LEADERS FORUM 2026
NAPA, MAY 13-14

LEADERS FORUM 2026
NAPA, OCT 7-8

SMB strategy

Between the Lines Newsletter
You Made This.
- March 10, 2026
You Made This.

From bitching to building, 8 years of B2SMBI
The birth of the B2SMB Institute started as a bitch session.
Actually, multiple bitch sessions. Over years.
In dozens of locations across the country. With dozens of people, always in small groups, always in what felt like the same conference room.
The bitch sessions always had the same players – really, the same job titles – represented in every location. Usually 5-6 attendees at a time.
And I was the only common thread.
The Players were all clients: Advertisers and Sponsors of bizHive.com.
I had started bizHive in 2011 with my co-Founder, Derick Thompson. It was what seemed an innovation at the time: an “informational marketplace” for Small Business.
The platform guided Small Business users from a moment of need or an item on a to-do list to a specific solution. The solutions were offered by our Advertisers and Sponsors, who paid us for the Small Business’ interest in “getting a job done” on a per-lead basis.
Hence the need for me to travel around the country and meet with those who would and did buy said leads from us.

bizHive, circa 2016

It was on those travels – from Microsoft in Seattle to Austin for Dell to Kansas City and Sprint – I met a host of Execs charged with selling to Small Businesses at scale.
But as different as all of the brands and offerings represented in these meetings were, the bitch session was always the same:
“Small Businesses are so hard to reach…”
“Yeah and once you reach them, they are so hard to engage…”
“They don’t trust us.”
So if you manage to engage them, you can’t qualify them.”
“I’d settle for just a few answers to my questions. They stonewall. Or they don’t even know what they want.”
“And even if you manage to qualify them? Good luck closing them. Pack a lunch. Many lunches. They take forever to say yes.”
“Yeah, and there’s a second “yes,” have you noticed? They buy and then they never use what they bought. They never even break the seal!”
“And the moment the next thing catches their eye, they are gone. No loyalty.”
A collective sigh. Always a collective sigh around the room.
The bitch session was complete, and with eyes cast down, we proceeded to talk SMB lead gen.
One VP of Marketing said – never forget it – SMBs are the toughest sell on Planet Earth.
True that.
And there’s more than 30-million of them.
As fragmented as any Consumer market – maybe moreso. Self-described “snowflakes.”
“There is NO Small Business out there like mine!”
When you hear that 30-million times, you have to wonder what makes one florist so much different than another, but you still respect it.
You learn to embrace the fragmentation of your target market and you get to work, with the occasional visit from an outsider that gives permission to open up a fresh bitch session on the same reach-engage-qualify-close-keep agenda.
A Center of Gravity
Eight years ago, there was no center of gravity for those of us responsible for selling and serving Small Business customers at scale.
None.
When I met Peter Hutto in 2017, we bonded over our shared experience with bitch sessions, but he framed the bitch session in a way that cracked open my head.
“It’s crazy,” he said, “That all these people trying to sell to Small Businesses figure it out on their own time and their own dime.”
Peter’s framing defined for me, for the first time, a center of gravity.
A center of gravity for his work, my work, the people we were meeting, their work.
Really a recognition that there was no center of gravity.
How could all these smart people be struggling so universally, and in such isolation from each other?
More importantly, the framing prompted questions, variations on “Hey, do you ever talk to anyone about these challenges you bitch about?”
Nope. No, not at all.
So the question became obvious.
What if we got all these people in the same room all at once? And we let everybody bitch, and we let them realize they’re all bitching about the same things.
What happened next was… crazy.

The first B2SMB Summit, 2017 (pre-Institute) - Day 1 Opening

Our ambition was hardly ambition: could we get a dozen or so leaders in this “space” of selling to SMBs in the same room, maybe at the Admirals Club in Chicago-O’Hare. Quick in, quick out.
Could we talk about how we find solutions to SMB reach and engagement and sales and service?
Could we frame that whole “own time, own dime” “center of gravity” argument and actually get anyone… to show up?
We started dialing.
And everyone picked up the phone.
Erik Day, the VP of SMB at Dell was literally the first.
Then Laura Goldberg, the CMO of Legal Zoom.
Peter brought Randy Parker, the Founder of Constant Contact.
I was introduced to Raj Mukherjee, the EVP/GM of Indeed.
Then Janet Shijns, the CMO of Office Depot. “I’m so in.”
Christal Bemont, the CRO of SAP/Concur.
Scott Gifis, the President of AdRoll. “Can I bring my team?”
Doug Llewellyn, the CEO of Purch/Business.com. “Do you take Sponsors?”
Jeff Perry of Docusign. Steven Handmaker of Assurance. Pete Steger of Kabbage.
Not only did every one of them have something to say (they understood the “framing” all too well.)
They wanted a stage to talk about it.
I had coined this combination of letters – B2SMB – and I was dubious about how effective it was. I honestly thought it took too long to explain – Business-to-Small-Business.
But during those first few phone calls, everybody got it.
More importantly, when I said that B2SMB was fundamentally different from B2B, a specialization, a genuine skillset and a different operating system (I was rolling) I was met with “Yeah. Yeah!”
And the center of gravity started to take shape.

Sam Artmann + Steven Aldrich - our stunning show graphics - and "You're looking at her" Nicole Wood

October 3-4, 2017
The legendary investor, Howard Tullman, an early supporter of bizHive, offered us space inside of 1871, Chicago’s famous start-up incubator inside the Merchandise Mart for Day 1.
And it was there that over 100 of us squeezed into too-small a space to talk and listen about this profession that up to that moment didn’t have a name with people we up to that moment had not met.
It was very, very hard to get people to sit.
Not surprisingly, it was Erik Day of Dell who fixed everyone’s attention. He said something that froze the room: “I’ve taken 100% of my digital ad budget and directed it to SMB Influencers.”
I recall asking “What’s an Influencer?”
But the room had already erupted in questions.
The moment crystalized both the shared pain and the desperate need for new relief. Paid search had grown ridiculously expensive – what was the workaround? Everyone was experimenting. Erik had found something.
The “model” of peer wisdom was manifested.
Day 2 was more of the same, and our crowd grew to over 200.
Steven Aldrich, the CPO of GoDaddy back in 2017, told a story that still resonates.
It came from his early days at Intuit, re-tooling Quickbooks.
Steven’s small QB Dev team was in a windowless office space, like a basement skunk works. And besides the single door in and out, there was a green door on one wall that, for whatever the reason, no one really ever opened.
On the other side of that door was the Quickbooks Customer Service Team.

