Port logistics · Vertical B2B SaaS
Building the commercial system behind
a category-defining terminal platform.
Portomundi sets a new standard for how logistics terminals connect with their trucking community. Their technology runs at terminals like PSA Antwerp, Antwerp Gateway and Halifax. The product was ahead of the market. The commercial engine had to catch up.
A category leader without a category playbook.
Portomundi is a small team of six with a clear vision: a world where logistics terminals can offer their operational services online, with seamless payments for a global user community. They already had reference customers at the most demanding terminals in Europe and North America. They had partnerships with Antwerp's largest terminal operators.
What they didn't have — and didn't need yet — was a full-time commercial leader. What they did need was a way to move from "the right people in the industry know us" to "we have a predictable engine that wins new terminal accounts every quarter". That's a different problem than founder-led growth can solve, and it's also a different problem than a generic SaaS sales playbook.
Three commercial walls a terminal SaaS hits.
A buyer landscape with no shortcut.
Every deal involves terminal operations, IT/OT, finance, and often a parent group. Each one can stop the deal. The standard "demo and pricing page" approach doesn't survive the second meeting.
Integrations that scare procurement.
The product connects to existing TOS, VBS and gate systems. That's a feature for operations and a friction for procurement and IT-security. The commercial story has to address both — without dumbing down the product.
A network industry where outreach feels wrong.
Port and terminal communities are tightly networked. Aggressive cold outbound damages reputation. But waiting for inbound only fills the calendar of the loudest founder, not the pipeline of the company.
Architecture first, then signal-led outbound.
The work followed the same logic I use in every vertical SaaS engagement: build the commercial house before you furnish it. Concretely, that meant:
- Positioning that survives a procurement room. Reframe the product story for three audiences (operations, IT, finance) without diluting it. Reference selling against PSA Antwerp, Antwerp Gateway and Halifax becomes the proof spine.
- ICP and target account work. Define the next layer of terminals — by size, geography, technology stack and procurement maturity — that resemble the current customers. Not every terminal is the right next customer.
- Signal-led outbound, not cold blast. New terminal CEOs, new IT decision-makers, expansion announcements, public tenders, capacity investments. Each signal becomes an outreach trigger with a relevant angle — not the same message to everyone.
- Sales process that handles a long cycle. Multi-stakeholder mapping, technical-validation stage, procurement stage, ROI documentation. CRM structure built around the stages that actually predict the deal, not generic SaaS stages.
- Coaching, not closing. The Portomundi team continues to own customer relationships. My work is in the system, the strategy, and the operator support — so the team is more effective with every cycle, not dependent on me.
A commercial system that compounds.
The Portomundi engagement is ongoing, and concrete pipeline numbers stay between us and the client. What I can share publicly:
- A repeatable sales motion. The team now follows a defined process from first touch to signed contract, instead of every deal being founder-improvised.
- Outbound that the industry accepts. Signal-led, named-account outreach replaced generic cold blasts — preserving the network reputation while opening new conversations.
- Stakeholder confidence at procurement-stage. Buying committees encounter the same crisp positioning, ROI story and integration narrative on slide one, demo five, and security review.
- Senior commercial sparring without senior cost. The founder team has weekly strategic input without carrying a full-time CRO salary in their burn.
Specific pipeline and revenue numbers available under NDA in a discovery call.
Quote pending — to be added once Portomundi has reviewed and approved the public copy. Reach out to Simon directly if you'd like to talk to a Portomundi reference.
What Portomundi has in common with your scale-up.
If you're a vertical B2B SaaS scale-up — port logistics, energy & grid, manufacturing, healthtech, construction tech — you've probably hit the same wall:
- You sell into a traditional industry that values trust, references and relationships.
- Your buying committee is bigger than the average SaaS deal — and one stakeholder can stop everything.
- Your product integrates with legacy systems, so procurement and IT-security own a piece of the deal.
- A full-time CRO with sector experience is either unaffordable or unfindable.
The work I did with Portomundi is what I do for scale-ups in those situations: build the commercial system so the team can scale without me, then leave when it runs.
Got a similar wall in front of your scale-up?
A free 30-minute call. No pitch, no deck. We'll look together at where your commercial system needs the most help — and whether Blitzt is the right partner. If not, I'll point you somewhere else.
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