Why is this in your inbox? Part of Hexa Media, Underdogs is a podcast and newsletter by Augustin Celier for bootstrapped founders who want to turn years of hard work into the outcome they truly deserve. Drawing on his experience as both entrepreneur and investor - and conversations with people on the ground - Augustin explores the real choices that can transform a solid company into an exceptional one. Unsubscribe from future Underdogs notifications here.
For the first podcast episode of Underdogs, I wanted to start with someone whose story I’ve seen up close — Antonio Velasco, founder and CEO of Veevart, and the first founder we’ve partnered with at Hexa Scale.
Antonio bootstrapped his software company for museums for seven years, growing it into a profitable business serving cultural institutions across the US. But even with $2M in ARR and more than 100 clients, he’d hit a ceiling.
Growth was strong, but the company itself still operated like a scrappy early-stage startup. The systems, the team, the processes — none of it reflected the scale Veevart had actually reached.
It’s not that he didn’t want investors; he knew they could help.
He just wanted investors that would really help and not just promise they would.
And also, at first, he didn’t want us.
Probably because the first meeting wasn’t exactly an instant click, to say the least. But we salvaged that nascent relationship, kept each other updated. It took a year to really earn his trust.
And I can’t blame him. After years of building something valuable on your own, you want to be absolutely sure you’re letting in the right people.
But eventually, Antonio decided to take the leap. And over the past few months, we’ve been working side by side to rebuild Veevart — setting it up so that, in a few years, his years of hard work translate into the outcome and valuation he truly deserves.
We go through his story together in this first episode of Underdogs.
Listen to the episode on your favorite podcast platform.
And if you like it, don’t forget to subscribe below to get future episodes straight to your inbox.
Cheers,
Augustin
In this episode:
00:00 Bootstrapping Beginnings
04:00 Shift to Museums
08:36 Hitting Growth Limits
12:41 First Investor Meeting
17:24 Seeking Help
23:04 Crossing the Line
30:00 New Ambitions
37:15 Team Transformation
40:21 Final Thoughts
