The people behind the Terns.
Two co-founders and co-CEOs, working directly with the Go-To-Market Terns who run Tern.
Kountinya Sai (Kount)
On-ground sales and strategic business development in the U.S.
As co-CEO, Kount leads Tern's on-ground sales and strategic business development in the U.S. A U.S. citizen based in Carlsbad, he has spent the last 15 years doing exactly this: helping Indian startups go to market in America.
Starting in 2011, he launched Cricbuzz in the U.S. market, earning revenue from 100+ direct brand advertisers, then used the same blueprint to help Tercept and Reciproci establish themselves in the U.S. Before that, from 1999 to 2010, he was part of the team that built sify.com and sifymall.com through India's dotcom era.
Born in Dindigul and rooted in Kodaikanal, he is a Loyola College, Chennai, alumnus, co-founder of harmoney.ai and an ICF-credentialed coach, with three decades in digital media.
Rohan Sambabu
Empowering young entrepreneurs from Tier-B and Tier-C cities and towns in Tamil Nadu to launch their products and innovations in the U.S. and UK.
As co-CEO, Rohan leads Tern's work with young entrepreneurs: founders from Tier-B and Tier-C cities and towns such as Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy, Dindigul and Kodai who are ready to take their startups to market in the U.S. and UK.
He is Director of St. Peter's International School, Kodaikanal, carrying forward the legacy of his father, J. Sambabu, who founded the school in 1985. An alumnus of St. Peter's and of Loyola College, Chennai, with an MBA from London, he was recently appointed an Executive Committee member of the CBSE Schools Management Association.
In Kodai he leads by example. As President of the Kodaikanal Football Welfare Association he runs charity tournaments that pay school fees for underprivileged students, and he champions drug-awareness drives and community service for young people. During the pandemic lockdowns, the association helped about 200 Kodai families get through.
That same period produced his open letter, Kodaikanal needs special attention, a roadmap for a town that cannot keep living on two summer months. Read Rohan's roadmap for Kodai ↓
A Kodai that works all year.
During the pandemic lockdowns, Rohan wrote an open letter, Kodaikanal needs special attention, and signed it simply “A Kodaikanal Citizen.”
Unlike Ooty and the towns around it, Kodai earns about 90% of its living from seasonal tourism, most of it in April and May, the months families count on to pay loans and school fees for the year. Its young people stay because they love the town, then find few options beyond a chocolate shop or another business built on tourists. The lockdown proved that isn't sustainable. His answer was a roadmap.
Work that lasts all year
Diversify employment so Kodai's families don't depend on two summer months.
A small IT hub in the hills
Remote teams and support units for major IT and services companies, run from Kodai's cottages by its young people. Cheaper than a big city, and a reason for visitors to come.
Enterprise rooted in the hills
Plum and pear jam, beekeeping, strawberry picking, and festivals built around seasons like cherry blossom.
Education close to home
A government university for boys, so more young people can study without leaving Kodai.
Growth without concrete
No large structures that harm the hills. Use what already exists, with the municipality's support.
“Kodai needs a clear vision for our future … I implore you to dream with me for the future of Kodaikanal.”Rohan Sambabu · A Kodaikanal Citizen
Tern is that roadmap at work. The Terns are young Kodai graduates doing global sales, marketing and go-to-market work from Kodai itself, work that doesn't follow the tourist season. It is the kind of small, talent-first set-up Rohan imagined, run by the young people of Kodai.
And the young founders he works with, from Kodai, Dindigul, Madurai, Trichy and Coimbatore, are building the kind of year-round work his letter called for.
The Go-To-Market Terns.
Three young women from the Government Arts and Science College for Women, Kodaikanal. They own sales, marketing and go-to-market enablement for each founder, working with Kount and Rohan.
Nasrin Mubina
Founding cohort lead. Self-taught through YouTube and sheer will, she turns care into craft. As a Go-To-Market Tern, she shapes how each founder's brand looks, reads and feels.
“If I grow, I want to help five more girls grow. Those five can inspire fifty.”
Sherin Fathima
From St. John's, Kodaikanal, to a business degree. She connects classroom theory to real practice. As a Go-To-Market Tern, she builds the model that makes each founder's launch work.
“To build responsible organisations that create room for small-town girls.”
Azeema Farzana
Raised on the belief that education is the family's biggest hope. She keeps the numbers honest. As a Go-To-Market Tern, she turns each launch's economics into something customers and partners can trust.
“Knowledge and hard work change the future — for my family, and for girls like me.”
Leaders coach. Terns own.
Kount leads on-ground sales and strategic business development in the U.S.; Rohan brings in young founders from Tamil Nadu's Tier-B and Tier-C towns. The Go-To-Market Terns carry each founder's go-to-market from first story to booked meetings.
Ready to take flight?
Tell us about your startup. Kount, Rohan and a Go-To-Market Tern will spend 10 hours on your U.S. go-to-market, then walk you through it in a 60-minute strategy session.