Between2Bs

B2SMB Institute

Big ideas & blunt assessments mingle with a bias towards Small Biz – the Between2Bs podcast grinds on what needs fixing in B2SMB, along with Expert POVs, lively debate and the latest research. read less

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Between2Bs SPECIAL EDITION: Year in Review, Year to Pursue

Between2Bs SPECIAL EDITION: Year in Review, Year to Pursue

Listen to the Latest Episode of Between2Bs Podcast: Year in Review, Year to Pursue B2SMB Institute’s CEO Dave Walker is joined by CGSO Maciek “Magic” Szczesniak to abbreviate the many hours worth of dialogue they’ve had on 2024 and 2025 in the world of Business-to-Small-Business. Riffing off the expansive “Year in Review, Year to Pursue” now available for free download, Magic and Dave cover the waterfront of trends, developments, forecasts and more. Sitting at the center of the Business-to-Small-Business ecosystem, they draw on the direct conversations they’ve had with B2SMB Enterprise C-Suites, Senior Marketers and Sales Execs, break-out Product Developers, SMB Influencers and Media, and more. Highlights include: The economy and the SMB - up, down or sideways? The democratization of SMB “tech transformation” - can you say AI? The throughline of 2024 into 2025 - is the Playbook written for us? Recommendations from the recommendations - greatest hits from our many B2SMB Leader interviews in the last few months Always a fun ride, expect to be enlightened, engaged and entertained!

Episodes

Between2Bs SPECIAL EDITION: Year in Review, Year to Pursue

Between2Bs SPECIAL EDITION: Year in Review, Year to Pursue

Listen to the Latest Episode of Between2Bs Podcast: Year in Review, Year to Pursue B2SMB Institute’s CEO Dave Walker is joined by CGSO Maciek “Magic” Szczesniak to abbreviate the many hours worth of dialogue they’ve had on 2024 and 2025 in the world of Business-to-Small-Business. Riffing off the expansive “Year in Review, Year to Pursue” now available for free download, Magic and Dave cover the waterfront of trends, developments, forecasts and more. Sitting at the center of the Business-to-Small-Business ecosystem, they draw on the direct conversations they’ve had with B2SMB Enterprise C-Suites, Senior Marketers and Sales Execs, break-out Product Developers, SMB Influencers and Media, and more. Highlights include: The economy and the SMB - up, down or sideways? The democratization of SMB “tech transformation” - can you say AI? The throughline of 2024 into 2025 - is the Playbook written for us? Recommendations from the recommendations - greatest hits from our many B2SMB Leader interviews in the last few months Always a fun ride, expect to be enlightened, engaged and entertained!

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 8

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 8

In our latest episode of the Between2Bs podcast, 2024 Best2SMB Product of the Year, vcita, assembles a team of Dev and Marketing pros to talk about their winning playbook. In a roundtable “tour” of vcita’s inner workings, a roadmap of AI-to-SMB success is brought to life by the practitioners who shared the journey. Ram Almong, vcita’s Group Product Manager of AI solutions, talks origins of AI in the vcita BI platform,with special emphasis on how customer input informed their early AI-based features. Shiran Zelikovich, Product Manager - AI solutions, then details the highly iterative user feedback loop that informed every aspect of the award-winning product’s progress And finally, Rachel Nulman Schapiro, VP Product Marketing, details how vcita took its offering to market, overcoming SMB “fear of the unknown” in delivering a powerful virtual assistance. Our ongoing focus on selling AI-enhanced features to Small Business is another must-listen!

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 7

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 7

2023 Best2SMB Hall of Fame Inductee, Constant Contact, is ubiquitous in its e-mail offering to SMBs, but they’re not resting. We talk to Sarah Jordan, the company’s Chief Marketing Officer, about the role that AI now plays in their current and future product. Citing customer surveys and feedback, Sarah talks what’s working - and what’s not - while sharing a playbook for go-to-market strategies and tactics selling the value of AI. Her bullish message: 88% of her SMB Customers are now using AI for marketing leverage in 1+ areas, with 91% finding success with AI-features and capabilities. Are you selling AI-enhanced features to Small Business? This episode is a must-listen! Listen to Between2Bs on Spotify, Amazon, Apple and more!

