Latest / Deep Tech Germany – AI, Robotics & Frontier Innovation by Startuprad.io™ / Automating SME Banking & Accounting: Sequence ERP's Blas Pegenaute
Transcript
- WEBVTT 00:00:00.017 --> 00:00:03.237 <v Speaker0>I would have bought Bitcoin at one cent or at one euro. 00:00:03.817 --> 00:00:06.777 <v Speaker0>The rest of the things, all the mistakes that I've done as a founder, 00:00:07.177 --> 00:00:08.797 <v Speaker0>I would redo them the same. 00:00:09.137 --> 00:00:14.057 <v Speaker0>They are what I am right now, and I am grateful for all those mistakes and for 00:00:14.057 --> 00:00:16.537 <v Speaker0>all those failures, no matter how hard they have been. 00:00:17.077 --> 00:00:19.157 <v Speaker0>Every one of them has been a teaching moment. 00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:40.080 <v Music> 00:00:24.757 --> 00:00:33.137 <v Speaker1>Welcome to startuprad.io your podcast and youtube blog covering the german startup 00:00:33.137 --> 00:00:37.617 <v Speaker1>scene with news interviews and live events 00:00:39.557 --> 00:00:45.337 <v Speaker1>Hello and welcome everybody this is joe from startuprad.io the authority on 00:00:45.337 --> 00:00:46.857 <v Speaker1>german swiss and Austrian startups. 00:00:47.057 --> 00:00:51.077 <v Speaker1>And today we've got a powerhouse episode for founders, SaaS builders, 00:00:51.377 --> 00:00:52.797 <v Speaker1>and tech investors alike. 00:00:52.997 --> 00:00:58.677 <v Speaker1>What if the next breakout SaaS company for accounting firms came from the back 00:00:58.677 --> 00:01:01.697 <v Speaker1>office of a bookkeeping firm in Switzerland? 00:01:01.937 --> 00:01:06.357 <v Speaker1>We're sitting down with Blas, by the way, he spared me pronouncing his family name, 00:01:06.717 --> 00:01:10.317 <v Speaker1>a serial entrepreneur who bootstrapped his first company at just 18, 00:01:10.657 --> 00:01:16.077 <v Speaker1>made a few successful exits, learned from failure, and is now sailing Scaling 00:01:16.077 --> 00:01:21.097 <v Speaker1>Sequence, a B2B SaaS platform turning hats across Europe. 00:01:21.537 --> 00:01:28.977 <v Speaker1>Sequence started as internal accounting software, evolved into robust AI-enabled 00:01:28.977 --> 00:01:34.857 <v Speaker1>ERP system for small companies, and recently caught attention of several major 00:01:34.857 --> 00:01:35.917 <v Speaker1>investors in Switzerland. 00:01:36.237 --> 00:01:42.017 <v Speaker1>In this episode, you'll hear how Blast turned a back office tool into venture 00:01:42.017 --> 00:01:47.477 <v Speaker1>back scale up, What it takes to build SaaS products with product market fit 00:01:47.477 --> 00:01:48.797 <v Speaker1>in a conservative industry, 00:01:49.037 --> 00:01:51.997 <v Speaker1>his most painful lessons on entrepreneurship, 00:01:52.257 --> 00:01:53.937 <v Speaker1>failure and bouncing back, and 00:01:53.937 --> 00:01:58.817 <v Speaker1>the playbook for scaling from Spain to Switzerland to global relevance. 00:01:59.137 --> 00:02:03.457 <v Speaker1>If you're a founder, VC, accounting tech innovator, or just love stories about 00:02:03.457 --> 00:02:09.297 <v Speaker1>building software that actually solves boring but critical problems, this one is for you. 00:02:09.457 --> 00:02:12.317 <v Speaker1>Guys, don't forget to subscribe and last, welcome. 00:02:13.290 --> 00:02:16.010 <v Speaker0>Hi, Joe. Very happy to be here. Thanks for having me. 00:02:16.510 --> 00:02:20.810 <v Speaker1>Totally my pleasure. For our audience, can you first once pronounce your family name? 00:02:21.390 --> 00:02:24.330 <v Speaker0>Yes, yes. I'll go ahead. It's Pechenaut. It's a Spanish name. 00:02:24.790 --> 00:02:26.030 <v Speaker0>Notice to say Pechenaut. 00:02:27.130 --> 00:02:31.510 <v Speaker1>Okay. Muchas gracias. You saved me from pronouncing that. 00:02:31.590 --> 00:02:35.290 <v Speaker0>Gracias, Joe. Yeah, I know. You know, it's a hard one. In French, 00:02:35.470 --> 00:02:39.370 <v Speaker0>they say Pechenaut. So, you know, I cannot have both versions. They're going for me. 00:02:39.370 --> 00:02:45.030 <v Speaker1>Yes, especially since you have three languages in Switzerland. 00:02:45.030 --> 00:02:48.110 <v Speaker1>I think that the French-speaking area would prefer that one. 00:02:48.330 --> 00:02:55.030 <v Speaker1>Talking about you, founder journey and origin story, you started your first company at 18. 00:02:55.350 --> 00:02:57.510 <v Speaker1>What sparked your interest in entrepreneurship? 00:02:58.690 --> 00:03:02.230 <v Speaker0>Listen, Joe, I've always been that way. 00:03:02.590 --> 00:03:05.810 <v Speaker0>I started really working when I was very young. 00:03:05.810 --> 00:03:09.670 <v Speaker0>I started in the night industry I 00:03:09.670 --> 00:03:14.030 <v Speaker0>started creating parties when I was 16 years old I couldn't go to the nightclub 00:03:14.030 --> 00:03:18.610 <v Speaker0>and I was already organizing stuff so that was a pretty fun moment for me and 00:03:18.610 --> 00:03:23.030 <v Speaker0>I've always wanted to do things in a very particular and peculiar way which 00:03:23.030 --> 00:03:26.690 <v Speaker0>was my own way and at 18 I found, 00:03:27.790 --> 00:03:28.990 <v Speaker0>that artists, 00:03:30.210 --> 00:03:32.530 <v Speaker0>namely electronic music artists 00:03:32.530 --> 00:03:36.670 <v Speaker0>were very good at creating music but very bad at telling themselves. 00:03:37.210 --> 00:03:40.830 <v Speaker0>And I was very good at sales and very bad at creating music. 00:03:41.310 --> 00:03:47.250 <v Speaker0>So I created my first company called Fresh and Blunt, and it started like an 00:03:47.250 --> 00:03:48.770 <v Speaker0>artist management agency. 00:03:49.050 --> 00:03:55.930 <v Speaker0>We were taking local artists and giving them national or international exposure. 00:03:56.150 --> 00:04:01.010 <v Speaker0>And then we started organizing festivals and helping running a couple of clubs. 00:04:01.010 --> 00:04:07.050 <v Speaker1>Let me understand this step from doing parties, electronic music, 00:04:07.630 --> 00:04:10.890 <v Speaker1>to internal accounting tool. How did that happen? 00:04:11.650 --> 00:04:16.730 <v Speaker0>It's been a fun ride, to be honest. 00:04:17.190 --> 00:04:23.330 <v Speaker0>So I started managing, as I said, artists and electronic music parties. 00:04:23.710 --> 00:04:26.910 <v Speaker0>Then I moved out of Spain into the UK. 00:04:27.590 --> 00:04:31.590 <v Speaker0>I kept working on the night industry, and at some point I hit a wall. 00:04:33.032 --> 00:04:36.172 <v Speaker0>I couldn't do really what I wanted to do into the industry. 00:04:36.392 --> 00:04:42.132 <v Speaker0>And I went into plain hospitality. I started managing a cocktail bar and a restaurant. 00:04:42.852 --> 00:04:50.692 <v Speaker0>And then from there, I got scouted by a Chinese company to introduce in Spain 00:04:50.692 --> 00:04:53.012 <v Speaker0>and Portugal electronic cigarettes. 