When the green door between Product Development and the “Room Where Customers Spoke” was opened, magic began to happen.
Steven’s team spent hours sitting right by their CSR counterparts, just listening.
Listening to the SMB, one at a time. Gaining insights. Recognizing patterns. Converging inputs not into a fragmented pile but into a cohesive vision that quite literally made the Quickbooks juggernaut.
The obvious answer – listen to the customer – just needed someone to open that green door.
We didn’t just hear from the Big Names. Howard had suggested 5 start-ups to attend, and we agreed to give each of them 3 minutes on stage to give their pitch. All had Small Business offerings.
3 stood out.
Brian Bar of Victory Lap, fresh from building the Groupon sales organization, he was offering scalable sales training for SMBs. Still going strong.
Nicole Wood of Ama la Vida, a career-coaching start-up, who asked the audience, “What does a Small Business look like? She looks like me.” Still going strong.
And Adam Johnson of Active Campaign. Yes. Right on the cusp of exploding in the unicorn success they enjoy to this day.
From those days forward, it was the people. There wasn’t even an “Institute” yet. But we had the people.
By the end of October, it was beyond clear: we needed to put a structure to the moment and all that we had discovered within it.
Without meaning to, we were transcribing the principles of building and selling products and services at scale to SMBs.
Those 40 leaders who took the stage in October of 2017, the 200+ attendees who listened, were not just bitching.
They were doing serious work.
They were encountering peers who were serious about their work of serving Small Business customers. They were treating each other seriously.
For most, it was a new feeling.
That was especially true for those from the very large companies whose offering to Small Business was a watered down version of their Enterprise offering.
Hutto, Aldrich and Sam Artmann (SVP of Web.com) tag-teamed the breakthrough of that first Summit, articulating a different discipline required to succeed with Small Business.
They planted flags:
-Small Business success requires different approaches in the total absence of Big Customer procurement.
-It requires different service in the absence of IT departments.
-It requires a different native curiosity in the absence of an RFP.
-It requires listening – especially between the lines – of what SMBs say.
-And a different patience. A whole new level of perseverance.
It requires – and still does – building for fragmentation while operating at scale.
On Day 2 of that first Summit, we moved (mercifully) to bigger digs - and 200+ showed up

This work has always been serious. And so were the professionals who carried out that work.
What was missing pre-2017?
Continuity.
Connectivity.
Collaboration.
A place where what was learned “on one’s own time and dime” could be saved, and shared and celebrated.
A place where those doing the work could multiply the effort together.
The Covid Years
At no time was our community more vital – and alive – than in early 2020, at the onset of Covid.
On March 21 of that Spring, I cancelled our 2020 Leaders’ Forum planned for Calistoga Springs.
I honestly thought we were done for.
But we were not. We doubled our Membership in 9 months, pushing our network past 3000.
Everyone wanted to talk to each other, and we were the forum for top-to-top exchanges, small group hangouts, and capacity-busting Wine Zooms.
Our virtual Leaders Forum in July of 2020 drew over 1000 attendees, and we had our greatest line-up of Speakers ever.

We held our first ever virtual Leader's Forum in July of 2020. Over 1000 attendees.

During that time, too, we built a permanent bridge from our world of B2SMB Enterprises to the world of SMB Advocacy Organizations. After all, we shared the same constituencies/customers – our precious Small Businesses.
By mid 2021, nineteen of the Top 25 Small Business Advocacy organizations were pro-bono Members of the Institute – from AEO and NAWBO to the National Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Majority and the Kaufmann Foundation.
We aligned on a singular mission: to help SMBs not just survive the pandemic, but to thrive coming out of it.
Not only did B2SMB feel like a Profession. The Profession felt aligned, on a shared mission, and realizing its own continuity.
While not written, the Institute began to live its Principles.
Principles lived by its Members.

The Best2SMB Awards - the face-to-face - the camaraderie - all feature prominently in our Principles

What Now Exists
Over the past eight years, the B2SMB profession has begun to see itself more clearly.
And you’ve helped the Institute see itself more clearly.
Through conversations. Through shared experience. Through continuity.
The B2SMB Institute did not create this profession.
It simply recognized it.
And by recognizing it, it helped create the conditions for its continuity.
Today, you ARE the Institute, serving as the lighthouse for the $2.5 trillion B2SMB market.
Not directing it.
Not controlling it.
But ensuring that you and your peers navigating it can see clearly.
What’s on our shared horizon?
You already know that your professions will be shaped by forces even more consequential than those of the past eight years. So will the Institute’s.
Artificial intelligence will reshape how Small Businesses are reached, served, and supported.
New companies will emerge. Existing companies will transform.
But the fundamental reality will remain:
Small Business will continue to be the most important AND most challenging customer in the global economy.
The leaders responsible for serving them will continue to require shared intelligence, shared continuity, and shared recognition.
The Institute exists to steward that continuity.
To ensure that what is learned is not lost.
To ensure that those doing the work can see themselves and each other clearly, as peers and partners and co-authors of this market’s future.

Our Leaders Forum 2025 - on grass, with a wine glass, eager to learn
My personal stake grew from a somewhat naive moment: I often said B2SMBI’s origins felt like the movie Footloose, with Peter and I hosting a secret dance in a barn.
Eight years ago, this did not exist.
Today, it does.
And the work continues.
–The Partners Circle was born during Covid, when the instinct to connect proved stronger than the instinct to retreat. It has only deepened since and the numbers are beginning to show why. In a market where the cost of direct customer acquisition keeps climbing, B2SMB leaders who collaborate are outperforming those who go it alone. Not marginally. Meaningfully. The Partners Circle exists to make that collaboration systematic.
–Between the Lines and its companion podcast, Between2Bs are the only sources focused solely on B2SMB. There is no shortage of data, there’s a shortage of interpretation; no shortage of gurus, but a shortage of clarifiers; no shortage of patterns, but an absence of pattern recognition. Our content is built for decision makers. Not followers. Not views. But for leaders looking for clarity, for causation, and for the sometimes contrarian truth.
Eight years ago, we were a room. Then a newsletter. Then a Summit. Then a community. Then a network of Partners. The B2SMBI “product” has never stood still and neither has the market it serves.
Today B2SMBI moves fluidly across channels, with less friction and a wider aperture than at any point in our history.
More ways in. More ways to engage. More ways to belong.
Today we roll out:
-New monthly dues pricing
-New monthly billing options
-A new “cancel anytime policy”
-A new Membership tier for individuals
-And a new Membership tier for Start-ups.
May 2025 - the annual B2SMBI Leaders Forum, ready for liftoff

The forces bearing down on the B2SMB market have never been stronger.
Acquisition channels collapsing, AI overwhelming, consolidation looming, fragmentation multiplying and isolation under relentless pressure mounting to figure it the fuck out.
Now more than ever, you need peer wisdom and shared playbooks. You need partners. You need top-to-top collaboration. You need serious connections.
That is what we have refined over 8 years to meet this moment.
With you. For you. Made by you.
Our network IS our value.
Peter. Erik. Laura. Steven. Raj. Cristal.
Eric Groves. Stephanie Gorski. Jill Nelson. Eric Spadafora. Mark Tina. Kush Shrivastava. David Patrick.
And so many more. You know who you are.
You are the Institute’s “Framers.”
You have not only framed your businesses, your careers, you’ve framed this B2SMB profession. This community.
You’ve framed its Principles. And you’ve framed the B2SMB Institute.
We’ve written these Principles down for the first time. They’re yours. Read them here.

