The vendor knowledge blackout
Your finance manager gives notice. Two weeks later, they're gone—and the lights go out.
You start searching for a replacement. Three months pass. Maybe four. Finally, you hire someone smart and eager. But they're operating in complete darkness: Where are the vendor files? Why this $50,000/year platform? Who negotiated that discount?
Another three months while they ramp up, piecing together fragments from invoices and fading memories.
When the lights finally come back on—six months after the blackout started—you discover the damage:
- A renewal window closed. Auto-renewed at full price.
- The vendor relationship that took two years to build? Your new account manager has no context.
- That 15% discount? No record of how it was negotiated.
- Three subscriptions nobody's using. Still paying.
This is the vendor knowledge blackout. A prolonged period where your company operates blind—and by the time you can see again, you don't know what got damaged.
The problem no one's solving
Whether you're a 20-person agency managing 100 vendors or a 200-person company managing 500, the problem is the same: vendor knowledge walks out the door with the people who have it.
Companies managing complex vendor portfolios now average 217-335 vendor relationships, spending $4,830 per employee annually—up 21.9% year over year. But 30-50% of that spend is wasted due to knowledge loss when people leave:
- Why was this vendor chosen?
- Who owns it now?
- What was negotiated?
- Are employees satisfied, or undertrained?
Without this context, you get duplicate subscriptions, missed renewal windows, lost leverage, and tools replaced when training would have worked.
The blackout can last months. VendorLog keeps the lights on.
Our approach
VendorLog is vendor relationship intelligence—the institutional memory that survives when people leave.
We capture what matters:
- Selection rationale (why you chose each vendor)
- Ownership and contact history (who owns what, always current)
- Negotiation details (leverage that doesn't disappear)
- Satisfaction and usage patterns (training gaps vs. tool problems)
We surface what's actionable:
- Renewal alerts prioritized by vendor health
- Training opportunities (invest $2K in training vs. $45K replacing tools)
- Ways to maximize existing relationships
We preserve what would otherwise disappear:
- A record new hires inherit instantly—not after 6 months in the dark
- Knowledge that compounds instead of vanishing
Built for vendor complexity, not company size
Enterprise companies have procurement teams and $45K+ platforms. You don't.
Vendor complexity doesn't scale with headcount. A 25-person agency might manage 150 vendors. A 200-person manufacturer might have 50.
What matters: Can you afford six months in the dark every time someone leaves?
Enterprise tools (Zylo, Productiv) cost $35K-$45K annually. Mid-market tools (Torii) start at $250/month but focus on spend tracking, not relationships. Spreadsheets vanish when their maintainer leaves.
VendorLog: enterprise-grade intelligence at pricing that works for any team size.
We partner with your accounting systems (QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite)—they handle transactions, we preserve relationships.
Join us
We're building VendorLog for finance directors tired of knowledge gaps, CFOs who want optimization over cost-cutting, and operations leaders who know relationships matter.
Join the waitlist and help shape what we become.
Because when your next finance manager leaves, the lights should stay on.