00:04:53.372 --> 00:04:59.672 <v Speaker0>I'm talking, you know, early 2010s, where there were no A6s anywhere. 00:04:59.672 --> 00:05:06.052 <v Speaker0>So actually, if you vaped in Spain in between 2010 and 2012, 00:05:06.412 --> 00:05:11.912 <v Speaker0>there's a big percentage of chances that I did that import and that distribution. 00:05:12.652 --> 00:05:18.852 <v Speaker0>And then from there, I got recruited by a Swiss entrepreneur who wanted to build 00:05:18.852 --> 00:05:24.192 <v Speaker0>a startup on electronic cigarettes. And that's who brought me here to Switzerland. 00:05:24.672 --> 00:05:28.632 <v Speaker0>All around these years, I've always faced the same issues. 00:05:29.692 --> 00:05:36.192 <v Speaker0>Admin and accounting, it's a pain for every single entrepreneur out there, myself the first. 00:05:37.512 --> 00:05:41.812 <v Speaker0>So when I came into Switzerland, I faced the hard truth of the Swiss market. 00:05:41.812 --> 00:05:47.152 <v Speaker0>It's a fantastic market, but everything is very open-minded and in accounting 00:05:47.152 --> 00:05:48.912 <v Speaker0>as well. So there's no real structure. 00:05:49.372 --> 00:05:51.072 <v Speaker0>Everyone can do it in a different way. 00:05:51.692 --> 00:05:55.352 <v Speaker0>You obviously need to be compliant, but to get too compliant, 00:05:55.472 --> 00:05:58.092 <v Speaker0>you can do it in different ways. So I was struggling a lot. 00:05:58.632 --> 00:06:02.572 <v Speaker0>And that company got acquired, and that was great. 00:06:02.852 --> 00:06:09.732 <v Speaker0>But at some point in 2021, a very good friend of mine, he showed me this accounting 00:06:09.732 --> 00:06:13.032 <v Speaker0>software that he was building. And I was like, hold on a minute. 00:06:13.392 --> 00:06:20.172 <v Speaker0>This is exactly what I've been looking for my whole career as an entrepreneur. 00:06:20.652 --> 00:06:25.512 <v Speaker0>Let's take this stuff from an accounting software and building on an automated 00:06:25.512 --> 00:06:28.252 <v Speaker0>and AI accounting software for SMEs. 00:06:28.632 --> 00:06:33.712 <v Speaker0>So that's the whole trajectory up until accounting. 00:06:36.892 --> 00:06:40.872 <v Speaker1>Before we go into the next questions, you ran a bar. What was your favorite cocktail? 00:06:42.432 --> 00:06:47.552 <v Speaker0>Oh, wow. I used to love Ponce de Martini. 00:06:48.212 --> 00:06:53.912 <v Speaker0>If I don't mind that the bartender looks weird at me, a good old-fashioned. 00:06:54.172 --> 00:06:58.312 <v Speaker0>It takes a little bit of time to make. So when you go to a cocktail bar and 00:06:58.312 --> 00:07:01.312 <v Speaker0>you ask for an old-fashioned, the guy's not going to like you very much because 00:07:01.312 --> 00:07:04.052 <v Speaker0>they need to stir it for a long time. And I'm a whiskey lover. 00:07:05.092 --> 00:07:08.712 <v Speaker0>But yeah, I even got certification to make cocktails. 00:07:09.212 --> 00:07:13.192 <v Speaker0>I knew. I don't know them anymore, but I knew how to make 120-something cocktails. 00:07:13.652 --> 00:07:16.112 <v Speaker0>It was pretty fun. It was pretty fun, Joe. 00:07:17.112 --> 00:07:19.612 <v Speaker0>What is your favorite cocktail, Joe? 00:07:22.689 --> 00:07:24.449 <v Speaker1>I like Planter's Punch. 00:07:25.449 --> 00:07:33.169 <v Speaker0>Nice. Nice. Nice. When was the last time that you drank a good Planter's Punch and where? 00:07:34.109 --> 00:07:36.569 <v Speaker1>Last weekend here in the balcony with my wife. 00:07:38.649 --> 00:07:43.489 <v Speaker0>Oh, fantastic. Fantastic. What was the name of the place? Let's give them a shout out. 00:07:44.829 --> 00:07:46.729 <v Speaker1>No, here, just on our balcony. 00:07:47.469 --> 00:07:48.289 <v Speaker0>You made it? 00:07:48.729 --> 00:07:49.269 <v Speaker1>Yes. 00:07:50.049 --> 00:07:53.989 <v Speaker0>You are a master. That's great. So you know your way around cocktails? 00:07:55.109 --> 00:07:55.709 <v Speaker1>Maybe. 00:07:56.809 --> 00:08:01.369 <v Speaker0>Fantastic. I hope we can meet one day and I can taste your planter sponge. 00:08:01.649 --> 00:08:07.089 <v Speaker0>I will make you an Amaretto Sour that you may like as well. 00:08:07.309 --> 00:08:09.089 <v Speaker1>I also like Negroni. 00:08:09.689 --> 00:08:14.269 <v Speaker0>Oh, yeah. Negroni. Very nice. Next time you go and ask for a Negroni, 00:08:14.749 --> 00:08:17.149 <v Speaker0>check a Negroni Svaliato. 00:08:17.889 --> 00:08:28.449 <v Speaker0>So it's a regular Negroni, but it has a top of soda, a little bit of sparking 00:08:28.449 --> 00:08:30.789 <v Speaker0>wine, like Prosecco, you know. 00:08:31.169 --> 00:08:33.749 <v Speaker0>So it's a Negroni with a little bit of Prosecco. Try it out. 00:08:33.869 --> 00:08:35.529 <v Speaker0>Very nice. Negroni is Valleato. 00:08:35.689 --> 00:08:40.569 <v Speaker1>I also do have my personal recipe on this, but that would lead a little bit 00:08:40.569 --> 00:08:48.729 <v Speaker1>too much astray. I was originally trying to ask you, you've been working with 00:08:48.729 --> 00:08:50.309 <v Speaker1>the back office accounting software. 00:08:50.449 --> 00:08:56.089 <v Speaker1>What was like the aha moment that convinced you you could really scale this? 00:08:57.294 --> 00:09:01.334 <v Speaker0>Listen, the first one was very much internal. It's when Jonathan, 00:09:01.614 --> 00:09:05.854 <v Speaker0>the real founder of Sequence, showed me what he was building. 00:09:06.754 --> 00:09:12.214 <v Speaker0>When he showed it to me, I was the first aha. Like, I've been looking for this my whole life. 00:09:12.694 --> 00:09:17.134 <v Speaker0>I've been looking for a software that can allow me to automate my accounting. 00:09:17.514 --> 00:09:19.394 <v Speaker0>So that was the first aha moment. 00:09:20.034 --> 00:09:25.854 <v Speaker0>Then when we reworked that internal tool into an external SaaS and we went into 00:09:25.854 --> 00:09:30.434 <v Speaker0>the market, The market's aha moment was when a client of ours, 00:09:30.754 --> 00:09:34.734 <v Speaker0>one of the first clients, his payment on the card didn't go through. 00:09:35.274 --> 00:09:39.254 <v Speaker0>And the guy was calling me on a Sunday saying, please, please, 00:09:39.414 --> 00:09:41.074 <v Speaker0>please reactivate the software. 00:09:41.314 --> 00:09:44.594 <v Speaker0>I cannot believe without Sequence. I need to do the invoices. 00:09:45.674 --> 00:09:49.134 <v Speaker0>I need to get back the subscription. And that was when we said, 00:09:49.334 --> 00:09:55.314 <v Speaker0>hey, maybe we got into something that really is helping SMEs and freelancers 00:09:55.314 --> 00:09:58.734 <v Speaker0>out there to do their invoicing and accounting much easier. 