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 6

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 6

Join Dave Walker, B2SMBI Co-Founder, and Maciek “Magic” Szczesniak, newly appointed CGSO for the Institute, as they focus on “The New Sell” to SMBs. As we learned at the recent Leaders’ Forum in Sonoma, AI-based features are proliferating in the products and services sold to SMBs. But are those features being sold effectively? Citing recent research that highlights the “productivity gap” between large and small enterprises, Dave & Magic talk about the lag SMBs have suffered from when major new technology opportunities - like AI - arrive. A reprise from August, tune in to hear how B2SMB Sellers can turn their SMB Customers into Productivity Superheroes with AI.

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 5

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 5

With an SMB following of 3Mil+, Melinda Emerson is an Influencer's Influencer. Her message (and best-selling book) is "Be Your Own Boss," and she is especially impactful with women entrepreneurs. She's also worked with a number of Fortune 500 Enterprises who sell at scale to Small Business, assisting in successful marketing, selling and growth initiatives. She gives a primer on how - and why - you should be working with SMB Influencers. This Playbook is essential listening for reaching and engaging SMBs where they are!

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 4

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 4

At our recent Best2SMB Conference in Chicago, we gathered a panel of 8 local Small Business Owners to dialogue directly with our B2SMB Leadership attendees. The result was a highlight of our event, so we’ve replicated that session in our latest Between2Bs podcast out today. Dan Gliatta moderates a discussion that not only tells the 8 individual stories of entrepreneurship, but that offers insights into how these SMBs make decisions. We talk technology, success, innovation, to-do lists, AI and so much more. With both candor and clarity, these Business Owners provide “invaluable verbatims” for anyone attempting to serve the SMB marketspace at scale. Tune in every Wednesday through December for interviews with B2SMB thought-leaders, innovators, influencers and more as we get in the middle of it on Between2Bs! Listen to Between2Bs on Spotify, Amazon, Apple and more!

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 3

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 3

It’s only been 1 week since our Best2SMB Conference in Chicago, and it’s time to get in the middle of it with Best2SMB Award Winners, Nominees and Keynote Speakers! Join Dave Walker, B2SMBI Co-Founder, and Maciek “Magic” Szczesniak, B2SMBI CGSO, as they interview the stars of our Fall event. There was more than just a celebration of our 2024 Best2SMB Winners in Chicago: our jam-packed agenda focused on Small Business Customers, and what it takes to win their business. We continued the theme of our recent Leaders’ Forum in Sonoma, “The New Sell” to SMBs, but with a special emphasis on Selling Productivity. Simply put: how do we help SMBs do more with more, especially the "more" of our expanding AI-enhanced offerings. Releasing today: Episode 3 - Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION Conference Keynotes Aviv Goren, CEO of Roojoom and Jared Turner, CTO of Boostability talk about the development of AI within their offerings: how they’ve done the hard work of thinking SMB Customer first, not technology glamor first. They open their Playbooks for all to study.

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 2

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 2

It’s only been 1 week since our Best2SMB Conference in Chicago, and it’s time to get in the middle of it with Best2SMB Award Winners, Nominees and Keynote Speakers! Join Dave Walker, B2SMBI Co-Founder, and Maciek “Magic” Szczesniak, B2SMBI CGSO, as they interview the stars of our Fall event. There was more than just a celebration of our 2024 Best2SMB Winners in Chicago: our jam-packed agenda focused on Small Business Customers, and what it takes to win their business. We continued the theme of our recent Leaders’ Forum in Sonoma, “The New Sell” to SMBs, but with a special emphasis on Selling Productivity. Simply put: how do we help SMBs do more with more, especially the "more" of our expanding AI-enhanced offerings. Releasing today: Episode 2 - Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION Exec of the Year nominee Kush Shrivastava grounds us in humble beginnings from a small village in India, then to the center of action at Google, then development breakthroughs at Yahoo Small Business, and finally to these last few months launching his latest venture, Key.AI.

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 1

Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION: Episode 1

It’s only been 1 week since our Best2SMB Conference in Chicago, and it’s time to get in the middle of it with Best2SMB Award Winners, Nominees and Keynote Speakers! Join Dave Walker, B2SMBI Co-Founder, and Maciek “Magic” Szczesniak, B2SMBI CGSO, as they interview the stars of our Fall event. There was more than just a celebration of our 2024 Best2SMB Winners in Chicago: our jam-packed agenda focused on Small Business Customers, and what it takes to win their business. We continued the theme of our recent Leaders’ Forum in Sonoma, “The New Sell” to SMBs, but with a special emphasis on Selling Productivity. Simply put: how do we help SMBs do more with more, especially the "more" of our expanding AI-enhanced offerings. Releasing today: Episode 1 - Best2SMB SPECIAL EDITION Exec of the Year winner Eric Groves, talks history, growth, roads taken and people met along the way to building Alignable’s 9.5 Million (!) SMB Member base.