Join the Waiting List for the 2026 Leaders' Forum now!

One final thanks with some final thoughts for the occasion.
I offer all of this without nostalgia.
I present it as neither pitch nor pivot.
I don’t give it to you as a memorial, nor as a message.
Just “You made this.”
You made this.
Let’s build more.
Dave.
Between the Lines Newsletter
80% of B2SMB Partnerships Fail. Is Yours?
- January 21, 2026
80% of B2SMB Partnerships Fail. Is Yours?
Dave Walker

Fortune 50 CMO | Founder, B2SMB Institute | Building the Operating System for Enterprise→SMB Growth | Publisher, Between the Lines

On December 17 of last month, Partnerships Vet Kelly Benish 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 and Partnerships Guru, Bernhard Friedrichs, and I hosted a virtual meet-up of 18 of your B2SMB Leadership peers.
All of them are in charge of Partnerships for their respective brands. Big players like Zoho , Alignable , Equifax , Liveops, Inc. and emerging players like GetDandy , Creatify AI , and OpenPhone .
In the month of December I personally surveyed 35 more of your peers from brands like Verizon Business, Intuit , Comcast Business , Infobip and Constant Contact .
Of the many questions we asked to our meet-up attendees and 1-on-1 interviewees, 3 stood out because of the answers we got. These questions were:
How do you currently measure Partnership success?
What matters most to you when selecting a B2SMB partner?
What is your biggest frustration with B2SMB partnership development?
The answers revealed why most partnerships fail before they start.
Finding #1: Nobody Has Mastered Measuring What Matters
Here’s how the responses on how partnership success is measured broke down:
37.5% measure partnership success by increased market access
12.5% track revenue attribution from partner deals
12.5% measure deal acceleration for faster close rates
12.5% look at pipeline quality
12.5% measure impact on the full business funnel
12.5% combine revenue attribution, deal acceleration, and market access
That’s a helluva pie chart!
Seven different ways to measure the same thing!
When every company measures partnerships differently, nobody can point to an “industry standard” that demonstrates “good news” ROI to their board.
There is no common framework for proven winners.
Some B2SMB enterprises are measuring top-of-funnel (market access). Some mid-funnel (pipeline quality). Some bottom-funnel (deal acceleration). Some revenue attribution. Some all of the above.
The consequence?
Partnerships that might be working get killed because they cannot be measured against a standard.
Partnerships that are not working endure because metrics are too vague to prove failure, and no one wants to admit defeat (as difficult as a divorce.)
When one executive at the December 17 meeting said “measuring and proving partnership ROI is nearly impossible,” 2/3rds agreed.
Finding #2: The Time Suck of Partnerships Is Killing Partnerships
We asked: What is your biggest frustration with B2SMB partnership development?
62.5% cited “finding qualified partner prospects takes far too long” as their #1 frustration.
Additional responses:
15% said “we lack frameworks for evaluation and negotiation“
12.5% cited “getting the right decision makers involved” is a minefield
10% said “time to close is way too long”
For 80% of Leaders we spoke to, partnership development takes 6 months minimum.
One executive at our December meeting reported a 3.5 year sales cycle to initiate their largest partnership.
For most of our respondents, their partnership dev time is mostly wasted on unqualified prospects, producing no engagement.
Far too much time is spent in endless scheduling of meetings, in cold outreach, and in discovering misalignment after months of conversations.
The consequence: by the time you close a partnership, the market has moved.
The AI partner you negotiated with for 18 months just got acquired.
The channel partner you vetted is now building a competing product.
The Fortune 50 Player you hung your year on just had a really bad quarter, and is doing “the turtle.”
When I asked selfishly what B2SMB Institute benefit would deliver the most value to Partner execs, 50% said curated introductions.
Not networking events. Not databases. Actual pre-vetted introductions to qualified partners.
Finding #3: Everyone Wants Strategic Alignment But Nobody Can Define It
We asked executives to describe their ideal prospective partner.
75% described wanting “alignment with my strategic partnership needs.“
Then we asked them to pitch what those needs actually were.
Most struggled. Fell short. Ran long. Were muddy at best.
The partnership “industry” has a meaning problem.
Here’s what I mean: everyone uses the same jargony phraseology (“strategic alignment,” “mutual value creation,” “ecosystem synergy”) but we often mean completely different things.
One executive’s strategic alignment means distribution reach. Another’s means technical integration capability. Another’s means brand credibility in a new market.
But as if that Tower of Babel were not enough, here’s the deeper problem Kelly, Bernhard and I see: most partnership discussions are chained to the tactical.
We’re far more interested in Playbook alignment than Principles alignment.
We ask “can we integrate APIs? Do our pricing models work together? Can we co-market?”
The strategic principles and their corresponding questions get buried.
Do our 3-year visions align? Are we trying to reach the same market the same way? If the market shifts, will we both pivot in the same direction or in opposite directions?
The consequence: partnership deals get signed based on vague agreement, that “hey, this feels strategic, doesn’t it?“
And then 80% of B2SMB Partnership deals go dark because companies aligned on tactics but had completely different strategic principles.
An example from the December 17 meeting: an exec described a channel partner relationship that looked healthy for two years. Strong tactical alignment. Good quarterly results. Then the partner announced they were building a competing product. Had been building it for 18 months while the partnership was running.
The strategic misalignment was always there. But it was buried under tactical execution until it was too late.
Partnerships on the Solo
Here is what struck me: every executive is facing these same three problems, but solving them alone.
It is a throwback to the very reason we created the B2SMB Institute at this time 8 years ago.
Everybody faces the same challenges.
Nobody talks about it.
Ironic to the max that THIS topic that nobody really talks about is partnerships.
Everyone is flying solo.
And flying solo is pretty lonely.
Consider what we’re missing because of it:
1. No Benchmark for What Success Looks Like
When one company measures partnerships by market access, another by revenue attribution, and another by deal acceleration, there is no way to know if your 15% partner-sourced revenue is excellent or terrible.
You cannot answer your CFO’s question: How does our partnership ROI compare to industry standard? There is no industry standard.
Every partnership team is inventing their own scorecard, which means nobody can prove whether partnerships are working better this year than last year, or better at your company than at competitors.
2. No Way to Avoid Repeating Others’ Mistakes
This is not a stat to be proud of.
Somewhere, you have to imagine that a fellow partnership executive has already vetted that AI vendor you are evaluating and discovered they promise 6-month integration but deliver 18-month timelines.
Somewhere, another exec is learning that the channel partner you favor is quietly being acquired by your biggest competitor.
You are about to spend 6 months and $400,000 discovering what someone else already knows, because there is no mechanism to share partner intelligence.
Real example from a 1-on-1 I had: an exec asked if anyone I knew had worked with a specific AI vendor. I sent the question out via private group chat and three people responded within an hour with their actual (horrible) experience. The executive killed the deal that afternoon, saving a lot of time and currency.
3. No Framework to Separate Strategic from Tactical Alignment
This is a big one.
Executives say they want strategic alignment but most partnership discussions stay tactical. Can we integrate POS? Do our pricing models work together? Will our marketing teams work well together?
The strategic questions get buried, and the principles of great Partnerships get lost. (For more on this topic, I refer you to Bernhard’s “First Principles of Partnerships.”)
Partnerships fail 18 months in because companies aligned on tactics, sent the agreement to legal, and never quite discussed if their combination created value beyond 1+1.
Bottom line: there is no playbook for pressure-testing strategic fit before you commit resources.
Why This Matters Now
Partnerships aren’t optional anymore.
Resources are scarce. Budgets are frozen. You cannot build everything yourself.
Given this environment, you are likely to pursue partnerships for your B2SMB offering for three reasons:
Shared resources when resources are scarce, e.g. you cannot afford to build the AI capability in-house, but your partner already has it.
Force multipliers to fend off bigger competitors, e.g. you are a mid-tier CRM facing the Salesforce/OpenAI alliance. You need partner leverage to compete.
Opportunity acceleration through collaboration, e.g. your sales cycle is 9 months on your own, 4 months with the right partner’s credibility.
But if you cannot measure what’s working, cannot avoid known bad partners, and cannot tell strategic fit from tactical alignment, you’re spending scarce resources on partnerships that drain more than they deliver.
This Is Why We Built the Partners Circle (and B2SMBI)
Eight years ago, we created the B2SMB Institute because enterprises facing the exact same challenges in selling to Small Business weren’t talking to each other.
The irony now?
The very topic nobody discusses in B2SMB is partnerships, the very thing that requires collaboration.
That changes now.
Here’s what the B2SMBI Partners Circle will be solving with your help, and the help of our 300+ current Partners Circle Members:
Curated Introductions: a process and system for pre-vetted partner connections through our network, driving towards our Matchpoint Deal Summit (May 13-14), our first live curated partner-matching event.
Monthly Virtual Meetups: peer learning with Partnership Leaders. Real talk about what’s working and what’s not. Instruction from Partnership SMEs. Our B2SMBI model laser-focused on Partnerships.
Shared Frameworks: Partnership principles, best practices, attribution models, and evaluation scorecards built from collective experience – not consultant theory.
Join Our January 28th Virtual Partners Circle Meet-up
If you’re getting this edition of the Between2Bs Newsletter – and you’ve read this far – you belong in the Partners Circle.
Join us next Wednesday, January 28, as we offer two “meet-up” sessions (same agenda, different attendees). The times are:
11:30a EST
1:30p EST
We’ll begin with our “Pitch for Partners,” where you’ll have 90-seconds to answer:
who are you?
what are you looking for in a partner?
what do you offer to a partner?
Space is limited to maintain conversation quality.
→ →→ Reserve your spot – just put “Invite” in Comments
My Question for You
Your comments/answers would deepen all of our insights into the state of B2SMB Partnerships, so here’s my question of the week:
“Is your team equipped to build partnerships that can bridge the AI readiness gap for your SMB customers?”
We’re all seeing the same data: 92% of SMBs are investing in AI. 70% feel unready.
That’s not just a market gap – it’s a major B2SMB partnerships opportunity.
Hope to see you on the 28th!
Between the Lines Newsletter
Part 1: Are Small Businesses Moving Faster Than Us?
- January 6, 2026
Part 1: Are Small Businesses Moving Faster Than Us?

