Partner Spotlight: Fund Your Business and Focus on Growing with Doron Gordon from Run Viably

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Hey, thanks for tuning in to another Partner Interview at EcomBalance. At EcomBalance, we’re all about creating win-win partnerships where we are able to grow with other companies in the eCommerce space. 

 

 

In this exclusive interview, we interview Doron Gordon from Run Viably.

 

Doron is a successful entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of Viably. Before Viably, Doron built Samanage, an IT service management platform that was acquired in 2019 by SolarWinds for $350M. Prior to founding Samanage, Doron was a Co-Founder and VP of Sales and Marketing at Continuity Software, a leading provider of disaster recovery and high availability management solutions.

Earlier, Doron was a senior manager at BMC Software, a global leader in IT management software. He was also the Founder and CEO at Always-On Software, an innovative application service provider. Previously, Doron held various technical and sales roles at Crystal Systems and IDF/Mamram.

 

We hope that you enjoy the interview and that it brings value to you as an eCommerce business owner. 

 

Connor: Hey Doron, thanks for taking the time to chat with us today. As a company, one of our goals is to highlight our partners so that our clients can benefit where it makes most sense. To get started, can you give us a high-level introduction to Viably and a little bit about how the company got started? 

 

Doron: Viably is an all-in-one financial management solution for eCommerce sellers built on three capabilities: 

  1. Digital Banking: A business checking account, physical and virtual cards, and money movement capabilities.
  2. Funding: Both short term revenue-based working capital and merchant cash advance.
  3. Automation: Streamline backend seller activities such as expense management, bookkeeping reconciliation, forecasting, and more.


Viably was started by the same team that built Samanage, a SaaS-based enterprise ITSM solution. The team exited Samanage in 2019 for $350M. During that time we went through multiple funding cycles and learned how misunderstood a digital based business could be to traditional lenders. And, at the same time we had the privilege of working with many eCommerce businesses to learn their growing pains and needs. That led us to starting Viably with one mission: to help ecommerce businesses grow.

We believe these entrepreneurs need an integrated experience that understands their business, helps them save time, and provides the capital needed to scale.

 

Connor: Thanks for sharing that! Can you dive a bit more into the tools you offer to help ecommerce businesses grow? Our audience is always looking for reputable companies that they can lean on for specific parts of their eCommerce businesses.  

 

Doron: Our goal is to become the banking partner for eCommerce sellers, and provide a tailored financial solution to help them grow their business. By connecting all the tools and data they use Viably is able to show them their cash flow situation across all marketplaces and payment engines. This kind of visibility allows sellers to better plan their next product launch or restocking needs of existing products, while ensuring sufficient capital is available to fund their dream growth plans.

 

Connor: Jumping off of that…when you’re thinking about your ideal customer, who is that? Where are they selling online? Where are they located in the world? How much sales do they typically have in a year? If there’s any other qualities, please include them as well. We’re all about making introductions where it benefits both parties. 

 

Doron: Our ideal customer is a growing eCommerce seller that runs on Amazon, Walmart+, or has their own Shopify or WooCommerce store. They are located in North America and have crossed into the 6-figure range and beyond. They are ready to grow and have committed to building their dream eCommerce business.

 

Connor: For our audience to truly understand what makes you stand out from other companies in the financial industry, can you share a story of how Viably truly helped one of its customers?

 

Doron: For sure. One of our customers runs a fast growing hockey supply shop. We’ve helped them consolidate expansive debt and onboarded them into our Banking and Growth planning solution, giving the visibility and power to better plan their next restocking cycle.

 

Upon review of their growth plans, Viably committed to funding all of the 2023 capital needs of the seller, which allowed them to stop using personal credit cards to fund their business and focus on growing.

 

Connor: As you and your company think about the next year ahead, what does it look like? Are there any specific initiatives that you’re working on as a team to better your product or service for your customers?

 

Doron: Viably is a new vendor in the eCommerce financial management industry and as such our primary focus for 2023 is on making our early customers incredibly successful and building a name for ourselves throughout the eCommerce industry.

 

Connor: How about this…everyone loves a company’s growth story. We all naturally go through ups and downs as a company. What was one of the biggest challenges that the company faced in its growing stages? 

 

Doron: No challenges so far. Viably is led by a super experienced team that is very focused on helping eCommerce entrepreneurs grow and scale their business.

 

Connor: Thanks! Let’s talk some eCommerce! Where do you see the industry heading in the next 1-2 years? Any big changes that you’re predicting for the industry? How can eCommerce companies prepare for it?

 

Doron: The marketplace dynamics are super interesting, we see an opportunity for new channels, such as Walmart+ and Target, to help sellers diversify their business off Amazon and own more of their customer engagements, while building their own brand.

 

On the financial macro level and in a world of increasing interest rates, we see a growing challenge to finance eCommerce growth and many sellers default primarily to personal credit card spend, we believe Viably can be a solution to this. 

 

Connor: Changing gears a little bit…When it comes to bookkeeping and accounting, what do you think the biggest pain points for eCommerce business owners are? Feel free to speak from personal experience as well. 

 

Doron: When we started Viably, we asked many sellers what are some of the back office tasks that they wish they could automate. Through these questions we heard stories about getting ready for tax season that takes weeks of time from the business owner because they are going through receipts in sandwich bags marked for each month.

 

Bookkeeping reconciliations and expense management were the two top answers we consistently heard. Ecommerce business owners just want it automated, so they can save time and focus on their business. Whether you’re selling on a single marketplace or running a truly global business, there are so many benefits to having your books always up to date. 

 

Connor: Okay, here’s an open mic opportunity. If there’s one thing that you’d want the EcomBalance community to hear from you, what would it be?

 

Doron: We’re the new guy in town and we are super excited to work with and learn from growing eCommerce sellers. In the end, there is no better success for us than helping them scale their business. It’s a journey and we truly want to be a banking partner for all eCommerce sellers. So,  come talk to us and let’s explore how we may be able to help!

 

Connor: As we close this out, I just have one more question. Where is the best place to find and follow you and the company online? Also, if you have one, is there any special offer that you’ll be offering to the community today? 

 

Doron: Each funding offer with Viably is tailored to the individual business based on their own data! Viably is ready to fund your eCommerce business at https://runviably.com/funding

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Connor Gillivan

CMO and Founder of EcomBalance. Founded FreeUp (acquired in 2019). Founder of Outsource School. Published Author. Investor.

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