Case Study: Shortlist cuts costs by 50% and sustains 30% month-over-month growth with Freshworks (Freshsales)

How California Saas Startup Shortlist Cut Cost by 50% and Sustained Growth With Freshsales

Shortlist, a San Francisco–based SaaS startup that helps companies manage external workforces, was growing quickly but outgrew its lightweight Streak CRM—suffering from a lack of structure, control and visibility as the team expanded. Co‑founder and COO Joey Fraiser evaluated options and chose Freshsales (from Freshworks) for a simple, structured CRM that wouldn’t require a full‑time admin.

Freshworks implemented Freshsales with Segment integration, Smartforms and Gmail connectivity to automate lead capture, track product activity for upsell signals, and apply lead scoring for faster follow‑up. The solution generated over 1,000 website leads per month, cut the sales cycle by 20%, reduced costs by 50% and helped Shortlist sustain ~30% month‑over‑month growth.

Shortlist

Joey Frasier

Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer