The Story of Vev: Building the Future of Web Development Workflows

The Story of Vev: Building the Future of Web Development Workflows

Sometimes the most innovative companies emerge not from a grand vision, but from witnessing something absurd. For Tine Karlsen and her co-founders at Vev, that moment came when they saw large companies trying to convert PDFs into web content.

An Unlikely Beginning

The story of Vev started with a simple request. As Tine recalls, “I met this guy that I wrote my bachelor’s thesis with, and he asked me if I wanted to join him working for a company that he started working for because he wanted me to write business plans and stuff that they needed to apply for government funding.”

This initial project, focused on converting PDFs to digital publications, would become a masterclass in what not to do. However, it also introduced Tine to her future co-founders: a brilliant developer who would become Vev’s CTO, and a product specialist with expertise in design tools.

The Market Signal

While working on PDF conversions, the team noticed something telling about enterprise behavior. “When companies were looking for ways to bring their print publication to Web, that tells me that large companies, they are so stuck with their original workflow that they started doing absurd things like converting PDFs to digital publications when that format is definitely not suitable for the web,” Tine explains.

This observation coincided with two significant market trends. “We had website builders like Webflow wix Squarespace emerging… But at the same time, we saw the emergence of headless CMS.” These parallel developments created a gap in the market – enterprises needed the flexibility of custom development but wanted the speed of visual builders.

Building from the Edge

Operating from Oslo, Norway, positioned Vev as an underdog in the global tech landscape. But this outsider status became a strength. “We have always thought of ourselves as underdogs… So I feel like coming from Norway, you always have to have that mindset that you’re competing with the big dogs,” Tine shares.

This mindset drove them to focus on solving real problems rather than chasing tech trends. They began by targeting the media industry, landing Shipstead, Northern Europe’s largest media house, as their first major client. The results were dramatic: reducing content production time “from three weeks down to now being 30 minutes.”

Evolution of the Vision

As Vev grew, they discovered their true value proposition wasn’t just about building websites – it was about transforming workflows. “The unique point with Vev is the workflow behind getting to the end result, because the workflow is faster without compromise,” Tine explains.

This realization led them to develop a platform that could serve multiple stakeholders while maintaining clear boundaries. Designers could create templates, marketers could update content, and developers could extend functionality – all within their respective domains.

The Future of Web Creation

Looking ahead, Vev’s ambitions extend beyond their current success. “When it comes to the product, which I of course love talking about, we want Vev to be the front end builder that you naturally think of no matter what CMS you have chosen,” Tine shares.

This vision positions Vev at the intersection of two major trends: the growing adoption of headless CMS systems and the increasing demand for visual development tools. As enterprises continue to seek ways to accelerate their digital initiatives without sacrificing flexibility, Vev’s approach to transforming web development workflows could become the new standard.

For Tine and her team, the journey from converting PDFs to reimagining web development workflows has been marked by a consistent focus on solving real problems, even when they’re not the obvious ones. It’s a reminder that sometimes the best opportunities lie not in creating entirely new categories, but in transforming existing ones in ways that make everyone’s work better.