Vendasta vendasta.com @Vendasta platform for channel partners who provide digital solutions to small- & medium-sized businesses. Vendasta & Yesware @yesware combine to offer CRM with sales enablement & marketing automation capabilities: 17-Oct-2022, Vendasta announced the acquisition of Yesware, a private Boston-based company that offers tools for sales teams to track email outreach activity, rapidly test what does & doesn’t work, & share that data across teams to drive results, faster. Vendasta, a privately-held company headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada provides technology services to small & medium-sized businesses through its relationships with channel partners, such as advertising agencies & media companies. Software startup Vendasta acquired Boston-based Yesware, in a deal Vendasta says will expand its sales enablement & marketing automation capabilities. The financial terms of the transaction, which will see Vendasta integrate Yesware into its portfolio of service offerings, were not disclosed. The Yesware deal marks Vendasta’s third acquisition in the past year or so. Oct-2021, Vendasta purchased artificial intelligence-powered automated scheduling software firm CalendarHero, and this January, Vendasta bought search, display, & social advertising tech company MatchCraft. Vendasta’s acquisition of Yesware also comes a couple of months after the company laid off over 30 of its approximately 700 employees. Founded in 2010, Yesware provides tech tools like email tracking & campaign management to sales teams. As of 2018, Yesware had raised a total of $48M. Vendasta, headquartered in Saskatoon, with offices in Toronto Chennai, India & now Boston. Vendasta Technologies Inc., Saskatoon, SK, Canada
18-Oct-2022, Mediafly mediafly.com @Mediafly revenue enablement platform, has acquired Aptology aptology.com @APTOLOGY1 talent intelligence platform specializing in assessing & predicting sales rep performance. Aptology is Mediafly’s sixth acquisition & the latest addition to the company’s modular Revenue360 platform, which includes sales enablement, content management, coaching, value selling & revenue intelligence.
14-Oct-2022, AI platform 6Sense 6sense.com laid off 150 employees globally, including several from India.
6sense has acquired 5 organizations: Granite Media, Saleswhale, Slintel, Fortella, ZenIQ.io. Their most recent acquisition was Granite Media on 9-Jun-2022.
20-Jan-2022, 6sense acquired Saleswhale for an undisclosed amount.
12-Oct-2022, Microsoft previews new ‘Designer’ tool which enables AI art generation for Marketing Campaigns.
3-Oct-2022, Microsoft announced general availability of Microsoft Viva Sales, the first Viva application designed to improve the employee experience for a specific role: sellers. Viva Sales brings together a seller’s customer relationship management (CRM) system, Microsoft 365, & Microsoft Teams seamlessly in their workflow, enabling them to save time & return to what they love—connecting with customers & closing deals.
Update: Bigtincan withdraws LiveTiles aquisition bid, 22-Nov-2022
Sales enablement platform provider Bigtincan Holdings Ltd (ASX: BTH) @Bigtincan has tabled a confidential, non-binding, indicative proposal to acquire LiveTiles @LiveTiles by way of scheme of arrangement. Under the indicative proposal, LiveTiles shareholders would be entitled to receive 7 cents per share, less any dividends, or distributions paid to shareholders from this day onwards. And while Bigtincan is offering cash to acquire the company, shareholders will be given the option to receive part of the consideration in the form of Bigtincan shares.
Based on LiveTiles’ shares outstanding of 923,221,306, this implies a takeover price of approximately AUD $65M. However, it is worth noting that discussions between the two parties are preliminary in nature and no agreement has been reached. Bigtincan also warned that there is no certainty that any transaction will eventuate.
[…]
ASX-listed employee experience software LiveTiles has inked an agreement to purchase the remaining 80 per cent of climate change consulting business My Net Zero for about AUD $10M.
The news comes as Australia-founded software vendor Bigtincan Holdings put an offer on the table to acquire 100 per cent of LiveTiles. The move to acquire LiveTiles comes after it flagged its intentions in August to conduct an “extensive” operational review after flagging its intent to delist from the ASX, with its consideration including the continued move of “certain” jobs to Portugal & the Philippines.
