xto10x

We’re thrilled to share the latest edition of the Compensation Trends in the Indian Startup Ecosystem! Last year’s edition was highly appreciated for its deep insights into startup compensation structures. This year, we’ve taken it a step further with even more in-depth analysis! This report is crafted specifically for startups, answering critical questions like: ? How should founders structure cash and equity compensation? ? What are the best practices for designing ESOPs to attract and retain top talent? ? How does compensation evolve as a startup scales? ? How do startup compensation models compare to traditional enterprises? What’s new in this edition? ? Deeper insights into structuring compensation for founders and leadership. ? Expanded coverage on incentive plans tailored for Business teams. ? Data from several more startups across Fintech, Edtech, Logistics Tech, Ecommerce, SaaS, D2C, and Retail. The brief report is available in this post for you to download and explore insights. Do drop a comment or DM us to schedule a meeting for a debrief on the report In addition to the brief report, we also have a comprehensive, full report to equip you with an even deeper view of market benchmarks, allowing you to set market-based ranges for fixed and variable pay, budgets for open roles and take data backed decisions for your appraisals - on annual increments, bonuses or market corrections. You can access the full report by sharing your company’s compensation data and further enriching the next report with your valuable data. You can email us at [email protected] to share your data or ask any queries. All participating companies will also receive access to next year’s full edition of the report. Binny Bansal Neeraj Aggarwal Saikiran Krishnamurthy #Startups #CompensationTrends #ESOPs #TalentStrategy #Growth #HRStrategy #EquityCompensation #CompensationBenchmarking #TRB #TotalRewards

2024 has been a very significant year for xto10x. In our core mission of helping companies scale more effectively, we’ve taken some very meaningful steps forward this year. - We worked with a total of 172 companies this year, with ~100 of them being first time engagements for xto10x. In total, since inception, xto10x has had the privilege of being a part of 545 companies’ scaling journeys. - Our footprint in Saudi Arabia continued to deepen across both start-ups and SMEs. This region now contributes to almost 25% of our revenue. - Our newest (and perhaps most ambitious) program, the IPO Academy was launched recently, with the objective of helping start-ups have a very successful IPO and post-IPO journey. - The number of employees using our HR SaaS tool, PeopleCues, for Engagement, OKRs and Performance, have almost doubled this year to 40,000. - We expanded our footprint in non-venture funded firms. From an iconic clothing brand, to a leading publishing house, to a jewellery manufacturer…. we’ve had amazing partnerships. Some of the most exciting problem statements we worked on this year included: - Growth & Marketing: Uncovering growth levers in ~15 D2C brands using our proprietary diagnostic toolkit, tripling organic traffic through a new brand campaign for an apparel brand, designing the inorganic playbook for doubling revenue for a B2B SaaS player... - Operations: Halving operating burn for a food delivery platform, improving delivery speeds for an online marketplace helping both conversion & retention, and re-thinking the network for a Q-com player to offer 5x more SKUs in a cost-neutral manner... - People Excellence: Re-designing Org Structure for companies, including unicorns, to de-bottleneck execution, re-structuring corporate costs to improve profitability, overhauling all people systems for an IPO bound company, programs to improve effectiveness of over 250 managers & leaders... ? - Planning & Governance: Strengthening AOP planning & metrics rigor at all levels for an agri-tech platform, installing & improving OKRs leading to stronger business planning in an ed-tech firm, creating execution momentum for new business lines in a unicorn... - Hiring: Staffing over 40 CXOs and leaders in more than 20 companies, allowing them the right leadership configuration needed. We couldn’t be more excited about what the next year holds in store for us. xto10x PeopleCues Saikiran Krishnamurthy Binny Bansal

Testimonial Alert! Thrilled to share some wonderful words from Sandeep Deshmukh, Co-founder and CEO of ElasticRun! ElasticRun is a leading B2B e-commerce platform empowering rural India, helping brands expand into the deepest parts of the country and unlocking new markets and growth opportunities. We had the privilege of partnering with their incredible team to implement OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and drive operational clarity and focus. In Sandeep’s words: “OKRs brought a lot of method to the madness, replacing brute force with planning and precision. Now, we have a numerical grip on execution—tracking initiatives, assigning ownership, and measuring progress. The clarity and rhythm this model provides have been transformative for teams managing multiple parallel initiatives.” A huge thank you to Sandeep and the ElasticRun team! ?? It’s been an absolute pleasure collaborating with you. Anusha Gopalakrishnan Neeraj Aggarwal #Testimonial #Founders #ElasticRun #OKRs #xto10x

PeopleCues by xto10x joins HR Connect Forum as an Exhibitor Sponsor xto10x supports fast-growing companies with scalable solutions in growth strategy, leadership, and performance management. Their tools are designed to streamline operations, align teams, and build a foundation for sustainable growth. Meet xTo10x at the HR Connect Forum to explore data-driven frameworks that can elevate your organization’s growth and efficiency. Download brochure: https://lnkd.in/dRd96qrZ #HRConnectForum #HRInnovation #FutureOfHR #HRForumKuwait #SustainableHR #TechDrivenHR #FutureOfWork

