Hello listeners, and welcome back to The SaaS CFO Podcast. In today's episode, I'm excited to be sitting down with a very special guest—Jason Vego, the dynamic CEO behind Bevz, a company that's revolutionizing how convenience stores sell their products in the digital marketplace. 

We'll be diving into Jason's incredible story of steering Bevz through a complete business model pivot during the height of the pandemic, emerging on the other side with a robust SaaS platform and an impressive 600% annual growth rate. This kind of success doesn't come easy, and Jason will be pulling back the curtain on their path to attracting seed investors and scaling their operations with some smart strategies and a dedicated sales team. 

If you're interested in learning from the challenges and triumphs of an actual SaaS startup, then you're in for a treat. We'll also touch on how Bevz has dealt with the fundamentals of fundraising, growth metrics, and even managing a distributed team. 

So grab your headphones, get comfortable, and let's delve into these topics and more with Jason Vego. Here we go! 

Show Notes: 
 
00:00 Mistaken solution for inventory management software. Shift to B2B SaaS. Emerging need for vertical software. 

05:03 Realizing gaps in dog grooming and finance, sought expertise. 

08:37 Industry move too slow, pandemic sped up change, flipped order of operations for online sales and ROI. 

10:24 Discussion on transitioning bodegas to more restaurant-like. Focus is on non-perishable items. 

16:09 Ops title, CEO pivot in 2021, led inventory management pivot, became CEO, Victor focused on industry partnerships and advertising deals. 

16:52 Focused on launching SaaS, successful pivot, learning experience. 

21:38 In summer 2022, the company secured key integrations and raised a $605,000 round from early investors. 

23:57 Company had ten reps, lost two, now at eight with plans to expand and implement new strategies. 

26:47 Recommendations for raising capital: pre-work, dedication, build relationships, meet investors in person. 

29:56 Improving platform efficiency for increased GMV and store effectiveness. 

34:11 Emphasizing the importance of hiring the right people with unique skill sets and strong personality, and managing internal conflict effectively for success. 

36:12 Visit bevz.com or LinkedIn for more about Jason's work at Bevz. 

Links:  

SaaS Fundraising Stories: https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/bevz-secures-3-1-million-in-funding 

Jason Vego’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jvego/ 

Bevz’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bevz/ 

Bevz’ Website: https://www.bevz.com/ 

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