Dave Walker

Fortune 50 CMO | Founder, B2SMB Institute | Building the Operating System for Enterprise→SMB Growth | Publisher, Between the Lines

January 6, 2026

Series Introduction

Everyone read the same headlines in 2025.

SMB confidence soared and stayed soaring.

Business formations hit 535,000 in November alone, on track for our 3rd record-setting year in the last five.

SMBs adopted AI (in its purest use form) at rapidly increasing rates. Some say as high as 92%.

That dead-sexy product category – “embedded finance” – suddenly found itself the center of attention, with 90% of SMBs deeming it “essential.”

Meanwhile, 46% of SMBs got hit by cyber-attacks this year, while only 17% had cyber-insurance.

Like you, my head is spinning with digits.

These numbers spiced up McKinsey reports and SMB podcasts and Google pitch decks and our own conference panels.

But here’s what I think most of us missed: we kept track of what was “happening” but we spent far too little time dissecting what it meant, or more to the point, what the numbers are foretelling.

And more importantly, I haven’t seen much conversation yet about what’s carrying forward into 2026 with enough force to reshape the $2.5 trillion small business marketplace.

That’s what momentum is. Not what happened. What’s still happening.

The patterns with mass and velocity.

Over the next three days, I’d like to open the conversation up to “Max Flow.”

Let’s start our series with five stories that show how SMBs are evolving faster than the 100s of the familiar B2SMB names who serve them.

Go ahead – play the pattern recognition game! We know you want to.

1. SMBs Integrated AI Into Operations – In Huge Numbers

We absolutely blew it here.

Back in August, we read it wrong: the drumbeat of negative AI anecdotes and analysis we heard over the first half of 2025 from our constituency of B2SMB executives.

We heard that AI adoption amongst SMBs – what we named “AI2SMB” – had slowed greatly, even dried up, across our B2SMB Enterprise Member-base.

Made sense, we thought, as we heard endlessly that SMBs were struggling greatly with AI implementation – a struggle they were not getting help addressing from their familiar B2SMB vendors.

We figured that the almost universal observation of “market softness” meant that SMBs were souring on AI.

On the contrary.

SMBs were simply (and very quietly) adopting AI for their own needs and in their own way, and in many cases, outside the channels of major B2SMB Enterprises.

According to the rapidly evolving metrics tracking total AI adoption, Small Businesses are creating their own revolution.

Amongst many reports over the last 6 months, the aggregate numbers are becoming much clearer.

Typical is Counterpart’s Small Business Insights Report, which found 92% of small businesses had integrated AI into their operations.
- 58% report AI saving them over 20 hours per week.
- 70% rely on AI for automation.
- Over 50% leverage it for research and analysis.
- 53% percent use AI-powered chatbots for customer service.
Counterpart called it the “fastest technology adoption curve in small business history,” outpacing smartphones and the internet.

SMBs didn’t wait for enterprise-grade or enterprise-generated AI solutions.

They found accessible tools and implemented them faster than Fortune 500s finished their C-Suite alignment debates.

This happened because AI became cheap and simple, not because it became enterprise-ready. Twenty dollars a month. Intuitive interfaces. Immediate value. Fitted to need. And most importantly, usable.

A coffee shop owner can suddenly answer customer, inventory, pricing and other core business questions with the same depth as Starbucks with a billion-dollar data science budget.

The technology that we presumed to require expert implementation and premium pricing is being adopted pragmatically by people who just want to save 5, 10 or 20 hours a week.

They’re not buying AI strategy. They’re buying time back.

For large-scaled B2SMB sellers, the value of your AI is rooted in what problem your AI solves for your SMB customer.

Like so many things “engineered” for SMB purchase, AI has no value if it doesn’t begin and end with an immediate, close-in problem solved.

AI in its most direct form is exactly what SMBs say they need: a problem solver.

If your solution requires explaining why your AI matters, you’ve already lost to the tool they found on YouTube that just works for them.

Q: What are you building that actually saves someone 20 hours a week? And can they get value from it in an afternoon, or do they need your implementation team first?

2. New Business Starts in 2025 Hit Another Record

The US Census Bureau’s December 2025 Business Formation Statistics reported 535,041 business applications in November 2025, up 7.1% from October.

The year averaged 478,800 new business formations per month, representing a 435% increase since 2004 when the average was approximately 110,000 per month.

Umm… your total addressable market grew by 19 million customers since 2020.

This cohort was born digital. They’re fluent in subscription software, expect consumer-grade experiences in business tools, and have zero patience for friction.

They learned about SaaS from Netflix, not from enterprise software sales cycles. They expect to sign up in three clicks, get value immediately, and switch providers without penalty if something better comes along.

Traditional B2SMB sales approaches built around demos, proposals, and annual contracts don’t match how this generation buys. They’re comparison shopping on review sites, testing products through free trials, and making purchase decisions before ever talking to sales.

And their asking Chat GPT for recommendations.

So – incoming reality check here – imagine your SMB customer evaluating your offering with the collective intelligence of all history?

For B2SMB sellers, this TAM-boom creates opportunity and challenge simultaneously. The market is enormous and growing. But your buyer personas from 2020, even 2023, are obsolete.

Your go-to-market strategy, product design, and customer success approaches must evolve to serve entrepreneurs who expect Stripe-level onboarding, Claude-level depth and Amazon-speed everything.

Can someone sign up for your product right now, without talking to sales, and get value in under five minutes? If not, you’re invisible to millions of new entrepreneurs entering the market.

3. 96% of SMBs Plan Payment Technology Upgrades

Business Wire recently reported that 96% of US SMBs accepting in-person transactions plan to upgrade their payments technology in the next 12 months.

Why? Because their customers are demanding it now.

Payments have rapidly evolved from background utility into strategic competitive advantage into tactical, practical necessity.

SMBs view payment innovation as a key driver of customer success and growth, not just a way to collect money.

The commoditization of basic payment processing is complete. SMBs now expect advanced capabilities like instant settlements, integrated financing, fraud protection, and data analytics as standard features.

When 90% of SMBs say they will pay premium prices for better payment efficiency, that’s a market explicitly telling you that payment friction is costing them customers.

The rise of BNPL, digital wallets, and embedded payments created new expectations for flexibility and convenience. Small businesses that offer superior payment experiences gain competitive advantages in customer acquisition and retention. Those that lag behind lose sales to competitors with smoother checkout.

For B2SMB sellers, payment capabilities have become table stakes, especially in retail, hospitality, and service sectors. The willingness of SMBs to pay premium prices for payment efficiency creates opportunities for differentiation and revenue growth, but only for platforms that treat payments as strategic, not operational.

Do you offer instant settlements, BNPL options, digital wallet integration, and fraud protection? If your payment features lag behind consumer expectations, you’re creating friction in the customer experience. What would it take to make payments invisible in your platform?

4. 90% of SMBs Now Call “Embedded Finance” Essential to Everything

In September 2025, PYMNTS found that 90% of SMBs say embedded finance (“the integration of banking and other financial services into nonfinancial apps and services”) is now essential to their operations.

Financial services have stopped being a separate vendor relationship.

SMBs now expect their day-to-day software to provide lending, process payments, and manage cash flow without leaving the platform.

This is about removing friction. When your business software can see your invoices, your revenue, and your cash flow but can’t advance you capital based on that data, that’s not a missing feature.

That’s a broken customer experience.

Shopify didn’t disrupt banking with superior financial technology. They disrupted it by doing what banks should have done years ago: meet customers where they already work.

Shopify proved that software platforms are now financial operating systems, and traditional boundaries between SaaS and financial services have collapsed.

For B2SMB sellers, the strategic question is simple: can your customers access capital, make payments, and manage finances without leaving your platform? If not, you’re creating friction that embedded-finance competitors will exploit. Every SaaS company without a financial services strategy is now competing with one hand tied behind their back.

Are you building embedded finance capabilities, partnering for them, or watching customers consolidate to platforms that already have them?

5. Did You Miss It? The Tax Man Changed Your 2026 Game for the Good

A brief trip into the dense jungle of the US tax code…

The US Chamber of Commerce reported in August 2025 that the Section 179 deduction was doubled to $2.5 million as part of the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ provisions. Additional changes included bonus depreciation modifications, R&E deduction updates, and employer credit expansions, all creating significant incentives for SMB capital investment and equipment purchases.

This is the equivalent of a 21% to 37% discount on qualified purchases, depending on tax bracket.

Yet most B2SMB sales teams aren’t leading with this story.

Section 179 allows SMBs to immediately expense qualified purchases rather than depreciating them over years.

