# Matthew Bellows

> Matthew Bellows is a serial founder turned investor who is now Acting CEO of Averi, an AI-plus-human marketing platform in New York. He built and sold three companies - the mobile-games media bet WGR Media (to CNET), the sales-software pioneer Yesware (to Vendasta), and the digital financial-planning startup BodesWell (to American Express) - and now invests as a General Partner at Grit Capital. A longtime meditation teacher who studied Buddhist and Western psychology at Naropa, he is known for pairing hard-nosed sales discipline with a calm, mindfulness-first leadership style.

- **Role:** Acting CEO at Averi
- **Organizations:** Averi, Grit Capital Partners, Yesware, BodesWell, WGR Media, American Express
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A. in Buddhist and Western Psychology, Naropa University, M.B.A., magna cum laude, Babson College, F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Founded, led and sold three companies: WGR Media (CNET, 2004), Yesware (Vendasta, 2022) and BodesWell (American Express, 2022)., Grew Yesware into a sales platform used by 500,000 customers at companies including Groupon, Yelp, Salesforce, Twilio, Acquia and Zendesk., Led Yesware to roughly 1,300% revenue growth in a single year.

## Career timeline

- **1990** — Introduced to sitting meditation at the Naropa Institute, beginning a lifelong practice in the Shambhala tradition.
- **2004** — WGR Media, his bootstrapped mobile-games media company, acquired by CNET Networks.
- **2010** — Founded Yesware, a pioneering sales-enablement and email-tracking platform.
- **2015** — Spoke at Business of Software on 'Mind the Gap: The Case for Mindfulness at Work.'
- **2018** — Transitioned from CEO to Chairman of Yesware.
- **2019** — Founded BodesWell, a digital financial-planning company partnering with banks and retirement firms.
- **2022** — Yesware acquired by Vendasta; BodesWell acquired by American Express.
- **2024** — Became General Partner at Grit Capital Management.
- **2025** — Took on the role of Acting CEO at Averi, after Grit led the company's $3M seed round.

## Achievements

- Founded, led and sold three companies: WGR Media (CNET, 2004), Yesware (Vendasta, 2022) and BodesWell (American Express, 2022).
- Grew Yesware into a sales platform used by 500,000 customers at companies including Groupon, Yelp, Salesforce, Twilio, Acquia and Zendesk.
- Led Yesware to roughly 1,300% revenue growth in a single year.
- Built BodesWell into a digital financial-planning product that reached banks and retirement companies before its American Express acquisition.
- General Partner at Grit Capital, which led Averi's $3M seed round.

## Latest updates

- **2025** — Serving as Acting CEO of Averi, the AI-plus-human marketing platform headquartered in New York.
- **2024** — Joined Grit Capital Management as a General Partner.

## Links

- Website: https://averi.ai
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mbellows

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/matthew-bellows
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-22