Why the B?

The "Velocity" bit we get, they said, but the"B"? Ian explains our company name.

When we first shared our company name, the obvious question we were asked is - what is the B for? The Velocity is pretty obvious.

The simple answer is that it comes from Series B - typically the second round of funding for a new company, at which point the pressure is on to scale. 

The point in a company's early life when it’s captured all the beachhead early adopter customers from the founding team's immediate network, and it’s time to get serious about sales and marketing and carve out some of the mainstream market.

It’s a precarious time for a growing company. The chances of survival for early stage companies (pre-series B) are not good, according to PwC, in 2024 startups (companies they consider pre-series B or similar) accounted for 46% of total company insolvencies, so getting fueled for the leap to growth is essential. There is little wiggle room in execution.

Typically, at this point, the product vision and development have been proven with early adopters. The product is viable, now it’s time to realize the product's potential, provide a return on all the hard work and investment, and find that broader market.

Reaching a broader market means reaching and then engaging a more mainstream buyer, a buyer that is likely to be more conservative than those gung-ho early adopters, it will involve a process and more stakeholders to be involved. So we move from an empowered champion making a decision, to a buying group.

A group that will need persuading. After all, any B2B product or solution is actually selling change, and in the mainstream, everyone loves change, except when it happens to them.

It is a time when sales and marketing execution is critical.

Many growth companies find themselves with this critical challenge, not just young companies seeking Series B funding. Established companies are often at a similar inflection point. Perhaps when following an investment injection, a product pivot, leadership change, or responding to a change in the market, there are times when awareness or revenue are in focus.

In short, it’s time to get serious about sales and marketing.

 So, the B we referred to earlier is not Series B, but Business.

It’s time to create ART - build awareness, create revenue, and develop trust in the market.