How Satish Thiagarajan Built Brysa Into a 30-Person Salesforce Consultancy With No Outside Funding

Most Salesforce consultancies are founded by people who have spent their careers inside the ecosystem. Satish Thiagarajan took a different route to the industry. Before launching Brysa, he worked on the client side at a UK media company, implementing and maintaining Salesforce during a period of mergers and acquisitions. That vantage point gave him a clear picture of what was working in the delivery model and, more importantly, what wasn’t. When the opportunity to do it differently appeared, he took the shot.

Today, Brysa is a bootstrapped, 30-person consultancy based in London, serving clients across media, engineering, and the not-for-profit sector. In this interview, Satish talks about the decisions that have shaped the business so far: why he chose to specialize rather than cast a wide net, why he turned away from outside investment, how he navigated the shift from a founder-led shop to a company with real structure, and what he thinks client-first consulting actually looks like in practice.

Tell us about yourself and your business

I’m Satish Thiagarajan, Founder and CEO of Brysa, a UK-based Salesforce consulting and digital transformation company. My background spans engineering, business, and culture, and much of my professional career has been spent in the media industry, alongside experience in banking and engineering. Before starting Brysa, I worked with Salesforce from the client side, which gave me a practical understanding of how technology investments affect the way businesses operate — and a vision of how implementation should actually be done.

Brysa helps organizations improve their business operations through Salesforce consulting, AI, implementation, integration, maintenance, and automation. We have a particular focus on the media industry, working with publishers, media owners, agencies and technology companies. We also work with organizations in sectors such as engineering and the not-for-profit sector.

How does your business make money?

Brysa operates as a business-to-business implementation partner. We generate revenue by helping organizations assess their needs, design solutions, implement Salesforce capabilities, integrate systems, and maintain or improve their existing environments. Our work spans sales, service, marketing, customer experience, data and AI-enabled automation.

The commercial engagement depends on the client’s needs and the scope of work. Some projects involve a defined implementation or assessment, while others require continuing technical support and improvement. We also increasingly explore outcome-based fee models where appropriate, aligning our commercial relationship more closely with the results we aim to achieve for clients.

What was your inspiration for starting the business?

Starting Brysa was more an evolution than a dramatic leap into entrepreneurship. I had already implemented and maintained Salesforce on the client side at a sizeable UK media company. During a period of mergers and acquisitions, I saw an opportunity to deliver Salesforce services with greater rigor, clearer ownership and stronger change management.

That experience shaped my thinking. Technology projects should not be judged by whether a system has been delivered, but by whether the system improves how people work. I believed there was room for a consultancy that combined technical expertise with a deeper understanding of business operations and a genuine commitment to client success. A mantra from my basketball days also stayed with me: when you see an opportunity, take the shot.

How and when did you launch the business?

I founded Brysa in London after recognizing the opportunity to improve how Salesforce consulting and implementation services were delivered. Rather than starting with an entirely new idea or an untested technology, I built on experience I had gained working with Salesforce within a client organization. That gave me a practical understanding of both the platform and the operational challenges businesses face.

The business has since grown beyond its initial focus on Salesforce Sales Cloud and Service Cloud. We have expanded into additional Salesforce products, data capabilities and AI-driven solutions, while developing our consulting, technical and management capabilities. Our aim has been to grow our expertise without losing the client-first approach that motivated the business in the first place.

How is the business funded?

Brysa has been bootstrapped since its founding. We made a conscious decision not to pursue investment rounds because we wanted to keep our focus on our clients and continue building deep expertise in our area of specialization. Raising funds and managing investor relationships can become a significant responsibility in itself, potentially diverting the leadership team’s attention from the business.

We also wanted the freedom to respond to market needs and grow sustainably. As a people-oriented business rather than a technology product company, our growth depends on building the right team and developing our capabilities at the right pace. We have therefore chosen to grow organically, prioritizing long-term value over rapid expansion. While our approach may evolve in the future, bootstrapping remains the right model for Brysa at this stage.

How did you find your first few clients?

Our first few clients came primarily through referrals and my existing professional network. When I left my previous role to start Brysa, I was fortunate to retain my former employer as our first client. They also referred us to another business that had recently been acquired and needed help cleaning up its systems and integrations. These early engagements gave us a steady stream of work during our first year and a solid foundation to build on.

I also recognized early on that our industry focus could help us grow. We brought in advisors with experience in the sectors we wanted to serve, and their introductions helped us establish relationships and expand our presence within those industries. Alongside referrals and personal contacts, we began investing in content marketing, PR, and outbound outreach. These activities have continued to support our growth.

What was your first year in business like?

The first year at Brysa was exciting, but all-consuming. We were building the business from the ground up, finding new clients and developing solutions while establishing our own way of working. The responsibility of running a new consultancy made us work harder and take greater ownership of what we delivered. We knew the risks involved in starting a business, so we paid close attention to service quality and client satisfaction.

That experience shaped a principle we still follow today: the solutions we deliver must work for the client’s business. We are not a one-size-fits-all consultancy that applies the same approach to every organization. We need to understand each client’s needs and develop solutions that address their specific challenges.

One important lesson was that the high level of senior leadership involvement that helped us deliver our early projects would not remain practical as the business grew. In our first year, key members of the leadership team were closely involved in one or two major projects. As we expanded, particularly in years three and four, we had to delegate more responsibility and build a more scalable way of working. The first year taught us not only how to serve clients well, but also how to build a business that could continue doing so as it grew.