00:10:01.454 --> 00:10:07.914 <v Speaker1>I see. I was wondering for our audience, what's one thing you wish you had known 00:10:07.914 --> 00:10:11.014 <v Speaker1>when starting your business? Share your wisdom in the comments. 00:10:11.234 --> 00:10:13.334 <v Speaker1>We might feature you in a future episode. 00:10:13.954 --> 00:10:19.354 <v Speaker1>Talking about transition and resilience here, you've had exits and setbacks. 00:10:19.554 --> 00:10:22.394 <v Speaker1>Tell us about the failure that changed your approach. 00:10:23.294 --> 00:10:25.694 <v Speaker0>Any failure? Any point in my career? 00:10:28.054 --> 00:10:32.314 <v Speaker1>One that had special importance for you. 00:10:32.634 --> 00:10:41.854 <v Speaker0>Yeah. So my first company, okay, fresh and blunt, I had to shut it down in 48 hours. 00:10:43.194 --> 00:10:50.894 <v Speaker0>Very abruptly. Because I was very bad at selling an event that I didn't follow 00:10:50.894 --> 00:10:54.294 <v Speaker0>up correctly with the owner of the nightclub that I was selling that to. 00:10:54.674 --> 00:10:59.314 <v Speaker0>And he was so powerful and he gave me a call and he said, you did such a bad 00:10:59.314 --> 00:11:02.654 <v Speaker0>job that you're not going to be able to work in here anymore. 00:11:02.794 --> 00:11:07.394 <v Speaker0>And I couldn't believe it. And 48 hours later, all my artists had to leave the 00:11:07.394 --> 00:11:11.934 <v Speaker0>agency, otherwise they couldn't be playing music anymore in the north of Spain. 00:11:13.234 --> 00:11:20.854 <v Speaker0>And that taught me a lot about facing conflict and issues. I was running away 00:11:20.854 --> 00:11:27.014 <v Speaker0>from saying to this guy that I couldn't deliver on the talks that we were having. 00:11:27.314 --> 00:11:33.134 <v Speaker0>And because I didn't do that, by the time I did it, he took it so, 00:11:33.254 --> 00:11:36.294 <v Speaker0>so badly. And he was right. 00:11:37.374 --> 00:11:43.694 <v Speaker0>That tanked my company. That absolutely tanked my company. Yeah. So that was a big one. 00:11:46.383 --> 00:11:53.583 <v Speaker1>I see, I see. Even though many are usually doing over-promising and under-deliver, 00:11:53.683 --> 00:11:55.863 <v Speaker1>but for some, it just doesn't work out. 00:11:57.023 --> 00:12:02.903 <v Speaker1>How did your relocation to Switzerland shape your mindset as a founder? 00:12:03.123 --> 00:12:05.523 <v Speaker1>And by the way, do you already love fondue? 00:12:07.463 --> 00:12:12.963 <v Speaker0>I love fondue. Sweets are going to kill me, but my favorite fondue is tomato fondue. 00:12:14.603 --> 00:12:18.543 <v Speaker0>I know Switzerland is absolutely going to kill me right now because they hate 00:12:18.543 --> 00:12:22.123 <v Speaker0>it, but I love it because for me it's like drinking pizza and pizza is one of 00:12:22.123 --> 00:12:24.863 <v Speaker0>my favorite drinking pizza, 00:12:26.263 --> 00:12:33.643 <v Speaker0>it's like drinking pizza man, it's fantastic so coming to Switzerland was a 00:12:33.643 --> 00:12:36.623 <v Speaker0>very big change for me, I was coming from pure. 00:12:38.623 --> 00:12:44.283 <v Speaker0>High-paced environment and countries I was living, you know, 00:12:44.383 --> 00:12:49.403 <v Speaker0>at the time I was, I went from London to living half in Marbella, 00:12:49.643 --> 00:12:52.243 <v Speaker0>half in France, traveling all over the place. 00:12:52.423 --> 00:12:54.663 <v Speaker0>And I arrived into France, into Switzerland, sorry. 00:12:54.883 --> 00:13:01.743 <v Speaker0>And it was so calm and peaceful and everybody was so respectful. 00:13:01.743 --> 00:13:05.023 <v Speaker0>You know, I really, really, really liked it a lot. 00:13:05.323 --> 00:13:10.303 <v Speaker0>I know a lot of people, they don't, they say it's too slow for them, 00:13:10.883 --> 00:13:15.323 <v Speaker0>for me, they put a great balance because it allows me to be calm when I'm in 00:13:15.323 --> 00:13:17.963 <v Speaker0>Switzerland and high pace when I'm outside. 00:13:18.303 --> 00:13:23.043 <v Speaker0>As a founder, the mentality of the market is much different than anywhere in 00:13:23.043 --> 00:13:25.443 <v Speaker0>Europe that I've been doing business before. 00:13:25.883 --> 00:13:30.223 <v Speaker0>It's a very conservative market, a very risk adverse market. 00:13:30.483 --> 00:13:35.783 <v Speaker0>If you want to raise funds in here and you're not in biotech, good luck to you. 00:13:37.183 --> 00:13:41.083 <v Speaker0>That has changed a little bit in the last 12 months thanks to AI and the hubs 00:13:41.083 --> 00:13:44.683 <v Speaker0>that they're doing in Zurich and thanks to crypto in the crypto valley in Neuchatel 00:13:44.683 --> 00:13:49.423 <v Speaker0>and I get that but historically it has been a little bit complex to raise funds 00:13:49.423 --> 00:13:52.723 <v Speaker0>in here so it made me a founder, 00:13:53.683 --> 00:13:59.523 <v Speaker0>more based on facts with a little bit of storytelling always storytelling it's 00:13:59.523 --> 00:14:02.843 <v Speaker0>always important to do storytelling but you cannot bullshit your way around 00:14:02.843 --> 00:14:07.623 <v Speaker0>Switzerland if there's no facts and that there are no unit economics back in 00:14:07.623 --> 00:14:09.623 <v Speaker0>your business, for sure. 00:14:10.163 --> 00:14:10.883 <v Speaker1>Mm-hmm. 00:14:11.806 --> 00:14:15.866 <v Speaker1>Talking about a little bit your product vision and market positioning, 00:14:16.286 --> 00:14:20.546 <v Speaker1>what's broken in current ERP and accounting software? 00:14:20.966 --> 00:14:25.526 <v Speaker0>It's so goddamn hard to use. That's it. That's it. 00:14:26.046 --> 00:14:30.746 <v Speaker1>Yeah, I have to admit I've been working for quite some consultancies in the 00:14:30.746 --> 00:14:33.066 <v Speaker1>past and I'm dramatized by SAP. 00:14:34.006 --> 00:14:38.446 <v Speaker0>Yeah, that is, wow. Yes, that's a big one. 00:14:38.666 --> 00:14:43.726 <v Speaker0>That's a big one. And yes, if you have a gazillion bucks lying around or you're 00:14:43.726 --> 00:14:49.146 <v Speaker0>a big company, you can pay a consultant to run SAP for you and customize it for you. 00:14:49.446 --> 00:14:52.786 <v Speaker0>It's still going to be hard to use, but you're going to have a full team of people doing it. 00:14:52.926 --> 00:14:56.466 <v Speaker0>But when you're a freelancer and you need to be looking at your numbers, 00:14:57.346 --> 00:15:01.746 <v Speaker0>right now there's not many things out there that can work for you in Switzerland. 00:15:02.046 --> 00:15:06.666 <v Speaker0>In Europe, there are good initiatives. In the States, fantastic software being created. 00:15:06.666 --> 00:15:12.166 <v Speaker0>But here in Switzerland, firsthand, I can tell it's very hard to find one that 00:15:12.166 --> 00:15:16.146 <v Speaker0>is easy to use and that you prefer to use the software rather than doing your 00:15:16.146 --> 00:15:18.066 <v Speaker0>invoices on Word or on Excel. 