Zoho Built While Others Chased Ads

TLDR; We break down how InVideo AI scaled from near-collapse to $70M ARR, how Sarvam AI became India’s sovereign AI flagbearer, and how Zoho built a global SaaS empire without ad spend extracting the exact GTM tricks you can copy today.

Author

Varnan Labs
August 14, 2025

1. InVideo AI

AI-powered video creation platform used by 50M+ creators across 195+ countries.

  1. SEO-Led Growth Engine
    300K+ ranked keywords, free micro-tools gated by signup, and 70% unbranded traffic powering 42% of total signups.

  2. Educational Content Over Ads
    YouTube tutorials, user success stories, and platform-specific content. All designed to teach before selling

  3. Freemium That Converts
    Clear limits (10 mins/week free) push upgrades without hurting adoption; significantly higher than industry-average conversion.

  4. Perfect Timing on the AI Wave

    Pivoted to AI video tools right as ChatGPT hype peaked in early 2023.

Takeaway:
Own a scalable acquisition channel (like SEO), lead with education, and time your pivots to market waves.

2. Sarvam AI

Full-stack generative AI startup building India-specific LLMs with government and tech giant backing.

  1. Government-Backed Credibility
    IndiaAI Mission selection post hit 553K views official validation driving developer trust and enterprise inbounds.

  2. Open-Source Authority
    Released Sarvam-M & Sarvam-2B with code, papers, and demos; turned transparency into adoption.

  3. Partnership Amplification
    Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA collabs amplified through joint announcements and mutual content.

  4. Developer-to-Enterprise Loop

    Discord-first community → hackathon projects → enterprise pilots → revenue.

Takeaway:
Pair credibility signals (gov, partners) with open-source to build both trust and adoption loops.

3. Zoho

Bootstrapped SaaS giant with 100M+ users, thriving without traditional paid ads.

  1. Founder-Led Brand
    Sridhar Vembu’s 316K-follower personal account drives values-led, contrarian positioning creating trust and differentiation.

  2. Developer-First Community
    Hackathons, GitHub repos, and technical workshops that turn devs into bottom-up enterprise champions.

  3. Multi-Channel Content Flywheel

    Coordinated presence across X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram each optimized for its native format.

  4. Customer Success Loops

    Zoholics events + UGC + customer stories fueling social proof and retention.

Takeaway:
Long-term trust compounds faster than ad impressions build it through authentic founder voice and community depth.