What's happening: Value Must Be Clear to Buyers, Not Just to CEOs
Tech leaders often assume their product’s value is self‑evident, falling prey to false consensus bias. Overloading prospects with technical details instead of outcome‑focused messaging stalls deals and can misalign product roadmaps with market needs. Reframing messaging around buyer‑centric benefits restores momentum.
Also developing:

Apollo.io announced Matt Curl as its new chief executive officer, succeeding founder Tim Zheng who will remain chairman. Curl, who has served as COO and advisor since 2019, helped drive the company’s recent operational improvements and margin expansion. Apollo now approaches $200 million in annual recurring revenue with nearly 100,000 paying customers and has grown more than five‑fold since its Series D round. The leadership change is positioned to accelerate the push toward a $500 million ARR target.

The Canadian Franchise Association projects the franchise sector to reach $133.3 billion by 2026, highlighting foodservice and retail as key growth engines. Full‑service restaurants, culturally rooted concepts, and AI‑driven operations are reshaping dining, while pet care and health‑fitness dominate retail franchising....

Viva Energy Group has appointed Teresa Rendo as CEO of its convenience and mobility retail division, bringing more than 25 years of experience from Big W, Woolworths and Myer. The hire follows a challenging period in which the segment’s sales fell...

In this episode, Garrett Brown explains why early-stage startups should hire a Sales Producer—not a traditional Sales Performer—for their first sales hire. He defines the Producer role as the person who invents the sales playbook, identifies target customers, sets pricing,...
Performance Food Group appointed Scott McPherson as CEO, pledging a stronger technology and efficiency agenda. The company posted fiscal Q2 net sales of $16.445 billion, up 5.2% year‑over‑year, and net earnings of $61.7 million, a 45.5% increase. Integration of the recent Cheney Brothers...
"In speaking to CMOs, some are spending 1/3 of their budget on events" Omar Akhtar on... The Transaction I have seen this too. Smaller events with carefully curated guests...win
SaaS isn’t dead, even with the massive sell off this year (and really since July 2025). But … what is dead is the classic pattern and way to scale: - 1, maybe 2 players, take over a space by $10m-$20m ARR - Massive...
Luxury retailers are pulling flagship stores from major downtowns such as San Francisco, Portland, and Manhattan, using closures as a barometer of city safety and legal climate. The exodus reflects rising crime, softened penalties for property offenses, and heightened insurance costs....
If you know AI can already do a part of your job, you should be the one taking advantage of that. Aggressively. If you're waiting for permission, someone else isn't. Here's what happens when you wait. Your competitor figures it out....
January 15th, 2026 was Meta's deadline for detailed targeting changes. Ad sets using old interest targeting options stopped delivering. Brands with legacy campaigns got completely blindsided because they didn't audit their accounts. If you're wondering what to do now, I’m about to...
Canadian retailers are increasingly deploying contact‑intelligence platforms to locate niche talent for e‑commerce, supply‑chain and analytics roles, a shift driven by a widening skills gap. The technology has slashed time‑to‑hire for technical positions by roughly 40 percent, while specialized roles...
My predictions for Retention.com and RB2B for 2026: TOP LINE: $28m run rate to $33m run rate (+17%) PROFIT: $12m run rate to $15m run rate (+25%) CHURN: Stays horrible. TEAM SIZE: Flat at 33 FTE. This would be considered pathetic by many in the...
The AI Integration Problem Nobody's Talking About…Until Now Here's the plot twist: 92% of business leaders have a positive view of AI, yet 40% have paused or adjusted at least one AI initiative. According to RingCentral 's Agentic AI Trends 2026 report,...

Mastercard introduced a new portfolio called Mastercard Fleet: Next Gen across the Asia‑Pacific region, bundling payments, data capture and control tools for fuel, electric‑vehicle charging, maintenance, tolls and other fleet expenses. The solution offers globally accepted digital fleet cards, point‑of‑sale data...
"We already tried that." Did you though? Did you try it with the right people? The right timing? The right execution? Or did you half-ass it once, it didn't work, and now it's dead forever? "We tried that" isn't wisdom. It's a thought-terminating cliche...
The article addresses the common habit of second‑guessing oneself in meetings, linking it to imposter syndrome and its ripple effect on team collaboration. It highlights that participants are already vetted by invitation, a simple mental reset that can curb self‑doubt....
Our logos are not our brands. We hear this a lot. So much so that businesses can be shy about placing their logo too often, out of concern that they are not centering the customer enough. I’m guilty.This is not a...
Why did it take me so long to see this? really, to accept it Had a conversation yesterday that finally crystallized what's been happening in the market. 👇 Companies aren't looking for traditional consultants anymore. They're looking for AI-Powered Consultants. Not consultants who ignore...

