Three Reasons For Positivity This Fall

Musical accompaniment for this week’s newsletter. OK. It’s September. Everyone is back from vacay or holiday. The kids are back in school. It’s time to get your gameface on. There’s a three-and-half-month sprint to the end of the year. There’s still time to win.

If you are behind in your numbers for the year, this is a new season for hope. What are the reasons to be encouraged?

1. Interest rates are on the way down. The Fed and the ECB are signaling interest rate cuts this month, and the Bank of England has already made a cut. Cautious business leaders holding on to cash in anticipation of a downturn should start loosening their grip. Why would they?
2. Pent-up demand exists. Many employers have been cautious about investing in people technology as labor markets loosened up and AI offered the tantalizing promise of automating some job roles. That didn’t mean that needs didn’t exist. Now, many employers are at a point where investment is no longer optional.
3. The tech market is leveling out. Tech investors are in the midst of rightsizing after the overinvestment and overvaluation frenzy of 2020-21. There’s more to come. There’s still plenty of suck ahead for investors who made too many bad bets and startups that haven’t tipped into cash-flow positive. But the hill has been crested.

Alright. Let’s get after it. Legends are made in the fall. Go be a rock star.

What else is going on this week?

SmartRecruiters Appoints New CEO

Rebecca Carr moves into the CEO role from her position as Chief Product Officer and joins the company’s board of directors. Her career includes founding and leading Checkr Pay, an earned wage access product by Checkr, serving as SVP of Growth for SmartRecruiters, and holding product leadership positions at Jobvite, Branchout, and Playdom (acquired by Disney in 2010).?

Micro Podcast Ep. 64: The Strategy and Sales Disconnect

If your organization is missing its sales targets, watch this video ??

A major contributor to dysfunction in a sales organization is a misalignment between business strategy and sales execution. In Ep 64 of Micro Podcast, Matt Tatum talks with Eric P. Nelson from RevDimensions, LLC on the topic of misalignment between business strategy and sales execution.?

WATCH NOW

Funding and Acquisitions

• Butlr raises $38 million Series B. The Burlingame, Calif., startup develops a sensor and monitoring platform for retail employees' and customers' health and well-being. (Press Release )
• Capitalize raises $19 million Series B. The NYC startup helps its customers find and transfer legacy employer-sponsored retirement accounts such as 401(k)s into a new account of their choice. (Press Release )
• Tilt raises $15 million Series B. The Fort Collins, Colorado, startup offers a platform for leave management solutions. (FinSMEs )
• Atlassian acquires Rewatch. The company plans to integrate Rewatch into its recently launched Rovo AI platform so that transcripts become searchable within the overall business context. Deal terms were not disclosed. 2522 (TechCrunch )
• Avionte acquires AkkenCloud. The Bloomington, Minnesota, provider of enterprise staffing platforms acquired the Nashua, New Hampshire staffing software company. Deal terms were not disclosed. (FinSMEs )
• Asure acquires HireClick. The Austin-based HCM solution acquired the hiring solution designed to streamline the recruitment process for small and mid-sized businesses. Deal terms were not disclosed. (Press Release )
• Planera raises $13.5 million Series A. The San Jose startup offers a construction CPM scheduling and planning solution. (FinSMEs )
• BeMe raises $12.5 million seed round. The Miami startup offers mental health support, mood tracking, personalized coaching, and curated wellbeing activities designed for young people and serves schools, health plans, and employers. (FinSMEs )
• Wethos AI raises $7.5 million seed round. The Newport Beach, California, startup is an AI-driven team optimization company. (FinSMEs )
• Sounder Benefits raises $7.5 million seed round. The Boise, Idaho, company is a benefits brokerage firm that specializes in employee health benefits using data and technology. (CB Insights)
• Jobilla raises $6.67 million. The Helsinki, Finland-based company specializes in digital recruitment technology. (FinSMEs )
• FLOWIT raises $4.68 million seed round. The Swiss startup develops HR solutions that facilitate real feedback, employee development, and agile learning, designed to be simple, digital, and inclusive. (CB Insights)
• Thera raises $4 million seed round. The NYC-based startup offers a payroll and payments platform. (FinSMEs )
• Fleet raises $2.5 million seed round. The San Francisco-based startup offers a commuter benefits management platform. (FinSMEs )
• TudoNoBolso raises $1.8 million angel round. The Sao Paulo, Brazil, startup offers a digital platform that provides employees with a range of corporate benefits and financial services. (CB Insights)
• Business Beat raises seed round. The Austrian startup specializes in software solutions for workplace culture and talent management. Deal terms were not disclosed. (CB Insights)
• Ripple Operations acquires AdonisHR. The Houma, Louisiana-based maritime software company acquired the Norwegian provider of crew management and payroll software solutions for the maritime industry. Deal terms were not disclosed. (FinSMEs )