An exciting two days at HRSE, Dubai! ??? Our team had the opportunity to connect with over 100 HR professionals and leaders at the HR Summit & Expo (HRSE) in Dubai. The conversations gave us valuable insights into the evolving challenges HR teams face and the growing role of technology in driving performance, engagement, and culture. A big thank you to everyone who visited our booth and shared their thoughts. We’re leaving HRSE with fresh perspectives and a strong sense of purpose as we continue to push the boundaries of HR tech! #HRSE #HRTech #DigitalTransformation #EmployeeEngagement #PerformanceManagement #PeopleCues xto10x

Catch PeopleCues live at the HRSE Summit in Dubai, October 23rd-24th, at Booth E34!

Testimonial Alert! Excited to share a fantastic testimonial from Foxtale, a skincare brand transforming beauty with its science-backed, customer-first approach! Founded by Romita Mazumdar, Foxtale is raising the bar in the D2C space! We had the privilege of partnering with Foxtale on their journey toward Operations Excellence! In Romita’s words: “Operations is not just about packing and sending—Ops is growth. Working with xto10x felt like having a co-founder on the team, pushing us to build operations for a 1000 crore company. The impact of first-principle thinking and deep data analytics has been transformative in our decision-making.” A heartfelt thank you to Romita Mazumdar! It’s been an absolute pleasure collaborating with you and the Foxtale team. Pawan Raghuveer Abhishek B V Ankit Hetamsaria Tanveer Ahmed Neeraj Aggarwal

Testimonial Alert - Keventers! With a decades-long heritage, Keventers has transformed into an iconic brand, loved by millions across India and beyond. Known for its classic milkshakes and nostalgic vibes, Keventers has continuously innovated and evolved to stay at the forefront of the ever-changing F&B landscape. xto10x team had the privilege of working Keventers through the Operations Excellence program. Neeraj Aggarwal Pawan Raghuveer Abhishek B V Tanveer Ahmed The engagement focused on optimising store operations, improving profitability, and driving sustainable growth. But don’t take our word for it! Here’s what the Director & Chief Strategy Officer, Shaurya Prabhat, of Keventers had to say:

Ever since we started xto10x six years ago, one of the key practices we focused on building was People Excellence. Most companies compete very heavily for a reasonably small talent pool, so it becomes critical to create a culture and environment that allows you to retain and develop the talent you do manage to hire. Companies that do this have a significant advantage over others. One of the key challenges we've been working on solving, is the attrition of high quality talent. Over the past few quarters, through our HR SaaS platform, PeopleCues, we've been building a solution to identify and address potential attrition of high quality talent without having to rely on traditional point-in-time surveys (which are infrequent and too late in providing signals). In case this is of interest to you, do DM me or write in to [email protected] and we'll arrange a POC for you to demonstrate how it can positively impact retention in your organization's context.

Building great public market companies - IPO readiness On Friday, we had a wonderful curtain-raiser session for the xto10x IPO academy with Mohandas Pai. Mohan had everyone spellbound for 2.5 hours (no breaks and no one moved!) - sharing the deep learnings from his years as Infosys CFO - on what it means to be truly ready to be a public company. Not just doing the IPO transaction, but being ready for the years of consistent growth and value creation that must come hand-in-hand with the responsibility of taking money from retail shareholders. The reality is, many of us in the startup ecosystem are at the risk of missing these six simple truths ("readiness conditions") in our preparation to go public: 1. A unique “disruptor” business model that can outperform peers - with strong visibility into the first 8 quarters of growth/profit performance post-IPO 2. Ability to give accurate guidance and consistently deliver 3. An IPO-ready team that can scale with the business 4. An independent, highly-skilled board?- as a competitive advantage 5. High transparency & 100% compliance 6. A price that leaves value on the table, ensuring great returns for both new and existing shareholders After Mohan's talk, we did a readiness assessment with the audience of founders/CFOs on where they felt they stood on these six areas. The result was quite revealing (see attached graphic) - with board readiness coming out as the lowest scoring area. One surprise in the self-assessment for me was that consistent quarter-to-quarter performance came out quite high on the readiness score - we know from our work at xto10x that this is something that worries many founders headed to IPO in the next 2-3 years. The high point of the session was the manifesto signing where 80+ founders/CFOs (inspired by Mohan's words!) signed a simple statement committing to work towards true readiness before going public. We wrote this manifesto after more than 25 conversations with founders, industry stalwarts, board members, investment bankers, regulators and functional leaders who have gone public - as a simple mission statement of what we should work towards as the startup ecosystem. We will do our best as xto10x to provide operating support and act as conscience-keepers to help achieve this goal. To read the full manifesto, please feel free to download it from https://lnkd.in/g6Na4jiD (don't worry, it's not behind a paywall or registration form!). If you have IPO on your mind (who doesn't!!) and would like to discuss some of these readiness areas, please feel free to drop me a line at [email protected]. #startups #iporeadiness