Dualboot Partners announced it has earned the Amazon Web Services Small and Medium Business (SMB) Competency, a distinction that validates its expertise in helping smaller enterprises adopt cloud solutions. The award highlights Dualboot’s AI‑driven modernization accelerator, 3PO, which promises to...
A $10 item for $5? A $5 item for free? Both save you $5. But more people are motivated by the second option. Free can be magical. There is no risk. And free, as Dan Ariely points out, creates an emotional charge in people that is...

Teradata announced that its enterprise‑grade Data Analyst AI agent is now available on Google Cloud Marketplace. The agent runs directly in Google Cloud, eliminating costly data movement while delivering multi‑turn conversational analytics and real‑time insights. Built on Teradata’s Model Context...

Peter Jones and his investment group have acquired American Golf from private‑equity owner Endless. The specialist retailer, which generates £135 million in annual revenue and employs over 1,000 staff, operates more than 80 stores across the UK and Ireland alongside a...
Finance of B2B SaaS: “Your paid search and social budget is flat this year. We still need to grow pipeline by 20%.” Marketing team: “But clicks are down, and so are demos.” Here’s why: Click inflation is real. Paid search and social CPCs rise 20–40%...
The investment‑management software market is projected to grow from $8.5 billion in 2025 to $25.95 billion by 2035, reflecting an 11.8% CAGR. Regulatory pressure, rapid market swings, and client demand for transparent reporting have turned these platforms into core infrastructure. The article...

Celonis’ 2026 Process Optimization Report shows 85% of enterprises aim to become agentic AI organizations within three years, yet 76% admit their current processes impede progress. The study of 1,600 leaders highlights that while 90% are experimenting with multi‑agent systems,...
Thanks to the ubiquity of AI, this is the last great advantage. It's one of the best ways to increase your value and success everywhere you show up, so why aren't we investing in learning it way MORE than we...

RingCentral has been named a Top Provider in Metrigy’s 2025 MetriStar UCaaS Report, one of only three vendors to achieve this distinction. The company earned the highest overall customer sentiment score and outperformed peers in voice quality, security, value, analytics,...

Intuit Mailchimp’s new “Art of the Opt‑In” report reveals that most marketers misjudge consumer willingness to share data, leading to low‑quality email and SMS lists. Only a third of marketers rate their lists as very high quality, and merely 8%...

Repario, an agile legal services firm, unveiled a refreshed brand, new website, and expanded service portfolio that stress human‑powered collaboration. The rollout introduces Infrastructure as a Service, Managed and Advisory offerings, plus two proprietary tech tools—Pulse Portal for Relativity management...

BPX, a global process‑consulting firm, has integrated WalkMe’s Software Usage Analytics and Process Intelligence into its service portfolio. The platform provides real‑time visibility into how employees interact with enterprise applications, exposing usage patterns and workflow bottlenecks. Leveraging these insights, BPX...

ID.me announced the appointment of Mitch Melis as Field Chief Technology Officer for the public sector. Melis will act as a trusted advisor to government agencies, helping them scale digital identity solutions while meeting compliance and fraud‑prevention requirements. He brings...
I'm thoroughly convinced that "perfect" is the enemy of success. It's just a fancy way to stall. And it crushes so many people. They sit around: - Tweaking fonts - Changing colors - Selecting new tools I call it "Rocking Horse Syndrome." Moving back and forth, but going...
Financial infrastructure firm Noah has teamed up with identity‑verification specialist Sumsub to embed a reusable KYC framework across its platform. The integration enables users verified by any of Sumsub’s 4,000+ partner institutions to onboard on Noah‑powered wallets, exchanges and payment...