00:15:19.646 --> 00:15:22.546 <v Speaker0>So I think that's an issue. 00:15:22.666 --> 00:15:25.686 <v Speaker0>And then even if you're using a software and you're doing it yourself, 00:15:26.046 --> 00:15:30.546 <v Speaker0>then you need to go into an accounting firm and pay a small fortune to do your 00:15:30.546 --> 00:15:34.586 <v Speaker0>taxes and run your books. So that's quite inefficient. 00:15:35.546 --> 00:15:38.546 <v Speaker0>I believe that is quite, we believe that is quite inefficient. Yeah. 00:15:39.726 --> 00:15:45.886 <v Speaker1>Also here in Germany, you have the duty by now to have electronic invoicing. 00:15:46.166 --> 00:15:51.026 <v Speaker1>Also, depending on how and where you invoice, also electronic invoicing, 00:15:51.246 --> 00:15:53.026 <v Speaker1>machine readability, and so on and so forth. 00:15:53.206 --> 00:15:55.366 <v Speaker1>So you cannot use any software. 00:15:55.626 --> 00:16:00.066 <v Speaker1>Talking about any software, how do you guys sequence your piece sent out from 00:16:00.066 --> 00:16:03.326 <v Speaker1>competitors like Sage, Xero or QuickBooks? 00:16:04.091 --> 00:16:08.831 <v Speaker0>Well, we are going in the direction of becoming a full-stack company, okay? 00:16:09.371 --> 00:16:14.671 <v Speaker0>Sage, Shed and QuickBooks are fantastic pieces of software. I cannot say it again. 00:16:14.931 --> 00:16:17.731 <v Speaker0>I cannot say it enough. They're very good softwares. 00:16:18.971 --> 00:16:22.191 <v Speaker0>You may want to run QuickBooks. Now, QuickBooks in Switzerland, 00:16:22.191 --> 00:16:23.651 <v Speaker0>you cannot be running it. 00:16:24.171 --> 00:16:28.811 <v Speaker0>Sage, you can, but then the adaptation is going to be hard. Shed is the same. 00:16:29.511 --> 00:16:34.791 <v Speaker0>So you're going to have a hard time getting those to work in the Swiss market out of the bat. 00:16:35.231 --> 00:16:39.991 <v Speaker0>Now, I said we want to become a full stack company, and that's where we're really 00:16:39.991 --> 00:16:42.971 <v Speaker0>seeing us in two or three years. 00:16:44.411 --> 00:16:50.671 <v Speaker0>Accounting software is hard to use. Accountants, you know, have a lot of manual work. 00:16:51.371 --> 00:16:59.771 <v Speaker0>Our mission is to blend both into an AI operative system where SMEs can run 00:16:59.771 --> 00:17:04.411 <v Speaker0>their books by simply uploading documents and the software. 00:17:04.671 --> 00:17:07.551 <v Speaker0>That's the rest with very minimal human interaction. 00:17:08.071 --> 00:17:11.611 <v Speaker0>I don't think any of these guys are going in this direction. We certainly are. 00:17:12.031 --> 00:17:18.731 <v Speaker0>And if I may, just a little scoop for the guys that are listening to us out there. 00:17:18.731 --> 00:17:23.771 <v Speaker0>It's not yet public, but three weeks ago, 00:17:24.091 --> 00:17:31.411 <v Speaker0>we got a license from FinMath to be a 1B light bank or a fintech company, 00:17:31.691 --> 00:17:36.711 <v Speaker0>which means that by the end of the year, we will be able to open multi-currency 00:17:36.711 --> 00:17:40.551 <v Speaker0>accounts and give cards to sequence users. 00:17:40.551 --> 00:17:45.011 <v Speaker0>And that means that as an SME, you're going to have in the same platform, 00:17:45.231 --> 00:17:51.851 <v Speaker0>your bank, your accountant, and the software, all included and all built on AI. 00:17:54.162 --> 00:18:00.742 <v Speaker1>That is actually pretty cool, exclusive announcement here on Celebrate.0. Pretty cool. 00:18:02.102 --> 00:18:05.762 <v Speaker1>For our audience, because we've been talking about accounting systems and they 00:18:05.762 --> 00:18:09.122 <v Speaker1>are not, let's say, the most intuitive they use most of the time. 00:18:09.262 --> 00:18:13.782 <v Speaker1>I was wondering, what is the most frustrating software our audience has ever 00:18:13.782 --> 00:18:18.822 <v Speaker1>used to work at or you could never get to work? How would you redesign it? 00:18:19.182 --> 00:18:23.722 <v Speaker1>Actually, I have a mission to make Blast. For me, it was kind of printer software 00:18:23.722 --> 00:18:29.042 <v Speaker1>not going to tell the name of the company who produced it but it's now two years 00:18:29.042 --> 00:18:36.242 <v Speaker1>um about a dozen friends who some of them studied computer science master's phd degrees and 00:18:36.242 --> 00:18:41.022 <v Speaker0>Nobody could get it running um anyway. 00:18:41.022 --> 00:18:47.142 <v Speaker1>Um let's talk a little bit about your growth strategy and gtm um how did you 00:18:47.142 --> 00:18:50.162 <v Speaker1>acquire your first external customers 00:18:50.162 --> 00:18:53.422 <v Speaker0>Yeah going to the street outbound pure 00:18:53.422 --> 00:18:56.942 <v Speaker0>outbound reaching out to people um so 00:18:56.942 --> 00:19:00.002 <v Speaker0>the founders of sequence they own 00:19:00.002 --> 00:19:04.062 <v Speaker0>accounting firms so the first clients that we brought in actually are their 00:19:04.062 --> 00:19:09.482 <v Speaker0>clients obviously and then we went out there into the market with outbound uh 00:19:09.482 --> 00:19:14.802 <v Speaker0>we started emailing people calling people asking about their issues asking about 00:19:14.802 --> 00:19:16.962 <v Speaker0>the pain points, understanding what they needed, 00:19:17.222 --> 00:19:20.262 <v Speaker0>and once the answer to what they needed was what we had, 00:19:20.642 --> 00:19:22.722 <v Speaker0>then it kind of fell into place. 00:19:25.702 --> 00:19:31.182 <v Speaker1>What is your current go-to-market strategy and how is it evolving? 00:19:32.629 --> 00:19:39.149 <v Speaker0>Our current go-to market strategy, and I wish I could call Mercedes, 00:19:39.309 --> 00:19:43.709 <v Speaker0>our chief product and growth officer here, into the call to get that one. 00:19:44.509 --> 00:19:48.829 <v Speaker0>It's a blend of inbound and outbound sales. 00:19:49.649 --> 00:19:56.949 <v Speaker0>We do a lot of inbound generation that then led outbound contacts, 00:19:56.949 --> 00:19:59.229 <v Speaker0>and we do as well outbound contacts. 00:19:59.349 --> 00:20:02.149 <v Speaker0>So we have cold calling people. We love cold calling. 00:20:02.829 --> 00:20:08.029 <v Speaker0>We hard call salespeople. So we pick up the phone and start calling people and 00:20:08.029 --> 00:20:12.509 <v Speaker0>asking about their pains and asking about their day-to-day and what works and 00:20:12.509 --> 00:20:13.589 <v Speaker0>what doesn't work on their day. 00:20:14.009 --> 00:20:18.169 <v Speaker0>And as I said, if one of their pains is something we can give a solution to, 00:20:18.349 --> 00:20:20.189 <v Speaker0>then, hey, that's fantastic. 