For a business in the 30% tax bracket buying $100,000 in equipment, that’s $30,000 in immediate tax savings.

That’s not a nice-to-have benefit. That’s the difference between ‘maybe next quarter’ and ‘send the contract today.’

Most B2SMB sellers mention tax benefits in footnote disclaimers instead of leading with them. This misses fundamental SMB buying psychology.

Small business owners don’t just – and never have – buy product features.

They buy outcomes. And reducing tax liability is a tangible, measurable outcome.

For B2SMB sellers of capital equipment, technology, or other qualifying assets, tax incentives create natural buying windows.

Quarterly-ends aren’t about budget flushes. It’s about tax strategy. Every year-end deal could close faster if you led with ‘this investment pays for itself in tax savings before we even calculate operational ROI.’

Does your sales team know how to calculate Section 179 benefits for your specific solution? Can they articulate it in one sentence? If not, you’re leaving deals on the table while tax-savvy competitors close business.

Tomorrow, part 2 in our 2026 Momentum Report, found right here.
Between the Lines Newsletter
Partnership Theater vs. Business Reality
- December 17, 2025
Dave Walker

Fortune 50 CMO | Founder, B2SMB Institute | Building the Operating System for Enterprise→SMB Growth | Publisher, Between the Lines

December 17, 2025

Partnership Theater vs. Strategic Reality

Three press releases landed in my inbox over the last few weeks, each one breathless about “strategic partnerships” that would “transform” markets.

Here’s what none of them said: which company was desperate, which one was playing defense, and which one just figured out how to finally make money off the mid-market.

After 40 years watching companies announce partnerships (and sometimes being the person generating those announcements), I can tell you this: the gap between the lines of what they say and what they mean is where the real story lives.

So let’s take a little look…

Salesforce + OpenAI: When Your Competitor Forces Your Hand

What they announced: Expanded partnership bringing OpenAI’s AI into Salesforce Einstein. Better forecasting, smarter automation, personalized everything.

What they didn’t say: “Microsoft is eating our lunch with Copilot, and if we don’t move fast, enterprise customers are going to start wondering why they’re paying us this much for a CRM that feels increasingly… 2019.”

I spent 30+ years in Fortune 50 executive suites. I know what “expanded partnership” means. It means the first partnership wasn’t deep enough, wasn’t fast enough, or wasn’t scaring competitors enough.

Here’s what’s happening.

Salesforce had Einstein GPT, powered by their 2023 OpenAI partnership. It was fine. Respectable.

But then Microsoft went all-in on OpenAI, wiring GPT-4 into everything. Dynamics 365, Office 365, the works. Suddenly they’re not just selling enterprise software; they’re selling the future. And they’re doing it to Salesforce’s customers.

And Salesforce’s AI integration looked tentative, not transformative – sooo 2023.

So Salesforce went back to OpenAI. Not to partner (they were already partners). To partner harder. Deeper integration. More access. Better branding rights. The October announcement was effectively: “We’re still relevant, we promise.”

Industry analysts called it “necessary.” That’s analyst-speak for “they had no choice.”

What This Means If You’re Selling to SMBs

Two things are happening here that matter more than the press release admits.

First, the platform wars just went AI-native. Every B2SMB vendor is going to announce their AI partnership in the next 18 months. Most of them will be theater (a chatbot here, a recommendation engine there). Some will actually rearchitect their platforms. The difference will determine who wins the next decade.

Second, your SMB customers are soon going to expect AI-powered automation everywhere. Not just in their CRM. In their payroll system. In their inventory management software. In their HR. The Salesforce announcement just raised the bar for everyone, including those selling B2SMB.

If you’re running a B2SMB company and you don’t have an AI strategy that goes deeper than “we’re exploring ChatGPT integration,” you just got lapped.

Square + Grubhub: Playing Catch-Up by Skipping the Build

What they announced: Grubhub’s delivery network integrated into Square’s POS. One platform, all your channels, seamless operations.

What they didn’t say: “Square is toast in the restaurant vertical, thanks to Toast. We can’t build delivery infrastructure ourselves, and if we don’t move now, every restaurant is going to pick Toast by default.”

This one’s easier to decode because the competitive pressure is so obvious.

Toast built an all-in-one platform: hardware, software, payments, and integrated delivery. They own the whole stack.

Square owned payments and POS. Good, but incomplete. And in the restaurant world, incomplete means “we’ll look at you after we look at Toast.”

Square had two choices:
1. Build their own delivery network (2-3 years, $$$hundreds-of-millions)
2. Partner with someone who already has one (6 months, revenue share agreement)
They picked option 2. Pretty smart – but somewhat obvious – move.

Only one downside – and I’ve lived this one large: when you partner instead of build, you’re sharing the economics forever. Toast keeps all the margin. Square is now splitting it with Grubhub.

That’s fine if it holds the ramparts another day. It’s not fine if it becomes your permanent competitive position.

My second look? It’s Grubhub that needs this more than Square.

DoorDash and Uber Eats dominate delivery. Grubhub’s third place and fading. They needed distribution (access to a huge merchant base that wasn’t already using their competitors). Square gave them that.

This is a defensive partnership for both companies. Square defending against Toast. Grubhub defending against irrelevance.

When two companies team up because they’re both losing to someone else, that’s not innovation. That’s survival.

Not that there is anything wrong with survival.

At Toys R Us we bought an under-capitalized Baby Superstore chain because we absolutely sucked at our first few Babies R Us. We took defensive and made it offense.

What This Means If You’re Selling to SMBs

In B2SMB – and this is a forever thing – vertical-specific beats horizontal general-purpose. Every. Single. Time.

Square is a payments company trying to be a restaurant company. Toast is a restaurant company that happens to handle payments. See the difference?

If you’re selling horizontal infrastructure (payments, CRM, accounting), you’re going to lose to someone who built for a specific vertical unless you can assemble all the pieces they need faster than they can.

Square + Grubhub is what that assembly looks like when you’re playing from behind.

QuickBooks + Aprio & Rehmann: Superman to the Rescue

What they announced: Strategic partnerships with top accounting firms to implement Intuit Enterprise Suite in the mid-market. Accountants become implementation partners, advisory partners, growth partners.

What they didn’t say: “Intuit’s been losing mid-market customers to NetSuite for years, so we finally built an ERP that doesn’t suck, and we just figured out how to sell it without hiring 500 enterprise sales reps.”

Of the three partnerships, this is the only one that’s genuinely strategic.

It’s no secret, sort of a truism: Small businesses start on QuickBooks. They grow. And grow. And eventually after growing into mid-size businesses, QuickBooks can’t handle the complexity. So they switch to NetSuite, Sage Intacct, or Microsoft Dynamics.

