Pujun Bhatnagar

CEO & Co-Founder

Bio

Pujun Bhatnagar is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kintsugi, where he leads the development of the company’s innovative platform that simplifies sales tax compliance. With extensive experience in fintech, Pujun is focused on helping e-commerce and SaaS businesses automate their tax processes using AI-driven tools to reduce time and complexity in managing tax regulations.

Pujun Bhatnagar is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kintsugi, where he leads the development of…

Company:

Kintsugi

Location:

San Francisco, California, United States

Description:

Kintsugi is an AI-powered platform that automates sales tax compliance for e-commerce and SaaS businesses. It offers a comprehensive solution that includes real-time nexus monitoring, AI-driven product categorization, sales tax calculation, registration, and filing. The platform aims to streamline the entire tax management process, making compliance easier and reducing manual effort for businesses of all sizes.

Kintsugi is an AI-powered platform that automates sales tax compliance for e-commerce and SaaS businesses.…

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Conversation
Highlights

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech’s most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Pujun Bhatnagar, CEO & Co-Founder of Kintsugi, a sales tax automation platform that’s raised $8.2 Million in funding.

Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:

Sales tax compliance on autopilot: Kintsugi simplifies the complex process of sales tax management, integrating with platforms like Shopify and QuickBooks to automate tax calculations, filings, and compliance with over 48 U.S. jurisdictions.
Post-2018 legal shifts created opportunity: The South Dakota vs. Wayfair ruling radically changed sales tax collection, sparking Pujun’s idea for Kintsugi as businesses began grappling with new compliance challenges based on customer location rather than business headquarters.
Avalara’s gap in the market: Pujun observed that incumbents like Avalara were slow to adapt to these legal shifts, leaving a gap for Kintsugi to fill with a more nimble, AI-driven solution.
Product-led growth through a seamless onboarding: Kintsugi’s GTM strategy focuses on providing immediate value—offering users a self-service platform where they can onboard and see their tax liabilities in minutes, without lengthy sales interactions.
Building trust through transparency: To build trust in a sensitive area like taxes, Kintsugi offers detailed, auditable reports and a guarantee that covers penalties if errors occur. They focus on transparency and reliability.
Scaling fast with the right team: Pujun emphasized the importance of assembling a strong team, scaling from 3 to 47 employees in 10 months, and aiming for exponential growth, with a goal to 10x their revenue in the next 12 months.

Actionable
Takeaways

Leverage Legal Shifts for Category Creation:

Pujun built Kintsugi in response to the South Dakota vs. Wayfair ruling, which changed how sales tax was calculated for businesses. Founders should stay alert to regulatory changes, as they can open up new opportunities for category creation or expansion in underserved markets.

Product-Led Growth for Complex Industries:

Kintsugi’s onboarding process is entirely self-service, allowing users to see their tax liabilities without lengthy sales conversations. Founders can adopt product-led growth models to simplify complex, trust-based industries by offering immediate value and reducing friction in the user experience.

Adapt to Industry Gaps Faster than Competitors:

Kintsugi capitalized on the slow response of established players like Avalara to regulatory changes. By staying agile and technology-driven, companies can outpace larger, slower competitors who might be caught off guard by industry shifts.

Build Trust Through Transparency in Sensitive Markets:

In industries where compliance and accuracy are paramount, like taxes, trust is critical. Kintsugi built this by offering auditable reports, avoiding handling customer funds directly, and providing guarantees. Prioritize transparency and create safeguards to build customer confidence in sensitive areas.

Test Multiple Solutions Before Committing:

In the early days, Pujun and his team ran 300-500 interviews and explored 15 different adjacent ideas before landing on their final product. Founders should be flexible with solutions while remaining committed to solving the core problem, using extensive customer feedback to guide product development.