Ranjith Kumaran

Founder and (former) CEO, Hightail and PunchTab

Ranjith is a founder and CEO who has started two venture-backed SaaS companies focused on building great product experiences with long-lasting appeal. He co-founded Hightail (formerly known as YouSendIt), a simple way to send large files for enterprises and prosumers. The service grew into a service used by over 45 million people and 150,000 companies worldwide. In 2014 Ranjith rejoined the company as CEO to launch Hightail Spaces, a collaboration suite for marketers and creative professionals. Hightail was acquired by OpenText in 2018 and forms the core of the company’s SaaS file-sharing and collaboration offerings. Ranjith also founded and was CEO of PunchTab, an omni-channel consumer engagement platform for retailers and CPG brands. PunchTab powered online and in-store loyalty programs and engagement campaigns for brands including Nestle, Panera Bread, and The Yankee Candle Company. PunchTab was acquired by Walmart Labs in 2015. Ranjith holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from McGill University. He is also a frequent adviser and board member of other scrappy Silicon Valley-based technology companies going after exciting markets.

Articles by Ranjith Kumaran

How Shaun Merritt Vibe-Coded Karrot.ai As A Solo Builder

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Shaun Merritt, cofounder and CTO of Karrot.ai, a LinkedIn ABM tool. Shaun was kind enough to share a comprehensive breakdown of how...

7 Steps to Build a Product That Sells Itself

Learn the 7 steps to product-led growth (PLG) to build a product that sells itself. Drive activation, boost conversions, and scale efficiently with Wes Bush from ProductLed....

The Founder’s Mental Health Playbook: What I Learned After Nearly Burning Out

A hard-won guide to staying mentally healthy while building a startup I founded Stitcher, the podcast platform, in 2007 and ran it for seven years until we sold in 2014....

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) for Early Stage Companies

In our latest session from the Mucker Growth Series featuring Ethan Smith from Graphite, we explored AEO, a significant new approach for optimizing visibility in AI-driven search, particularly relevant as...

Startup Guide to AI Visibility: Be the Brand ChatGPT Recommends

Introduction Today, users aren’t just searching on Google. They’re asking ChatGPT, Claude, Google’s Gemini, Perplexity, and other AI systems for advice. AI visibility is the new frontier of brand awareness....

Practical Uses of AI & Automation for Startup Operations

In a recent Mucker Growth Series session, we invited Rock Vitale, Founder & CEO of Easie, to share how he’s helped early-stage teams move from manual, fragmented workflows to streamlined,...