Intuit loses them. It’s been happening for 20+ years.

But hang on: Intuit finally built an ERP that can compete: Intuit Enterprise Suite. Only one problem: mid-market buyers don’t trust software-platform companies to implement complex financial systems. They trust their accountants.

So Intuit did something most software companies don’t think of: they made SMEs in implementation (in this case accounting firms) the sales channel and the delivery channel.

This actually works because Accounting firms have three GTM problems:
1. Compliance revenue is commoditizing (everyone’s going cloud, it’s getting cheaper).
2. They need higher-margin advisory work.
3. Their clients keep asking them what system to switch to when they outgrow QuickBooks.
Intuit just solved all three.

Now when a client outgrows QuickBooks, the accounting firm doesn’t send them to NetSuite. They say: “Let me show you the Intuit Enterprise Suite. And we’ll implement it. And we’ll train your team. And we’ll help you redesign your workflows. And we’ll charge you for all of that.”

Accounting firms get advisory revenue. Intuit keeps the customer. The customer gets a trusted partner guiding them through the transition.

That’s not partnership theater. That’s structural GTM change.

What This Means If You Sell to the “M” in “SMB”

Not to be insulting, but for almost every SaaS player I’ve known, the best sales channel isn’t created by your own sales team. It’s someone your customer already trusts.

Intuit didn’t hire enterprise AEs. They didn’t build an inside sales team. They didn’t buy Super Bowl ads. They partnered with the people who already sit in the CFO’s office once a week/month/quarter.

If you’re trying to break upwards to mid-market or enterprise, ask yourself: who does your buyer already trust? And how can you turn them into your channel?

This is the partnership model everyone else should be copying.

So What’s Happening Between the Lines Here?

Three partnerships. Three different strategic rationales:
- Salesforce + OpenAI: Defensive move. Microsoft forced their hand. They had to match or lose.
- Square + Grubhub: Catch-up play. Toast was winning. This closes the gap but doesn’t win the war.
- QuickBooks + Accounting Firms: Offensive move. This creates a structural advantage that competitors will struggle to replicate.
Here’s the pattern I see in our little $2.5Tril slice of heaven called B2SMB: partnerships announced as “strategic” are usually one of three things:
1. Integration Theater – API connection dressed up as transformation
2. Tactical Defense – Plugging a hole so customers stop leaving
3. Channel Innovation – Actually rethinking how you go to market
Which one do you think matters long-term?

If you’re selling to or serving SMBs, here’s my point: don’t read these Partnership press releases as if they’re honest. They’re not lying, exactly. But they’re not telling you what’s really happening. The real question is always: did a competitor force this move?

Watch who’s partnering because they have to vs. who’s partnering because they saw something first. The first group is playing defense. The second group is playing offense. Bet on offense.

If you’re thinking about partnerships, ask the Intuit question: who does my customer already trust? That’s your channel.

And if you’re a services firm serving the B2SMB space (accounting, legal, payroll – whatever), pay attention to what Intuit just did. They turned their biggest churn problem into their biggest competitive advantage by integrating the trusted advisor into the sales channel.

That’s replicable. You should be thinking about how to replicate it.

What I’m Watching Next in Partnerships

Salesforce will need to announce something else in Q1. The OpenAI integration won’t be enough. They’re going to acquire or partner with someone in the vertical space (probably construction, healthcare, or professional services). They’ve learned from Toast that vertical focus wins.

Square will either announce another vertical partnership (I’m guessing contractors or professional services), or Block will spin Square out and let it actually become a restaurant company. They can’t keep playing horizontal against vertical players.

Intuit will sign 3-5 more large-network accounting firms by March. This model prints money once you prove it works. Every top-50 firm will want in.

You already know this: when one company figures out a better GTM model, everyone else copies it within 18 months.

So watch the Partnership announcements like you watch Knives Out. Read between the lines. Always something.

Next Between The Lines Newsletter Drop on 12/30: I’m tracking layoffs in B2SMB. Not the human story – which sucks – but the market signal story.

When three payroll companies cut headcount in the same quarter, they’re telling you something about where the SaaS payroll market is going. I’ll tell you what I’m seeing.

Meanwhile, what are you seeing between the lines? Where’s the competitive pressure forcing partnerships in your world?

I want to know, and the comments, like Kwik Stop, are always open.

PS – Watch for our Between the Lines “Year in Review” dropping January 7 in the big two-six.
Between the Lines Newsletter
Is AI Getting Impatient?
- November 4, 2025
Is AI Getting Impatient?

Dave Walker

Fortune 50 CMO | Founder, B2SMB Institute | Building the Operating System for Enterprise→SMB Growth | Publisher, Between the Lines

November 4, 2025

When was it again that we all learned about the dinosaurs?

I think it was 4th grade. Mrs. Hart (yeesh.)

I think that’s when I first learned about the Cambrian Era.

You remember the Cambrian era…

All of a sudden, everything got different.

New species.

Overnight.

Sudden diversification.

BIG change.

So my Cambrian-reference question for the day is:

Are we living through a biological-level event in the business software world?

We’re certainly seeing a rapid emergence of many new types of AI-native companies in the SaaS space.

Mind you, these aren’t just variations of existing companies.

These are entirely new categories of offerings.

And yes, this transformation is happening incredibly quickly – in just a few years rather than decades.

And just like the original Cambrian explosion changed the nature of life on Earth, these AI-native companies are changing the fundamental nature of business software.

For a couple of years now we’ve watched the legacy players make adaptations – bolting an AI feature onto an established platform.

Sort of like giving a trilobite a few more legs and a slightly better shell.

Impressive, but still a trilobite.

Now, the future fossil record is being re-cast.

In a blink of an eye, we’re seeing entirely new phyla of AI offerings, especially in the Small Business marketplace.

These new creatures don’t just have different features; they have fundamentally different body plans, built AI-native from their very first line of code.

I’m talking about companies from our own B2SMB Emerging 180 list (link in comments) that seem to have evolved in a different ocean.

We’re not talking about a better CRM; we’re talking about autonomous sales agents that hunt for their own food (Artisan AI).

We’re not talking about faster bookkeeping; we’re talking about self-learning general ledgers that are a new kind of financial organism (Digits).

This leap ahead creates a reflexive, cognitive dissonance for established players.

Think T-Rex asking “hey, is that a shrew?”

How can these newcomers already be so perfectly adapted to a future that just arrived?

It feels like the rules of evolution were suspended, and a new, hyper-competitive ecosystem appeared overnight.

It seems like AI – like all evolution/revolutions – isn’t waiting.