00:20:20.329 --> 00:20:23.889 <v Speaker0>And if it's not, then we try always to give a solution with other products out 00:20:23.889 --> 00:20:28.269 <v Speaker0>there. And then on the inbound side, we run ads, a lot of ads, 00:20:29.029 --> 00:20:32.149 <v Speaker0>content, strategy, LinkedIn, content. 00:20:33.509 --> 00:20:39.729 <v Speaker0>And then, yeah, it's kind of a blend. It evolves constantly. We do a lot of iteration. 00:20:40.249 --> 00:20:43.129 <v Speaker0>So we have a marketing team that they iterate every month. 00:20:43.189 --> 00:20:50.569 <v Speaker0>So on a rolling basis, we plan, we execute, we analyze, we improve, 00:20:50.709 --> 00:20:53.269 <v Speaker0>we repeat. We go on and on and on and on. 00:20:53.969 --> 00:20:59.109 <v Speaker0>Things that work, we keep them. Things that don't work, we change them, and we just remove them. 00:21:02.549 --> 00:21:08.489 <v Speaker1>Sounds like a steady improvement cycle. We'll be back with some insights about 00:21:08.489 --> 00:21:12.509 <v Speaker1>fundraising, investor relations, team and culture, vision and future outlook 00:21:12.509 --> 00:21:14.309 <v Speaker1>after the small ad break. 00:21:19.529 --> 00:21:26.189 <v Speaker1>Welcome back to us. You're a serial entrepreneur currently leading a SaaS accounting 00:21:26.189 --> 00:21:27.749 <v Speaker1>software from Switzerland. 00:21:28.789 --> 00:21:32.989 <v Speaker1>You've done a lot in the past, and we talked about this already. 00:21:33.229 --> 00:21:36.869 <v Speaker1>Let's go a little bit into fundraising and investor relations. 00:21:37.929 --> 00:21:43.549 <v Speaker1>You've raised VC before. What's your best tip for early stage founders to prepare 00:21:43.549 --> 00:21:45.709 <v Speaker1>for SaaS fundraising rounds? 00:21:46.309 --> 00:21:48.909 <v Speaker0>Some investors out there are going to kill me, but don't raise. 00:21:51.149 --> 00:21:58.109 <v Speaker0>You know bootstrap as much as you can um get your metrics in place and then race, 00:21:58.769 --> 00:22:01.529 <v Speaker0>europe and especially switzerland is very different to 00:22:01.529 --> 00:22:05.729 <v Speaker0>the states in the states you can definitely go out and race with a fantastic 00:22:05.729 --> 00:22:12.009 <v Speaker0>plan in europe you're gonna have some metrics locked in and in switzerland those 00:22:12.009 --> 00:22:17.629 <v Speaker0>metrics need to be even better either you have a successful background behind 00:22:17.629 --> 00:22:20.689 <v Speaker0>you and you know what to do, or if it is the first time, 00:22:20.929 --> 00:22:26.169 <v Speaker0>you really need to get those metrics locked in so you can lead the conversations 00:22:26.169 --> 00:22:29.309 <v Speaker0>with, okay, this is our metrics, this is what we're capable of doing, 00:22:29.829 --> 00:22:31.689 <v Speaker0>now this is what we want to get, 00:22:32.521 --> 00:22:37.641 <v Speaker0>And to do that, we not only need cash, which we're raising right now, 00:22:37.761 --> 00:22:42.381 <v Speaker0>but we also need a partnership that is going to enable us to get there. 00:22:42.541 --> 00:22:45.641 <v Speaker0>And always look for that smart money. Don't only look for the cash. 00:22:46.141 --> 00:22:50.941 <v Speaker0>Cash only is not going to get you as far as cash plus partnership plus help. 00:22:51.161 --> 00:22:54.501 <v Speaker0>Look for those investors that really believe in your business and that they're 00:22:54.501 --> 00:23:01.761 <v Speaker0>going to help you get and fulfill that vision that you together with them have for your business. 00:23:02.781 --> 00:23:08.961 <v Speaker1>You talked about metrics. I was wondering what traction metrics or storytelling 00:23:08.961 --> 00:23:11.841 <v Speaker1>techniques helped you win over investors. 00:23:12.161 --> 00:23:19.021 <v Speaker1>So sequence, I would assume right now, important roles play a number of paying 00:23:19.021 --> 00:23:22.821 <v Speaker1>customers, customer acquisition costs, customer lifetime value. 00:23:22.961 --> 00:23:26.841 <v Speaker1>So basically, the VCs can make a calculation. If we invest X, 00:23:26.841 --> 00:23:28.841 <v Speaker1>we should get Y, something like that. 00:23:28.841 --> 00:23:32.821 <v Speaker0>Exactly. So revenue, revenue growth, very important both. 00:23:33.161 --> 00:23:36.921 <v Speaker0>Out of that revenue, what's recurring and what's not recurring? 00:23:37.201 --> 00:23:43.101 <v Speaker0>And of that growth, what kind of historic can you show? Have you been growing 00:23:43.101 --> 00:23:44.621 <v Speaker0>double digits every month? 00:23:45.341 --> 00:23:48.801 <v Speaker0>Is there any spike? Why not? cost 00:23:48.801 --> 00:23:52.881 <v Speaker0>of acquisition obviously and lifetime value of your clients if you know your 00:23:52.881 --> 00:23:57.221 <v Speaker0>lifetime value then you must know your churn that's very important to know your 00:23:57.221 --> 00:24:02.361 <v Speaker0>churn and if you're in sas daily active users and monthly active users may be 00:24:02.361 --> 00:24:05.961 <v Speaker0>very interesting now on top of that if you are an ai you, 00:24:06.937 --> 00:24:10.517 <v Speaker0>and you are on agents if you are on human 00:24:10.517 --> 00:24:13.457 <v Speaker0>in the loop agents that most of them are right 00:24:13.457 --> 00:24:18.757 <v Speaker0>now then you need to have your first pass-through rate you need to understand 00:24:18.757 --> 00:24:23.597 <v Speaker0>how many of the proposals that your agents are making are right from the bat 00:24:23.597 --> 00:24:28.777 <v Speaker0>and they are accepted how many are slightly modified how many are rejected and 00:24:28.777 --> 00:24:32.317 <v Speaker0>if you're an autonomous agent what's the accuracy of those agents. 00:24:32.957 --> 00:24:37.337 <v Speaker0>At the end of the day, a lot of people are kind of selling AI right now, 00:24:37.997 --> 00:24:46.637 <v Speaker0>but then they don't include any AI metrics in their deck, which is kind of crazy. 00:24:47.817 --> 00:24:51.657 <v Speaker0>So I think that's very important right now. If you are an AI, 00:24:51.857 --> 00:24:53.517 <v Speaker0>if not, just skip that stuff. 00:24:53.757 --> 00:24:58.237 <v Speaker1>I was wondering from my experience, I was in capital markets during MEDOF happened 00:24:58.237 --> 00:25:04.157 <v Speaker1>and the MEDOF feeder funds have been used its entities He's headquartered in Luxembourg. 00:25:04.257 --> 00:25:08.737 <v Speaker1>And so basically a lot of those companies said, yeah, it would have never happened 00:25:08.737 --> 00:25:12.437 <v Speaker1>to us, but you have so much straight to processing, 00:25:12.697 --> 00:25:18.477 <v Speaker1>automated processing at the time in the funds that basically one user's funds 00:25:18.477 --> 00:25:20.857 <v Speaker1>would have been treated like another user's fund. 00:25:21.017 --> 00:25:25.677 <v Speaker1>Do you see any potential for future scammers and how to prevent it with the 00:25:25.677 --> 00:25:30.357 <v Speaker1>application of a lot of AI agents in accounting and bookkeeping? 