Bigtincan’s Q1 FY23 $bth.ax cash operating payments included $2.8m of one-off severance and other costs related to business adjustments conducted in the Quarter.
| Private Equity ($43M) from Invictus Growth Partners Invictus Growth Management LLC (26-Jul-2022): Allbound allbound.com @allbound |
| EQT (EQT Partners AB): Sitecore sitecore.com (Boxever, STYLELABS, Moosend) |
| FLEX Capital acquired a majority stake in ComX ComX.io “ComX.io AI for Sales” |
| Adobe: Adobe Experience Cloud / AEM / Marketo / ToutApp / Workfront |
| Cincom Systems cincom.com TeamSync CPQ Sync |
| Canva canva.com record & download “talking presentations”. Edit video: Canva Video suite. ‘Docs to Decks’. Canva Visual Worksuite |
| SAP (Callidus, iCentera, Litmos LMS, Emarsys, Signavio) CRM, CPQ, CLM |
| Alphabet Inc.: Google / Google Cloud Platform (G Suite / Drive / Docs / Sheets / Slides / Keep / Forms / Sites / programmablesearchengine.google.com ) |
| Meta (Metaverse, Oculus / Reality Labs / Project Cambria / Meta Quest Pro! / Workplace by Facebook, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, etc) |
| Sprinklr Inc. also known as Demand Media, Inc. Sprinklr Modern Marketing; CMS |
| Asana for Marketing, Asana Operations & Asana for Sales & Account Management |
| Permira permira.com: Nu:Pitch became Seismic: Seismic (SAVO / SAVO Group, KnowledgeTree, Zensight, Percolate, Grapevine6, Lessonly [Obie acquired by Lessonly 29-Jul-2021]) |
| LegalZoom.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: LZ) [Revv revv.so @Revv_so previously known as RevvSales] |
| ZoomInfo Technologies (Predecessor DiscoverOrg) TellWise, Clickagy AI, Komiko, Chorus.ai, EverString |
| ServiceNow, Inc. (Attivio, Loom Systems, Passage AI, Sweagle, Montrêal-based Element AI) |
| Dropbox building a metaverse. Dropbox Paper, Dropbox for Business (HelloSign, DocSend docsend.com) |
| Salesforce CRM CMS / Sites / Content / Chatter / Quip / Einstein / AppExchange / Trailhead / Slack / LevelJump formerly Lurniture / Salesforce Genie / Genie for Tableau / MuleSoft / Slack Genie / Einstein AI & Flow automation |
| Microsoft: Microsoft Designer / Microsoft Office / Teams / SharePoint / Dynamics / Azure / Delve / Xbox / Mesh / Loop / Yammer / Skype / LinkedIn (PointDrive) LinkedIn Learning / Viva Sales seller’s companion to CRM working in productivity apps like Outlook & Teams w. integrations to Dynamics 365 Sales & Salesforce CRM |
| Atlassian Corporation Plc: Confluence Cloud, Trello, etc (doctape.com tape.io @doctapers / Percept.AI former Buddy AI) |
| NICE nice.com @NICELtd NICE Ltd / NICE Systems Ltd. (ContentEngine / MindTouch @MindTouch) |
| Axway axway.com (Atos [Unify unify.com Circuit by Unify will be sunset Dec-2022] bluekiwi.io bluekiwi-software.com acquired by Atos) |
| Private Equity Firm HGGC, LLC invested in Upland uplandsoftware.com: Altify, Kapost, RO|innovation, Qvidian (Sant & Kadient), BlueVenn, Objectif Lune Inc. objectiflune.com, BA-Insight Inc. |
| Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. [Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc. (EdCast)] |
| Zoom zoom.us @Zoom acquisition of Solvvy solvvy.com @solvvyinc to strengthen conversational AI capabilities & launched Zoom IQ for sales |
| Ziff Davis, Inc was J2 Global, Inc (Landslide Technologies Inc / CampaignerCRM / Campaigner campaigner.com @CampaignerEmail) |
| ESW Capital Group: Aurea, Inc. (Jive Software / XANT, Inc. XANT.ai [now once again insidesales.com] PLAYBOOKS) |
| Insight Partners: Optimizely rebranded Episerver Inc [Insite Software acquired Storyworks Ondemand/Storyworks1 optimizely.com acquired Insite]) |
| TA Associates: Revalize revalizesoftware.com @revalize acquired Sofon Solutions sofon.com @SofonSoftware @SofonDE Sofon Guided Solutions |
| Thoma Bravo private equity firm: Bridge @GetBridge getbridge.com by instructure.com @Instructure / Conga conga.com (Octiv [formerly TinderBox]) acquired by Apttus apttus.com |