September 12 Deadline: Top 25 Work Tech Vendor Awards

The clock is ticking! #WorkTech vendors who are looking to bask in the glory of becoming one of Inspiring Workplaces’ Top 25 Work Vendors (in association with The Starr Conspiracy) should get it done by September 12. Winners will be announced in Las Vegas at #HRTech! Find out more!

Industry Notes?

• SAP CTO to step down after "inappropriate behavior." (CIO )
• Micheal Johnson joins Aspect43 as VP, Strategy and Insights. (LinkedIn )
• Silicon Valley is losing its s**t over a potential tax on unrealized capital gains. (SF Standard )
• Youth unemployment across Asia is in the double digits. (Wall Street Journal )
• What’s going on with HR? How top companies manage the future of work. (Inc. )
• Alight announces Dave Guilmette as its new CEO. (Plan Adviser )
• Rippling appoints former Walmart executive Mrnal Chatterjee as SVP and India head. (Inc42 )
• Andela appoints Carrol Chang as CEO. (Press Release )
• Finch announces Yelena Kozlova as new VP of Marketing. (LinkedIn )
• Workday announces Global Payroll Connect – a single solution to manage all of an organization’s payroll needs. (Press Release )
• U.S. labor regulator says Amazon is a joint employer of subcontracted delivery drivers in California. (AP News )
• Paychex launches new digital employee experience marketplace. (Press Release )
• Digital makes up over three-quarters of total U.S. ad spend. (eMarketer )
• Research: Nine in 10 companies will have returned to the office by 2025. (Benefits PRO )
• Dan Schwabel: Nearly half of Gen Z think they get better advice from AI, including ChatGPT than their managers. (LinkedIn )
• Insurance brokers face increased pressure to deliver affordable costs. (Benefits PRO )
• SAP and Capgemini expand their strategic partnership to incorporate generative AI into critical business processes. (The Consulting Report )
• Axonify named a Workday Innovation Partner. (Training Industry )
• Lumify Group launches digital solutions division. (Training Industry )
• Alteryx and Udacity partner to bring AI-powered analytics upskilling to all. (Training Industry )
• Colossyan partners with EasyGenerator to improve e-learning interactivity. (Training Industry )
• LinkedIn launches sponsored newsletters. (Mobile Marketing )

Around The Shop

Stuff we’re finding interesting right now at The Starr Conspiracy.

• The Office Therapist will see you now. (Wall Street Journal )
• Does market share still matter? Harvard research suggests maybe not. (Harvard Business Review )
• Study arts and humanities because you love them … and so do employers, by the way. (The Guardian )
• The unbelievably true story of one of the artists behind Cadillac Ranch. Of course, it involves dolphins. (Texas Monthly )

That’s it for this week!

Everybody love everybody,

Steve

Also, Are you a #WorkTech or #EnterpriseSoftware company with more than $10 million in revenue or funding that wants to accelerate your growth? Book a meeting with us to discuss how we can improve your go-to-market strategy and execution.

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About The Starr Conspiracy

The Starr Conspiracy is an Experience Agency for enterprise technology companies that are shaping the way people work. Our passion is creating defining moments to transform your business across the Customer Experience spectrum — Brand, Marketing, Sales, Product, and Customer Success.