00:25:31.237 --> 00:25:36.597 <v Speaker0>Definitely there is a risk in that, of course. In the same way that there was 00:25:36.597 --> 00:25:41.057 <v Speaker0>a risk when computers came and invoices started to be done by hand and everybody 00:25:41.057 --> 00:25:44.157 <v Speaker0>started to do them on a computer, 00:25:44.337 --> 00:25:46.997 <v Speaker0>there is risk and it is... 00:25:48.420 --> 00:25:57.740 <v Speaker0>The responsibility, it's a shared responsibility to avoid, to stop that from 00:25:57.740 --> 00:25:59.380 <v Speaker0>happening. But yeah, of course, there is a risk. 00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:04.400 <v Speaker0>I've seen articles going around LinkedIn of people that they can create tickets, 00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:08.360 <v Speaker0>expense tickets, just asking to charge GPT to do that. 00:26:08.560 --> 00:26:13.040 <v Speaker0>So there's definitely going to be scammers out there. Definitely. 00:26:15.860 --> 00:26:19.500 <v Speaker1>Going back to my last question about VC, in your experience, 00:26:19.880 --> 00:26:25.220 <v Speaker1>what are VCs really looking for in the next generation of SaaS platforms? 00:26:27.720 --> 00:26:29.560 <v Speaker0>I think we should ask that to VCs. 00:26:33.760 --> 00:26:39.120 <v Speaker0>No, listen, that's a great question, Joe. I hope they're looking stuff like Sequence. 00:26:40.620 --> 00:26:47.040 <v Speaker0>To be honest what I'm reading right now is that they're looking for full stack 00:26:47.040 --> 00:26:52.140 <v Speaker0>companies companies that can replace verticals on its own there's no longer 00:26:52.140 --> 00:26:56.900 <v Speaker0>such thing as the niche SaaS you can just do one thing, 00:26:57.540 --> 00:27:01.900 <v Speaker0>what they're looking for right now is the companies that they can replace a 00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:05.800 <v Speaker0>whole vertical it was Y Combinator saying this a month and a half ago, 00:27:07.300 --> 00:27:13.540 <v Speaker0>they're right now looking into that kind of traction and interaction and automation 00:27:13.540 --> 00:27:19.080 <v Speaker0>from AI that can come in and say, okay, this has been done manually for years. 00:27:19.280 --> 00:27:22.260 <v Speaker0>Now, thanks to AI, can be almost fully automated. 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:27.340 <v Speaker0>So I think that's really what they're looking for, these companies that can 00:27:27.340 --> 00:27:34.360 <v Speaker0>kind of revolutionize how the status quo is and how human labor is being done into automation. 00:27:34.940 --> 00:27:35.620 <v Speaker1>Mm-hmm. 00:27:37.338 --> 00:27:44.038 <v Speaker1>Talked about labor here, team and culture. What values define the sequence team? 00:27:44.278 --> 00:27:47.358 <v Speaker1>How do they guide hiring and leadership? 00:27:49.438 --> 00:27:54.558 <v Speaker0>In hard work, we believe. In hard work, we believe. 00:27:54.938 --> 00:27:59.858 <v Speaker0>We have all our jumpers are marked in hard work, we believe. 00:27:59.958 --> 00:28:02.858 <v Speaker0>And when you come to our digital office, it's the first sentence that you're going to find. 00:28:03.098 --> 00:28:07.898 <v Speaker0>And it's not me who said it, but that's really us. We are a team of people that 00:28:07.898 --> 00:28:08.918 <v Speaker0>are very unconventional. 00:28:09.578 --> 00:28:15.518 <v Speaker0>We believe that there is a better way and we always ask the best of ourselves. 00:28:15.898 --> 00:28:19.218 <v Speaker0>And that's the kind of person that comes in and works with us. 00:28:19.658 --> 00:28:23.558 <v Speaker0>You have to be extremely curious. You have to be eager to learn. 00:28:23.758 --> 00:28:27.298 <v Speaker0>You have to be eager to share, to give feedback and to receive it. 00:28:28.478 --> 00:28:32.578 <v Speaker0>And when we hire someone, one of the things we tell them is, 00:28:32.918 --> 00:28:36.498 <v Speaker0>look, when you come into sequence you're going to be facing issues and 00:28:36.498 --> 00:28:39.398 <v Speaker0>challenges that you've never faced in your life and that's 00:28:39.398 --> 00:28:43.218 <v Speaker0>totally okay what is going to be the difference is 00:28:43.218 --> 00:28:49.818 <v Speaker0>that you are capable of finding the right tools and the solution and learning 00:28:49.818 --> 00:28:57.178 <v Speaker0>new things that allow you to do the best that you can your work none of us knew 00:28:57.178 --> 00:29:03.098 <v Speaker0>how to build a bank yet here we are building a bank all together, 00:29:03.658 --> 00:29:08.878 <v Speaker0>None of us knew how to build an accounting software, yet here we are changing 00:29:08.878 --> 00:29:11.358 <v Speaker0>how accounting is done thanks to artificial intelligence. 00:29:11.918 --> 00:29:15.378 <v Speaker0>And most certainly none of us knew anything about AI four years ago. 00:29:15.518 --> 00:29:21.418 <v Speaker0>And here we are using it on a day-to-day basis, and that's because we have that, 00:29:22.467 --> 00:29:28.407 <v Speaker0>knowledge, hunger, continuous drive to learn more and to get better every single day. 00:29:28.747 --> 00:29:29.927 <v Speaker0>And that's the people that they 00:29:29.927 --> 00:29:33.207 <v Speaker0>stick with our company. The rest of them don't make it past month one. 00:29:35.067 --> 00:29:38.707 <v Speaker1>Talked about not making past month one month. 00:29:39.287 --> 00:29:43.627 <v Speaker1>How do you build high performing startup teams and maintain them? 00:29:44.107 --> 00:29:48.227 <v Speaker0>That's a great question. I don't know. I'm trying to do my best on that point. 00:29:48.227 --> 00:29:54.087 <v Speaker0>Maybe the team is the best person to, is the best one to answer that question, 00:29:54.307 --> 00:29:55.707 <v Speaker0>whether if I'm doing a good job or not. 00:29:55.847 --> 00:30:02.827 <v Speaker0>But for me, it's about giving a place where the team can be the best out of 00:30:02.827 --> 00:30:04.807 <v Speaker0>them, giving them accountability, 00:30:05.487 --> 00:30:11.227 <v Speaker0>delegate effectively, and giving them, you know, a space where they can learn, 00:30:11.427 --> 00:30:12.867 <v Speaker0>they can grow, they can shine. 00:30:12.867 --> 00:30:18.947 <v Speaker0>And where their work really impact the company itself. 00:30:19.267 --> 00:30:25.547 <v Speaker0>You know, at Sequence, we're not only looking at the team as individuals that 00:30:25.547 --> 00:30:28.247 <v Speaker0>they come in and do a work and then they leave. 00:30:28.407 --> 00:30:33.467 <v Speaker0>We look at the full lives that they have. We finance the gym. 00:30:33.667 --> 00:30:36.827 <v Speaker0>We finance, we have a corporate psychologist. 