Veena & Alex

“ Willingness to listen to feedback and take action, agility and openness to change are core values for us, at salesBeat,"

Q. Thanks for interviewing with us.

Tell everyone who you are and what you do?

A. Alex & I are co-founders of salesBeat. SalesBeat uses big data & machine learning to eliminate stock outs of your favorite and most relied on brands, at supermarkets. Currently companies sell their brands into supermarkets on the basis of prior year sales. However, given how unpredictable sales has become in our new normal, with unseasonal weather and fast changing seemingly unpredictable consumer preferences, understanding consumer demand and selling optimal order volumes is becoming increasingly complex, resulting in stock outs of brands/ products in store. SalesBeat helps eliminate out of stocks in stores. I have more than 20 years in this sector working across functions and markets. Alex, who is our CTO, has more than 20 years in start- ups and in tech.

Q. Who or what motivated you to be an entrepreneur?

A. Alex has been entrepreneurial through most of his life. His first entrepreneurial venture was selling candy bars when he was 10. He made the candy bars, developed a brand, packaged them and labelled them himself. For me, working in & consulting for CPG companies was a catalyst. The industry as a whole is slow to change and adapt to their consumers. Having seen how the companies in this sector struggle on the inside, motivated me to be an entrepreneur. Also, one of my previous line managers started his

Q. Tell us about “SalesBeat” and the motivation behind the brand?

A. SalesBeat has an AI driven app that models consumer buying behavior and makes predictive recommendations of optimal stock levels to salespeople who sell grocery brands to supermarkets, distributors & wholesalers. In this industry, it is very common to say ‘beat sales targets’ rather than ‘exceed sales targets’. As we help sales people and brand owners beat their sales targets by providing timely sales intelligence, we decided to call ourselves SalesBeat.

Q. What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?

A. People skills, creative thinking and passion (not really a skill, but critical to success!) ● People skills: People (management) skills & high

EQ is an important one for start-ups. You need to attract great talent, hire a team, keep them motivated and focused, investor meetings and communication and sales. So, this is the one skill that is top of the list. ● Creative thinking: Several times during the start-up journey, things don’t go to plan. Thinking creatively about your alternatives and workaround solutions will help you get back on track.

Q. Tell us your biggest challenges you’ve had growing your business?

A. Growing our business during the pandemic has been a challenge and otherwise. Challenge in that, pre-pandemic, I would have met our customers/users at industry events, had face to face conversations with them and got them to use us. However, we’ve had to be creative during the pandemic and craft cold emails that would get the decision makers’ attention, so we can get a meeting with them.

Q. What are some of your goals that you want to accomplish?

A. Our goal is to eliminate out of stocks in stores, so consumers never have to settle for an alternative or go without. Out of stocks are not just frustrating for consumers, but for some it can be debilitating. Eg: for certain differently abled people, having continued access to squeezy bottle versions of various table sauces and condiments is the key.

Q. If you can go anywhere in the world where would you go?

A. Someplace where the sun shines every day and is close to the ocean and Alex agrees.

Q. What is one fun fact about yourself?

A. I paint whenever I have time and have held exhibitions of my art.

Alex used to own and operate a restaurant in Utah.

Q. Do you believe there is some sort of pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?

A. No. Each entrepreneur has his or her own way of charting their paths to success. The one commonality is never giving up and believing in yourself and the problem you are solving. Alex argues that the definition of success can vary.

What one may think is failure could be success for another.

Q. Where can the readers follow you?

A. On our website - www.salesbeat.co , LinkedIn - Salesbeat.co; Twitter - @salesbeatco &@outofstocknow and YouTube – Salesbeat.