August 2024 Between2Bs

August 2024 Between2Bs

Join Dave Walker, B2SMBI Co-Founder, and Maciek “Magic” Szczesniak, newly appointed CGSO for the Institute, as they focus on “The New Sell” to SMBs. As we learned at the recent Leaders’ Forum in Sonoma, AI-based features are proliferating in the products and services sold to SMBs. But are those features being sold effectively? Citing recent research that highlights the “productivity gap” between large and small enterprises, Dave & Magic talk about the lag SMBs have suffered from when major new technology opportunities - like AI - arrive. As a pre-cursor to our October Best2SMB event agenda, tune in to hear how B2SMB Sellers can turn their SMB Customers into Productivity Superheroes with AI.

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #9- The Vision Show

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #9- The Vision Show

Leaders' Forum Special Edition Episode #9 The Vision Show, featuring visionary Leaders - and Leaders’ Forum opening keynotes - Maciek Szczesnak, former global head of SMB for Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Carlos, global lead for SMB at Accenture.

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #8 – Innovation Powercast #3

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #8 – Innovation Powercast #3

Innovation Powercast #3, featuring B2SMBI leaders building breakthroughs - Dave Raggio, intrapreneur-Founder of Intuit’s SMB MediaLabs, and Sarah Jordan, newly appointed CMO of Constant Contact.

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #7 – Voice of the Customer

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #7 – Voice of the Customer

Leaders' Forum Special Edition Episode #7 - Voice of the Customer, featuring Dan Gliatta of Cargo Agency and Chuck Casto of Alignable, we’ll preview the live Small Business Owner Panel with Local Sonoma Entrepreneur, Cherri Pedrioli at the Leaders’ Forum, and discuss what we’re hearing from the Alignable Small Business network.

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #6 – Innovation Powercast #2

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #6 – Innovation Powercast #2

Leaders' Forum Special Edition Episode #6 Innovation Powercast #2, featuring B2SMBI leaders building more brilliant breakthroughs, including Kush Shrivastava of Key.AI, plus Jordan Ritter and Daniel Cintra of Augment AI.

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #5 – Innovation Powercast #1

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #5 – Innovation Powercast #1

Leaders' Forum Special Edition Episode #5 - Innovation Powercast #1, featuring B2SMBI leaders building brilliant breakthroughs, including Rachel Nulman-Schapiro of vCita, Inman Breaux of Hyros, and intrapreneur Tarang Luthra of Salesforce.

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #4 Enter the Zone of Genius

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #4 Enter the Zone of Genius

Enter the Zone of Genius , a free-wheeling interview with long-time SMB Influencer and Serial Entrepreneur/Publisher, Ramon Ray, plus a bonus segment with B2SMBI Partnerships Circle Co-Chairs, Kelly Benish of Constant Contact and Kate Daniels of Oracle Netsuite, talking - you guessed it - Partnerships!

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #3 Sales

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #3 Sales

Sales Leaders Talk Sales with Rich Hargraves of vCita and Todd Mundy of Verizon Business.

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #2 Leadership

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #2 Leadership

Sales from the C-Suite with Zahir Khoja, CEO of Wave and Eric Groves, CEO of Alignable.

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #1 Partnerships

Leaders’ Forum Special Edition Episode #1 Partnerships

B2SMB Partnership Success Stories with Jim Fitzgerald, CEO of Taradel, and Vairavan Arunachalam, VP of Turbify talk their collaboration, then Christopher Shank of Verizon Business and Mitchell Groves of Alignable talk their partnership.

January10 Between2Bs

January10 Between2Bs

Eric Groves joins us to kick off the new year with a look back on 2023 and a look ahead to 2024. His source is the 8.5 Million (!) Small Business Members of his Alignable network. What are SMBs thinking? How confident are they? What are they planning to spend, and on what? Eric covers a wide range of insights into the Entrepreneur ecosystem that are invaluable data-points for planning B2SMB enterprise success.