00:30:36.967 --> 00:30:46.507 <v Speaker0>We have a mental and performance coach. We just hired a corporate hypnotherapist 00:30:46.507 --> 00:30:50.607 <v Speaker0>so they can also go into that. We hired them with private insurance. 00:30:53.247 --> 00:31:00.527 <v Speaker0>We're just trying to give them the best possible scenario so they can do what they love to do. 00:31:02.967 --> 00:31:06.427 <v Speaker0>If one of the people in the team wakes up in the morning and says, 00:31:06.587 --> 00:31:09.607 <v Speaker0>fuck, I don't want to work in the morning, that's a failure from leadership. 00:31:09.607 --> 00:31:20.767 <v Speaker0>Because we didn't give them enough room and enough place to shine and to do what they love. 00:31:21.247 --> 00:31:23.127 <v Speaker0>They need to really do what they love. 00:31:27.127 --> 00:31:32.327 <v Speaker0>Now, if we're going to maintain them, then they're going to get a piece of the cake. 00:31:32.487 --> 00:31:37.407 <v Speaker0>That's always very classical, but it's just an ongoing challenge. 00:31:37.567 --> 00:31:42.647 <v Speaker0>It has to be an ongoing challenge. So we have to keep those minds, myself as well. 00:31:42.727 --> 00:31:45.947 <v Speaker0>We have to keep those minds going and learning and growing. 00:31:47.467 --> 00:31:50.187 <v Speaker0>And yeah, I'm impacting the world every day. 00:31:54.147 --> 00:32:00.307 <v Speaker0>What do you think, Joe? I'm sure you've talked with a lot of entrepreneurs out there. 00:32:01.467 --> 00:32:05.507 <v Speaker0>How do you think that you can keep high-performing teams? 00:32:05.687 --> 00:32:09.447 <v Speaker0>I would love to have your input on that one. And so the people out there can 00:32:09.447 --> 00:32:12.007 <v Speaker0>hear what you think from all your conversations that you had. 00:32:14.833 --> 00:32:20.153 <v Speaker1>Turning the tables here. Okay. Well, I think at first, it's important to get 00:32:20.153 --> 00:32:25.093 <v Speaker1>the best people putting a lot of effort into acquiring talent. 00:32:25.093 --> 00:32:31.193 <v Speaker1>Secondly, I've just talked with Christian Conrad about how to build and maintain 00:32:31.193 --> 00:32:36.973 <v Speaker1>a corporate culture and one of the best approaches I've seen from him. 00:32:36.993 --> 00:32:44.753 <v Speaker1>He talked about giving 100% trust first and then if the person doesn't use the 00:32:44.753 --> 00:32:47.553 <v Speaker1>trust responsibly, he'll deduct. 00:32:47.833 --> 00:32:51.553 <v Speaker1>And that was actually a really amazing approach that I've seen there. 00:32:52.113 --> 00:32:57.813 <v Speaker1>Plus, it's very, very difficult to get really talented people. 00:32:58.113 --> 00:33:04.133 <v Speaker1>I've been talking to a lot of people about hiring headhunters and so on and so forth. 00:33:04.273 --> 00:33:09.013 <v Speaker1>And I do believe especially like the first dozen people you hire from your startup, 00:33:09.193 --> 00:33:16.173 <v Speaker1>they make an essential impact on the growth, on the survival, 00:33:16.373 --> 00:33:17.673 <v Speaker1>on the bare survival of the company. 00:33:18.273 --> 00:33:21.833 <v Speaker0>Yeah, crazy. I agree with you 100%. Thank you for sharing, Joe. 00:33:22.613 --> 00:33:27.933 <v Speaker1>Totally my pleasure. Now it's up for you to share again vision and future outlook. 00:33:28.153 --> 00:33:32.413 <v Speaker1>Where do you see Sequence and the industry heading over the next five years? 00:33:32.913 --> 00:33:38.393 <v Speaker0>Yes, we see Sequence as an AI operative system for small and medium businesses, 00:33:39.213 --> 00:33:46.153 <v Speaker0>where they can do banking, run the company, and accounting all at the same time. 00:33:46.153 --> 00:33:54.773 <v Speaker0>Right now, if you look at SMEs and freelancers, they all have three main points. 00:33:55.133 --> 00:34:01.433 <v Speaker0>The first one is you need an accountant. 00:34:02.013 --> 00:34:06.693 <v Speaker0>You don't want to do the books yourself. If you do them yourself, 00:34:06.713 --> 00:34:08.753 <v Speaker0>it's hard and it takes time. 00:34:09.033 --> 00:34:14.293 <v Speaker0>And if you get someone to do them for you, it's expensive and it's slow. 00:34:14.913 --> 00:34:18.113 <v Speaker0>So that's like a compulsory pain that you have to have. Okay, 00:34:18.213 --> 00:34:21.773 <v Speaker0>fine. Then you need to have a bank. But the bank doesn't care about you. 00:34:22.353 --> 00:34:27.053 <v Speaker0>And the bank, at some point, may decide that the relationship with you is no 00:34:27.053 --> 00:34:28.353 <v Speaker0>longer profitable for them. 00:34:28.593 --> 00:34:31.113 <v Speaker0>So you may find yourself not having a bank. 00:34:31.793 --> 00:34:34.413 <v Speaker0>And the third one is that you need to look to your cash flow. 00:34:34.653 --> 00:34:38.673 <v Speaker0>But to look to your cash flow and to look to know how much money you are owed 00:34:38.673 --> 00:34:41.193 <v Speaker0>and how much money you owe, you need to have a software. 00:34:41.193 --> 00:34:47.073 <v Speaker0>And using that software, as we said earlier before, is very hard and very time-consuming. 00:34:47.273 --> 00:34:49.873 <v Speaker0>And you didn't launch a company to do that stuff. 00:34:51.940 --> 00:34:58.420 <v Speaker0>We believe that Sequence can come in and replace those three into one only software 00:34:58.420 --> 00:35:04.360 <v Speaker0>that automates across the whole of them, thanks to the power of AI. 00:35:05.040 --> 00:35:08.720 <v Speaker0>So we see ourselves in five years, in three years even, 00:35:08.980 --> 00:35:14.740 <v Speaker0>by the end of next year, by the end of 2026, already automating the work of 00:35:14.740 --> 00:35:21.780 <v Speaker0>the accountant almost completely by allowing people to open accounts with us. 00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:26.880 <v Speaker0>And by having a software that is already on the market, that is so damn easy 00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:32.040 <v Speaker0>to use, that when you go into other software, you just wish you never left sequence. 00:35:32.900 --> 00:35:34.980 <v Speaker0>And that's where we see us. 00:35:35.560 --> 00:35:41.360 <v Speaker1>Already kind of takes my next question away. What trends or AI you believe will 00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:44.720 <v Speaker1>redefine SaaS and accounting software by 2030? 00:35:44.900 --> 00:35:50.800 <v Speaker1>My understanding is most of the stuff that right now accountants do will be 00:35:50.800 --> 00:35:52.780 <v Speaker1>automated with AI agents. 00:35:53.140 --> 00:36:01.520 <v Speaker0>Yes, I believe we are seeing a change similar to the industrial revolution. 