| Vista Equity Partners: ACQUIA INC acquia.com (Widen Enterprises, Inc. widen.com), SalesLoft (Costello, Noteninja), Drift drift.com (@GiantOtterTech AI), Pipedrive pipedrive.com (Mailigen) Sales Docs, Khoros (Lithium Technologies, LLC / Lithium Technologies [Jive Software]) |
| TPG private investment firm: Nintex (Drawloop Technologies / K2) |
| opentext.com acquired Documentum / Dell EMC’s Enterprise Content Division. The product originally called Livelink became an OpenText flagship product |
| Showpad (LearnCore, LIA, Voicefox, Hickup, Taptera) |
| Oracle CPQ Cloud former BigMachines Inc + InQuira / Oracle Netsuite configure, price, & quote (CPQ) = Netsuite CPQ for sales teams |
| Dialpad dialpad.com @DialpadHQ acquired TalkIQ @Talk_iq |
| Gong.io (Vayo, ONDiGO) |
| 6sense.com @6senseInc 6sense Insights, Inc. acquired Slintel slintel.com @Slintel_Inc as well as Granite Media, Saleswhale, Fortella, ZenIQ.io |
| Demand Science: PureB2B, Klarity, Internal Results, Leadiro [B2B sales enablement, sales intelligence & data enrichment platform], Tidings, BIOMES, airborne app |
| Coveo coveo.com (Qubit. qubit.com) |
| Sumeru Equity Partners: Former SocialChorus |
| SQN Investors hold 13.6% of the AI-powered software provider Bigtincan & are intending to fund an entire acquisition via a combination of equity & a potential debt financing: Bigtincan bigtincan.com [Contondo, FatStax, Zunos, Veelo (mobilepaks), Asdeq Labs, XINN, Agnitio, Clearslide (SlideRocket), VoiceVibes, Vidinoti, Brainshark, StorySlab storyslab.com, Task Exchange |
Battlecard battlecard.com @battlecardHQ parsegon.com @parsegon @quickcardhq Quickcard was the main product Battlecard the brand/ecosystem name. Pivoted. quickcard.com Quickcard (YC W20, defunct) Sales Playbook Platform: Teams use Battlecard to organize their sales playbook, conquering the chaos of their daily revenue operations. Sales Collateral: Create tailored, shareable, & tracked sales collateral in 30sec after every discovery sales call. Just like you tailor a sales pitch on calls, tailor your follow-up collateral. Sales collateral is rarely something that should be one-size-fits-all for all prospects. Create tailored sales collateral. Gain Insights to what is helpful. Get granular, event-driven analytics that help you improve your sales. Document-sharing platform designed for sales. A way to send sales materials: Personalize your sales decks & gain insights on readership in one place. Learn what is & isn’t working in your materials. Send, tailor, & analyze your sales collateral content. Highlight top features: Focus on the topics or features that the prospect specifically cares about based on discovery calls. Inject prospect’s variables: Name, industry, company size, or anything onto sales materials to provide a personal touch. Insert in the prospect’s logo, which 97% can be auto-fetched from just providing their domain name. San Francisco, CA, USA Domain redirecting to attention.tech by Benwick, Inc, USA
attention attention.tech by Benwick, Inc. Real-time, fully integrated voice assistant for sales. Win your deals with our real-time guidance & complete all your action items with one click. Supercharge your go-to-market. Replicate your top sellers & best practices across your entire team. USA
Miller Heiman millerheimangroup.co.uk @MHGroupEMEA Empowering your sales service team to be ready to win more! Strategy Ready: BE READY to enable your sales & service strategy with consulting & research services. Consulting services that serve your business performance. London, UK. LOS ANGELES, 30-Sep-2019, Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY) kornferry.com acquired three companies from TwentyEighty, Inc. in the leadership development area: Miller Heiman Group, AchieveForum, & Strategy Execution.
