Paroon Chadha
Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, OnBoard. On 1 show, 2 appearances, plus 1 compilation re-air not counted. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.
founderexecutiveinvestor@paroon ↗LinkedIn ↗onboardmeetings.com ↗
Paroon Chadha co-founded Passageways (now OnBoard) in 2003, bootstrapping the board meeting and governance software platform before securing a $100 million growth investment from JMI Equity in 2021. In September 2024, he transitioned from chief executive officer to executive chairman to guide company strategy.
1shows
2appearances
47statements
2resolved
1supported
0contradicted
50%fully supported
Everything Paroon Chadha said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.
Chadha: Talent density rises astronomically after raising large capital rounds
“The talent density goes up astronomically after you've raised money, you know, with some big valuation numbers or big checks because people want to come and work. Your firm, and you are inviting your friends as well.”
Chadha: Six- and seven-figure secondary payouts transform company culture
“When you really find lots of folks around you in your team have made their first six-figure, seven-figure checks, and they work with you, it will completely change the culture. You don't have to worry. There's a proven culture of financial rewards, extraordina…”
Chadha: OnBoard closed its fundraising cycle in 1.5 weeks
“For me, ah, the fundraising cycle was a very short one. It was just a week and a half.”
Chadha: Acquiring over 20% of ARR requires making executive hires first
“When you do an acquisition which is more than 20% of your ARR, it's gonna test you. You almost need to hire execs ahead of that transaction.”
Chadha: 200 customers in one vertical makes startups more investable
“First of all, stick with a niche. Niches will bring riches. Certainly, you know, I can you know, attest to that. If you have 200 customers in the same vertical, you're going to be more investable than actually being spread over lots of different verticals.”
Shada: eScribe was doing $5M to $10M in revenue at acquisition
“Yeah, I know. I would say, you know, just short of that, but yeah, that was sort of the revenue range. You know, they were in the five to ten million range, but I don't know the exact specific number this time, but yeah.”
Shada: Bootstrapped founders should cash out half their equity in M&A deals
“A good rule of thumb is, you know, you take half off and then, you know, in the new combined entity, you are back on the schedule to get some more options. So you are actually back in the Western schedule.”
Shada: OnBoard is past $30M run rate, targeting up to $37M
“That is accurate.
And, you know, ending the year you know, of course with a few big months, end of the year accurately, you know, we could get to numbers that are higher than, you know, closer towards 35, 37.”
Shada: OnBoard was bootstrapped and profitable for 15 years
“Completely bootstrapped. Ran a profit for, believe it or not, 15 years.”
Shada: He bought out all early partners to own 100% of OnBoard
“And eventually there came a time when there was no cap table. There was just a single cell. I owned all of it.”
Shada: Founders in evergreen spaces should build to own forever
“Investors will come and go if you find yourself in an evergreen space. Keep building like you're going to own this forever because you just might.”
Passageways Closes 40% of Its Annual Business in November and December
“Believe it or not, between now and the end of the year, I'm gonna do 40% of the year's business.”
Chadha: OnBoard used debt to bootstrap to $15M ARR
“First actually really took on debt. To continue to bootstrap till we got to fifteen million dollars in ARR.”
Chadha: Ensemble generated $2M-$3M annually to fund OnBoard's growth
“Meanwhile, we continued down the path of taking the original product ensemble and making it into a cash cow, which funded the business two, three million dollars every year. That money was plowed back into growing the onboard business.”
Chadha: OnBoard is currently growing revenue at a 50 percent rate
“At this time, you know, we are growing, you know, 50%, and we are actually really fast growing.”
Chadha: OnBoard's first customer provided the loan for his co-founder buyout
“In my case, my first customer was also somebody who gave us infrastructure. We used their office. They also advised a lot on operations side. How do you get compliance certifications and such? And eventually they became my date partner. When I talked about buy…”
Chadha: Early customers are emotionally invested and act as an early board
“So you can get a lot out of your early customers. They are emotionally invested just like early employees. The question really comes down to what are you going to solve for with them? They're your early board, if you will.”
Chadha: OnBoard raised $5M primary plus secondary in first institutional round
“So the first check was actually only five million dollars on the balance sheet. I did take some you know, secondary off just to really kind of just ease the pain.”
Shada: OnBoard adds 80 to 100 new customers monthly
“And we are adding about, you know I'd say about 80 to a hundred customers a month. That's the clip that we are operating at.”
Shada: eScribe's pre-acquisition ACV was around $20K to $25K
“They are actually higher. So if you think of a city council, there's often, you know, a much bigger number of people involved, some more subscribers their you know, average contract you know, pre-transaction was right around 20, 25.”
One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Paroon's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.
| Show | Role there | Eps | Statements | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 TOP FOUNDERSLEDGER | Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, OnBoard | 2 +1 | 47 | 50% 1/2 | full record on Top Founders → |