What strategies did you use to grow the business?

One of our most important decisions was to specialize rather than try to be everything to everyone. We focused on Salesforce and built our expertise around the platform, while developing a particularly strong understanding of the media industry. This combination allows us to understand not just the technology but also the operational realities, commercial pressures and workflows that shape how clients use it.

We have also expanded our capabilities in response to the changing needs of our clients. Our work has grown from Sales Cloud and Service Cloud into areas including Marketing Cloud, Experience Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Revenue Cloud, Data Cloud and AI. This has allowed us to address broader business challenges while retaining our core expertise.

Another strategy has been to focus on outcomes rather than activity. We work to understand the underlying business problem before recommending a solution, and we aim to measure success in terms that matter to the client. In some engagements, this also means considering outcome-based commercial models and taking shared responsibility for results.

We have also invested in our people and a culture of continuous learning, particularly as Salesforce’s data and AI capabilities evolve. A consultancy cannot rely on yesterday’s expertise when the technology and its applications are changing so quickly. Developing our team’s capabilities is therefore central to our growth.

Finally, we have worked to make our delivery more structured, bringing consulting, technical implementation and management closer together. The aim is to combine strategic understanding with the ability to execute, helping clients move beyond recommendations to changes that make a tangible difference.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome?

One of our biggest challenges has been moving from a founder-led business to a more mature organization where teams, processes, and clear responsibilities drive delivery, rather than relying heavily on a few senior people. In our early days, the close involvement of senior leadership and the personal attention we gave clients were key differentiators. Our clients valued that level of service, and as we grew, we had to find a way to scale without losing it.

We have been working through this transition carefully. Today, projects have a clearer structure, with a principal and lead consultant overseeing the work, supported by the development team and project management function. We are still evolving, but the aim is to build a scalable delivery model while maintaining the quality and attention our clients expect.

Growing organically has helped us manage this change at a controlled pace. We were conscious that expanding too quickly, particularly with external investment, could put pressure on our teams and risk the relationships we had built with existing clients. The challenge was not simply to grow, but to grow in a way that preserved the strengths of the business. Being deliberate about that transition has been essential to our development.

What have been the most significant keys to your success?

Three principles have been particularly important to me: client focus, continuous learning, and servant leadership. First, we believe that Brysa succeeds only when our clients succeed. That means understanding their business, being honest about what they need, and sometimes recommending an approach that does not create additional work for us but is better for the client.

Second, we invest in learning. As Salesforce, data, and AI capabilities evolve, we need to keep developing our expertise and applying it thoughtfully to real business problems. 

Finally, I see leadership as creating the conditions for people to do their best work. My responsibility is not simply to direct the team, but to support them, remove obstacles, and help them grow.

Tell us about your team

Brysa has grown into a multidisciplinary team of more than 30 experts, bringing together different cultures, disciplines and areas of Salesforce expertise. Our people work across consulting, technical development, implementation and management, allowing us to combine business understanding with delivery capability.

I am particularly proud of the learning culture we are building. Technology consulting requires continuous development, but technical knowledge alone is not enough. We also need people who can understand client challenges, collaborate across teams, and take responsibility for outcomes. My role is to help create an environment in which the team can develop its expertise and do meaningful work for clients.

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned growing the business?

The most important lesson is that a business grows sustainably when you focus on the success of the people you serve, rather than on growth for its own sake. At Brysa, that means understanding the client’s real problem before proposing a solution, even when the answer is less work for us.

I’ve also learned that technical expertise must be accompanied by the ability to manage change. A solution creates value only when people adopt it, and it improves how the business operates

What separates your business from your competitors?

Our differentiation comes from combining deep Salesforce expertise with practical knowledge of the industries we serve. We understand that two businesses using the same technology can have very different operational challenges, so we do not begin with a standard solution and expect every client to fit it.

We take time to understand how the business works, identify the root causes of friction, and design solutions around the outcomes the client needs. We also bring consulting and implementation together, helping clients move from identifying a problem to delivering a practical solution. Our commitment is to client success, not simply completing a technology project.

What are your future plans for the business?

Our ambition is to strengthen Brysa’s position in data, automation and AI within the Salesforce ecosystem. We see significant opportunities to help organizations connect their information, improve their workflows and apply AI to practical business problems. Our experience in the media industry gives us a strong foundation for developing these capabilities, particularly through Agentforce and other emerging Salesforce technologies.

At the same time, growth must not come at the expense of the culture that has shaped Brysa. We want to continue investing in our people, developing specialist expertise and building a team that remains collaborative and committed to client success. The objective is not simply to adopt every new technology, but to help clients use the right capabilities to achieve measurable results.

What are your favourite books, blogs, podcasts or YouTube channels?

One of my favourite books is Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. It explores the cognitive biases that influence our judgement and decision-making. I find its lessons particularly useful in consultancy and running a business, where recognizing our own biases can help us make better decisions.

I also follow Not Another CEO, which shares practical insights, experiences, and lessons from founders and business leaders. I find it useful for understanding the challenges involved in building and leading a business.

For news and analysis, I enjoy The Economist’s podcasts, which cover global affairs, business and wider economic trends. From an industry perspective, I particularly like Behind the Billboard, a podcast exploring the people, campaigns and ideas shaping the out-of-home advertising industry.

I also follow Andrew Ng‘s work on artificial intelligence, which provides insights into research, industry developments, and practical applications.