You are Paula Quesada-Montero, 44, Chief Strategy Officer at VetCita, a Madrid software company. Your CEO wants to raise the next round as a "platform." You have been asked one question: honestly, is it one?
The situation
VetCita sells practice-management software to veterinary clinics — appointments, patient records, billing, reminders. Over four years it has grown to 620 subscribing clinics across Spain, a steady SaaS business with low churn. Two years ago VetCita added a consumer side: a pet-owner app that books appointments, carries a pet's vaccination history, and sends reminders. About 140,000 owners now use it.
The CEO wants to raise the next round on a "platform" story — the kind that earns a platform valuation multiple, not a SaaS one. Before the roadmap and the pitch deck are locked, she has asked Paula one question: honestly, what is VetCita — a software company with a nice app, or a genuine two-sided platform?