00:36:02.840 --> 00:36:09.560 <v Speaker0>In the industrial revolution machines helped humans to do stuff and humans were focused on more, 00:36:10.580 --> 00:36:18.500 <v Speaker0>you know value generating positions and I think thanks to AI in some positions 00:36:18.500 --> 00:36:21.940 <v Speaker0>we're going to have the same things so accountants are going to be focusing 00:36:21.940 --> 00:36:27.500 <v Speaker0>on generating value for the clients and not on number crunching on the screen. 00:36:27.780 --> 00:36:34.260 <v Speaker0>Number crunching on the screen is not fun for the accountant and it's not efficient 00:36:34.260 --> 00:36:42.100 <v Speaker0>for the client because it's a high cost that is going nowhere. 00:36:42.280 --> 00:36:45.940 <v Speaker0>So I believe that that is definitely going to be automated and accountants are 00:36:45.940 --> 00:36:49.140 <v Speaker0>going to be focusing on other value services. Yeah, definitely. 00:36:49.960 --> 00:36:56.400 <v Speaker1>Do I interpret this right that you say the introduction of AI agents will have 00:36:56.400 --> 00:37:02.100 <v Speaker1>for white-collar workers the same effect as the Industrial Revolution had for blue-collar workers? 00:37:02.360 --> 00:37:03.620 <v Speaker0>You tell me why not, Joe. 00:37:03.800 --> 00:37:08.900 <v Speaker1>Interesting thought. I need to think a little bit about it, but it's definitely 00:37:08.900 --> 00:37:12.100 <v Speaker1>an interesting thought. Never thought about that this way. 00:37:12.840 --> 00:37:15.380 <v Speaker1>We're already a little bit into reflection. 00:37:17.560 --> 00:37:20.980 <v Speaker1>What is the hardest decision you've had to make on this journey? 00:37:23.962 --> 00:37:28.762 <v Speaker0>I think one of the hardest ones was closing one of the startups I was running 00:37:28.762 --> 00:37:31.162 <v Speaker0>here in Switzerland before taking over Sequence. 00:37:31.782 --> 00:37:37.562 <v Speaker0>It was a very hard startup. I invested a lot of capital myself, 00:37:37.562 --> 00:37:44.962 <v Speaker0>but I proposed the startup to some family members and some friends. 00:37:45.582 --> 00:37:49.142 <v Speaker0>And as much as I tried to make it work, I couldn't. 00:37:50.242 --> 00:37:54.302 <v Speaker0>I tried to pivot all that i could and the 00:37:54.302 --> 00:37:57.242 <v Speaker0>the day i took the decision and having 00:37:57.242 --> 00:38:00.482 <v Speaker0>to make that call to that people and saying i am 00:38:00.482 --> 00:38:03.602 <v Speaker0>so deeply sorry i just 00:38:03.602 --> 00:38:06.442 <v Speaker0>couldn't make it work that was a very hard 00:38:06.442 --> 00:38:09.082 <v Speaker0>moment that decision was extremely hard and at some point i had to 00:38:09.082 --> 00:38:12.022 <v Speaker0>do because it was dragging everything and everyone down with it 00:38:12.022 --> 00:38:15.422 <v Speaker0>and and the unit economics were not there as 00:38:15.422 --> 00:38:20.662 <v Speaker0>much as we were increasing sales the costs were growing and and and you know 00:38:20.662 --> 00:38:25.722 <v Speaker0>we could never reach profitability and and the moment we realized that we tried 00:38:25.722 --> 00:38:30.602 <v Speaker0>to do all that we could but deciding to close that that company was one of the 00:38:30.602 --> 00:38:32.162 <v Speaker0>hardest decisions i ever had to make. 00:38:33.782 --> 00:38:38.462 <v Speaker1>If you could redo just one thing as a founder what would it be 00:38:38.462 --> 00:38:41.262 <v Speaker0>I would have bought bitcoin at one 00:38:41.262 --> 00:38:44.242 <v Speaker0>cent i would have bought bitcoin at one 00:38:44.242 --> 00:38:48.622 <v Speaker0>cent or at one euro the rest of the things all the mistakes that i've done as 00:38:48.622 --> 00:38:54.742 <v Speaker0>a founder i would redo them the same they are what i am right now and i am grateful 00:38:54.742 --> 00:38:58.462 <v Speaker0>for all those mistakes and for all those failures no matter how hard they have 00:38:58.462 --> 00:39:01.362 <v Speaker0>been every one of them has been a teaching moment, 00:39:02.510 --> 00:39:07.450 <v Speaker0>I wouldn't have done things different because I wouldn't have learned in the same way. 00:39:08.090 --> 00:39:12.230 <v Speaker0>Yes, they might have led to different outcomes, but I don't know that. 00:39:13.230 --> 00:39:18.770 <v Speaker0>So honestly, if I could relieve it again, I would go all over again in the same way. 00:39:18.890 --> 00:39:22.470 <v Speaker0>The only thing I would do is buy Bitcoin when it costs one cent. 00:39:23.110 --> 00:39:25.490 <v Speaker0>So, you know, money wouldn't be an issue right now. 00:39:27.790 --> 00:39:29.290 <v Speaker0>In that case, yeah. 00:39:30.850 --> 00:39:38.050 <v Speaker1>I know where you're going with that um where can people follow you and learn more about sequence 00:39:38.050 --> 00:39:42.930 <v Speaker0>Yeah so i am not a believer in instagram so i'm not an instagram there is an 00:39:42.930 --> 00:39:46.870 <v Speaker0>account of my name but i don't have it on my phone and i never logged in so 00:39:46.870 --> 00:39:51.110 <v Speaker0>instagram is not a good place neither is facebook sorry that's gonna be linkedin 00:39:51.110 --> 00:39:54.870 <v Speaker0>on linkedin people can find me definitely it's Blas Pejenaute. 00:39:54.950 --> 00:40:00.650 <v Speaker0>That's very difficult to say, but I'm sure we can pop it down there on the screen. 00:40:01.350 --> 00:40:06.550 <v Speaker0>And then the company, you can definitely follow them on LinkedIn, Sequence ERP. 00:40:07.210 --> 00:40:10.230 <v Speaker0>Many great things are being announced there. We have a blog, 00:40:10.390 --> 00:40:12.330 <v Speaker0>fantastic blog if you're into business. 00:40:12.650 --> 00:40:17.470 <v Speaker0>I like to share a lot of stuff on my parcours and everything that I've done. 00:40:17.730 --> 00:40:21.370 <v Speaker0>And the team at Sequence also, they share a lot of stuff on LinkedIn. 00:40:21.570 --> 00:40:25.010 <v Speaker0>They're very active. So I think LinkedIn is our network. Yeah. 00:40:26.310 --> 00:40:30.970 <v Speaker1>We'll definitely link that. And for our audience, I was wondering what questions 00:40:30.970 --> 00:40:33.170 <v Speaker1>you would have asked last. 00:40:33.390 --> 00:40:36.690 <v Speaker1>Drop it in the comments below and we might ask him next time. 00:40:36.870 --> 00:40:39.490 <v Speaker1>Thank you very much, Buzz. It was a pleasure talking to you. 00:40:39.970 --> 00:40:43.370 <v Speaker1>Guys out there, don't forget to like, share, subscribe and review. 00:40:43.630 --> 00:40:46.370 <v Speaker1>This is Joe from Celebrate.io. See you next time. 00:40:47.050 --> 00:40:51.330 <v Speaker0>Thank you, Joe. It was a pleasure being here very much thank you for having me pleasure. 00:40:51.330 --> 00:40:52.470 <v Speaker1>Was all mine thank you 00:40:52.470 --> 00:40:53.250 <v Speaker0>Thanks. 00:40:53.680 --> 00:41:23.513 <v Music>