VeUP Founder Series: Jay Laurence, Co-founder and CEO, Buzz
WRITTEN BY
Prepared by Element Communications for VeUP
PUBLISHED
18 Sep 2024
READ TIME
5 Mins
Can you share the story behind Buzz? How did it start and why?
Buzz was founded in late 2022, with development starting in 2023. The idea stemmed from my frustration with planning a good day or night out in London. I often found myself dining in unfamiliar areas and struggling to find a nearby bar. I tried Google, OpenTable, and Tripadvisor, but the reviews were inconsistent across platforms.
This issue wasn’t just with restaurants - it extended to fitness classes, museums, or finding a pub to watch the football. I realised there weren’t any up-to-date platforms that combined all the best restaurants, bars, and activities in London.
COVID further complicated things, as people didn’t return to the high street as expected. The hospitality and fitness sectors, already impacted by Brexit and inflation, were struggling. I became particularly concerned about local independents, which face significant challenges but are crucial to revitalising the high street and offering new experiences.
What is your company’s mission, and how do you ensure that it remains critical to everything you do?
Our mission is to bring the best of London to users through careful curation and the technical capability to scale the app. We aim to create an exciting platform that keeps users coming back, enhancing their experience while supporting London’s diverse local businesses.
Personally, I saw an opportunity to help people discover unique spots while also supporting businesses that lack the sales and marketing resources to compete on larger platforms. We focus on the top 10% of restaurants, bars, nightlife, fitness, well-being, and independent retailers - all under one roof. Our goal is to create a compelling user experience while driving visibility and recognition for the small independent businesses that are vital to London’s economy and culture.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in the early stages of Buzz, and how did you overcome them?
In the early days of Buzz, I faced several significant challenges which truly tested my limits. Initially bootstrapping the app while working full-time in a demanding role was extremely difficult. Juggling both jobs meant 80-100 hour weeks, leaving little personal time and creating an emotionally taxing environment.
While I had a vision of where I wanted to get to, I lacked the technical background, which made it difficult to validate certain app features or know if there were more efficient solutions available. To overcome this, I hired external resources, including a tech lead in India and a front-end developer in Brazil. Managing these time zones added another layer of complexity, with early mornings and late nights dedicated to collaborating with the team. Despite these obstacles, we persevered, and those early challenges helped shape Buzz into what it is today.
Why did you engage VeUP?
We engaged VeUp after realising our DevOps setup wasn’t the most sufficient. Our previous resource in the Netherlands was only available a few hours a week and had set up an expensive infrastructure, leading to significant monthly recurring costs, which were far too high for a pre-launch startup like ours.
When AWS suggested our infrastructure wasn't fully optimised, they recommended VeUp. VeUp responded quickly, assembling a team to address our issues within days. What stood out was their willingness to see the long-term potential in working with us, which was refreshing compared to other partners we’d approached, who don’t usually take interest until you’re at a certain point or have a certain commercial value.
What role has VeUP played in your growth journey to date?
VeUp has played a crucial role in our growth journey. They organised a well-structured team with a wide range of skills and extensive experience. Their strong expertise in relationship-building and understanding their own pipeline enables them to identify which clients have the potential for long-term success.
In addition, their technical expertise is impressive. They systematically tackled the challenges we faced with our infrastructure, addressing issues without prior knowledge of our setup. From my face-to-face meetings with VeUp, it’s clear they have a practical, action-oriented approach to problem-solving, which I find incredibly refreshing. This focus on getting things done has been invaluable to our collaboration and growth.
What is your one piece of advice for other founders looking to grow their business?
My key piece of advice for founders is to find a co-founder, and do it early. I didn’t bring one on soon enough, thinking I could handle everything alone. In hindsight, I overestimated my resilience, and trying to manage all the different work streams, especially while bootstrapping, was overwhelming. Now, I can’t believe I attempted it solo.
When looking for a co-founder, there are two main factors to consider. First, cultural fit is very important - you need to get along well. Equally important is finding someone with a complementary skill set. For example, if one founder is technical, the other might excel in business or creative areas. In my case, my co-founder, who happens to be my wife, brings strength in marketing and creativity, while I focus more on the technical and operational side. This balance has been invaluable in our journey with Buzz, allowing us to tackle different aspects of the business effectively.
What’s your next business goal that you aim to achieve in the next 12 months?
Over the next 12 months, we have two key business goals. First, we aim to implement a conversational AI tool within the app. This would allow users to link itineraries for multiple experiences in one go, reducing search friction and significantly enhancing the user experience. We believe this feature could streamline the booking process and make the app even more intuitive.
On the financial side, our goal is to achieve a profitability level of 50% or higher. Reaching this milestone would not only validate our business model but also open up more opportunities for growth and innovation.
Personally, achieving these goals would be incredibly meaningful, as it would allow me to find a balance between driving the business forward and enjoying the fruits of our labor.
What does the broader future look like for yourself and Buzz?
Looking ahead to our 3-5 year goals, we first aim to prove our model works in London. If it doesn’t, we’ll be ready to pivot and find new ways to of finding revenue and serving customer and partner needs. It's all about adaptability and responsiveness to market demands.
Beyond London, we have ambitious plans for expansion. We would love to extend our reach to other key U.K. cities, as well as Dublin, the U.S., and potentially Australia. These locations are business-friendly, have high GDP per capita, and attract significant tourism, aligning well with our business model.
We’re also focused on category expansion as a key growth strategy, improving user experience and venue uplift. Our goal is to evolve into a platform that meets all lifestyle needs - whether it’s booking a restaurant, attending a fitness class, finding a place to buy someone a present, or discovering local events.
While becoming a household name is a distant aspiration, it’s certainly a dream we’re working towards.
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