This forces a critical question for every B2SMB leader.

Is your strategy still focused on studying the fossil record of the old giants, or are you equipped to compete with the new, hyper-adapted species that are already thriving?

Are you building a better museum for the old world, or a laboratory to understand the new one?

As I’ve said before, those who master AI2SMB go-to-market in the next 18 months will absolutely OWN the next 10 years.

Let’s get into it.

New Species in Financial Services

1. Digits: The AI-Native General Ledger is Here

The Story: While legacy accounting software struggles to bolt on AI, Digits and CEO Jeff Seibert just launched the world’s first AI-native general ledger. With a new Connect API, they’re not just automating bookkeeping; they’re creating a self-learning financial brain for SMBs.

The Takeaway: This isn’t about faster reports; it’s about autonomous finance. Digits is betting that AI isn’t a feature; it’s the foundation. For B2SMB leaders, the question is no longer “do we have AI?” but “is our entire platform built on it?”

The Question: Are you selling tools that assist the accountant, or are you building the AI that replaces the need for one?

2. Relay: Proof That SMBs Will Pay for AI Banking

The Story: Toronto-based Relay and their CEO Yoseph West just hit a $41M revenue surge, proving that SMBs are more than willing to pay a premium for AI-enhanced banking. Their platform isn’t just a bank account; it’s a financial co-pilot that automates cash flow management and financial forecasting.

The Takeaway: The “free business banking” era is over. SMBs are signaling they’ll pay for intelligence, not just a place to park their cash. This is a massive opportunity for B2SMB companies to monetize AI-driven insights.

The Question: Is your pricing model built for the old world of features, or the new world of intelligence?

3. Found: The All-in-One AI Tax & Banking Platform

The Story: Lauren Myrick‘s team at Found is collapsing the fragmented financial stack for freelancers and solopreneurs. Their all-in-one platform combines banking, bookkeeping, and taxes into a single, AI-powered experience.

The Takeaway: The future isn’t about integrations; it’s about unification. Found is proving that AI can eliminate the need for multiple point solutions, creating a winner-take-all dynamic in the micro-business market.

The Question: Are you building bridges between fragmented systems, or are you building the unified platform that makes them obsolete?

4. Lendflow: 50+ AI Agents Automating Lending

The Story: Austin-based of Lendflow isn’t just using AI; they’re deploying an army of 50+ industry-specific AI agents to automate the entire lending workflow. Their partnership with BHG Financial shows that even the big players are turning to emerging AI-native companies for innovation. Kudos to CEO Jon Fry

The Takeaway: This is the end of generic AI. Lendflow is proving that vertical-specific AI agents can outperform horizontal platforms, creating a new competitive advantage for companies with deep industry expertise.

The Question: Is your AI strategy built on generic models, or are you developing the specialized intelligence that your customers actually need?

New Species in Operations

5. Vanta: The New Standard for AI-Driven Trust

The Story: Vanta just raised $150M at a $4.15B valuation, making them the de facto leader in AI-powered trust management. They’re not just automating compliance; they’re creating a real-time, continuous verification platform that’s becoming the new industry standard.

The Takeaway: In the age of AI, trust is the new currency. Vanta is proving that companies who can prove their security and compliance in real time will have a massive competitive advantage. This is a wake-up call for every B2SMB company that handles customer data.

The Question: Are you still treating compliance as a checkbox, or are you building it into the core of your product as a feature?

6. Gorgias: The AI Agent That Sells

The Story: With a fresh $29M in funding, Gorgias is deploying an AI Agent that doesn’t just answer questions; it drives sales. By automating 60% of support inquiries, Romain Lapeyre team is freeing up human agents to focus on relationship building and upselling.

The Takeaway: The line between customer support and sales is officially dead. Gorgias is proving that AI can turn a cost center into a revenue generator, creating a new ROI model for CX automation.

The Question: Is your AI strategy focused on deflection and cost savings, or are you using it to actively drive revenue?

7. Motion: The AI That Manages Your Time

The Story: Motion and Harry Qi‘s team is quietly revolutionizing productivity for SMBs with an AI-powered calendar and task manager. By automatically scheduling and prioritizing tasks, they’re not just helping people get more done; they’re eliminating the mental overhead of managing work.

The Takeaway: The future of work isn’t about better tools; it’s about less work. Motion is proving that AI can automate the meta-work of managing work, freeing up humans to focus on what they do best.

The Question: Are you building tools that help people do their work, or are you building the AI that does the work for them?

New Species in Sales & Marketing

8. Copy.AI: The GTM AI Platform is Here

The Story: With $16.9M in the bank, Copy.AI and founder Paul Yacoubian have created the world’s first GTM AI platform. They’re not just generating content; they’re automating the entire go-to-market motion, from lead generation to sales outreach.

The Takeaway: This is the end of siloed sales and marketing tools. Copy.AI is betting that AI can unify the entire GTM process, creating a single platform that manages the entire customer lifecycle.

The Question: Are you still selling point solutions for sales and marketing, or are you building the unified GTM platform of the future?

9. Artisan AI: The AI Sales Rep is Now a Reality

The Story: Straight out of stealth, Artisan and Sam Stallings product team is building AI-powered sales development representatives that can automate the entire outbound sales process. This isn’t about assisting sales reps; it’s about replacing their prospecting and other grunt work.

The Takeaway: The sales development role is on the verge of a massive transformation. Artisan AI is proving that AI can handle the top-of-funnel prospecting and outreach, forcing a re-evaluation of the entire sales org structure.

The Question: Is your sales strategy built around human reps, or are you preparing for a future where AI manages the entire sales funnel?

10. HighLevel: The All-in-One Marketing Platform Taking Over

The Story: HighLevel is quietly becoming the dominant all-in-one marketing platform for agencies and SMBs. Robin Alex‘s team’s rapid growth proves that the SMB market is especially hungry for unified platforms that can replace a dozen different point solutions.

The Takeaway: The unbundling of marketing tech is officially over. HighLevel is proving that a single, unified platform can win the market, even against venture-backed competitors with massive funding.

The Question: Are you building a best-in-class point solution, or are you building the all-in-one platform that will make it irrelevant?

Who ARE the Emerging Players in the AI2SMB marketplace? Check out the B2SMB Emerging 180 for answers. A companion to our recently released B2SMB 300 Intelligence Hub, we’ve identified the fastest growing AI2SMB disruptors with offerings in Financial Services, Operations and Sales & Marketing. See the link in comments.

We’re on the hunt for 1000 Subscribers. Join your B2SMB Leadership peers in the know at https://lnkd.in/gSWRURf4.