NeoDove neodove.com @NeoDoveTech Telecalling CRM & Sales Engagement Platform – for engaging with customers, converting leads, & growing revenue. Enabling Businesses To Accelerate Their Growth: An incredibly powerful Tele-calling CRM & Sales Engagement Platform for your telecallers to increase their efficiency & help them convert more. NeoDove Technologies Pvt Ltd. Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Bengaluru-headquartered business accounting giant Vyapar @VyaparApp acquired NeoDove: 1-Jun-2022, Bengaluru headquartered business accounting platform Vyapar acquired SaaS startup NeoDove for an undisclosed amount. This is Vyapar’s first acquisition with which it hopes to further strengthen & step up its efforts to cater to the SME sector.
enablio enablio.com.br @enablio Brazilian revenue enablement platform, we unlock the potential of people & companies through the transformative power of education. Florianópolis, Brasil / Brazil
docsales docsales.com @doc_sales automate proposal & contract buildouts. Allows you to generate proposals & contracts through your CRM of choice with zero clicks – and zero effort. DocSales’ Zero Click allows them to send sales documents automatically, by just dragging the CRM opportunity card from one phase to another one. Sends proposals & quotes automatically to customers, based on preconfigured templates & information the sales representative added to their CRM, which is imported automatically to DocSales. As soon as the customer receives the document, they can e-sign it online. Sales Documents, Inc. Sao Paulo, Brazil
I keep getting new submissions for this list of Sales Enablement SaaS/tools via my quest leveraging Questmate.com – which has many use cases for any recurring tasks/work with multiple steps:
Today, over 65% of B2B buyers are millennials (26 to 40)
When researching products, millennials trust their prior experience with the product. This is why product-led growth (PLG) is so powerful. Each younger generation will gravitate more towards:
– Wanting to use the product & see the value before deciding if they’ll purchase or not.
– Wanting a consumer experience.
Not every B2B product fits with a PLG go-to-market, but it can be incredibly powerful for those with a natural fit.
Millennials are 20% less likely to use analyst rankings & reports than baby boomers. Gen Z buyers are 30% less likely.
People trust other people, & trust in large institutions is eroding.
In particular, millennials & Gen z buy into stories and then the product.
It’s a crucial reminder that people fall in love with the story, then the product, and validate their beliefs by talking to others within their network.
Elena Verna elenaverna.com/growth-dictionary
“[…] as a millennial I cannot imagine discovering product on google anymore. This shifted for me within last 5 years. Peer feedback (viral / WOM word of mouth) and social have been much more actionable and to the point. I don’t see the future of demand gen / education being on search. I think viral and social are b2b channels of the future. We are already seeing rise of b2b influencers (on the heels of b2c influencer play) as social penalizes company content and promotes user. Search for sure will continue being demand capture mechanism though.”
elenaverna.com/growth-dictionary
Growth motion: Describes which tactic is accountable for a successful outcome in the growth lever. […]
Product-led growth: The product takes accountability over one or more growth levers.
- Acquisition: users acquire other users
- Monetization: product can self-serve monetize
- Retention
- Self-serve activation
- Usage triggers more usage (habit forming)
Marketing-led growth: Marketing takes accountability over one or more growth levers. […]
Sales-led growth: Sales takes accountability over one or more growth levers.
- Acquisition: sales prospects to find a buyer.
- Monetization: sales close contract.
- Retention: sales/success host QBR’s to showcase value.
Product-led sales: Bridge for companies wanting to do both product-led and sales-led monetization. Product-led sales leverage self-serve activation and engagement to build a pipeline for sales to close contracts.
AccessBell 
B2B Sales Enablement and Sales Tech SaaS 