Salesforce’s State of Sales survey of over 4,000 reps, including 100 in Ireland, shows AI agents are the second‑most important growth tactic for 2026. In Ireland, 87% of sales organisations already use AI for tasks such as prospecting and forecasting,...

Prolisto has launched Prolisto Lite, a free AI‑powered web app that creates eBay listings from a single product photo. The Image‑to‑Listing engine generates a search‑optimized title, detailed description and item specifics without relying on barcodes or catalog data. It supports...
If you ever needed convincing that people-powered marketing is the way forward in 2026, check out this article from Lindsey Brummer . Packed full of latest insights from LinkedIn , she walks you through why people are better influencers than logos...

In this episode, Matt Spiegel, founder and CEO of Lawmatics, walks through how his vertical SaaS company scaled to $12M ARR by focusing on high ARPU, agentic AI, and disciplined capital strategies. He shares tactics for acquiring the first 100...

Catalyst IQ introduced an AI‑focused SEO, AEO and GEO platform at the NADA convention, targeting automotive dealers. The solution uses real‑time market intelligence to match keywords with actual inventory and local demand, updating content as AI‑driven search trends evolve. Powered...

Fitch Solutions has partnered with Snowflake to list its credit intelligence and loan‑level performance datasets on the Snowflake Marketplace. The initial offering includes Fitch Ratings data and dv01 benchmarks for U.S. auto, consumer unsecured, and non‑agency RMBS sectors, with more...

Similarweb’s premium digital performance metrics are now embedded in Bloomberg Terminal’s Alternative Data Analytics Platform (ALTD ). Bloomberg selected Similarweb as its premium alternative data provider, delivering near‑real‑time signals such as unique visitors, average visit duration, bounce rate and page...

ParaScript, an AI‑driven document processing firm, announced the creation of a Professional Services division dedicated to guiding customers through deployment, integration, and optimization of its technology. The unit targets data‑intensive sectors such as financial services and BPO, offering implementation management,...

Samsung Ads announced that its premium Samsung TV Plus inventory is now available to marketers through Amazon DSP across Europe, extending the existing U.S. and Canada integration. Samsung TV Plus, the free ad‑supported streaming service on Samsung Smart TVs, serves...

Revolut Business has introduced a full‑suite merchant acquiring platform in Australia, allowing companies to run payments end‑to‑end on a single system. The service offers 24‑hour settlement, including weekends, and supports fund holding in more than 30 currencies. Merchants can use...

Hey Papi Promotions, an award‑winning Christian digital agency, announced AI Marketing Services designed to make businesses, churches, nonprofits and event organizers discoverable on AI chatbot platforms such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot. The offering blends ethical, values‑driven marketing...

Stirista launched Audience+, a next‑generation audience platform that consolidates first‑party data, third‑party identity graph information, and website interactions into a single workspace. The tool offers real‑time audience building, multichannel activation and built‑in compliance safeguards, aiming to eliminate data silos that...
Finnish startup Optivian secured $2 million in a pre‑seed round led by Failup Ventures and AI veteran Tero Ojanperä. The company is building an agentic AI platform that autonomously handles execution‑heavy B2B sales tasks, from business‑case creation to next‑best‑action recommendations. Early...

CoSchedule has upgraded its mobile app to let users publish content to every major social network, adding support for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Mastodon, and Google My Business. The enhancements mirror the desktop experience, offering improved previews, color‑coded labels, first‑comment insertion,...

Fasoo unveiled an AI‑driven personal data protection suite combining Fasoo Data Radar and Fasoo AI‑R Privacy. The solution moves beyond keyword scans, using context‑aware models to detect PII across unstructured formats with fewer false positives. Detected data is automatically encrypted,...

IFS unveiled Nexus Black Resolve for Utilities at DISTRIBUTECH International 2026, extending its Field Service Management platform with industrial‑AI capabilities. The solution tackles utility pain points such as workforce shortages, aging assets, and extreme‑weather events through intelligent crew call‑outs, mutual‑aid...

Dokie AI unveiled an upgraded AI Presentation Maker that promises faster slide generation, smoother transitions, and more professional formatting. The new AI PPT Maker transforms text or documents into structured decks while preserving user control over design. Enhanced workflow features...