This Week in Local

In E39, Localogy senior analyst Charles Laughlin talks SMB SaaS with vcita CEO & Founder CEO Itzik Levy. Itzik falls firmly on the side of all-in-one in the longstanding all-in-one vs. point solutions debate that has raged on and off for years in the small-business SaaS industry. Itzik says that the company was not founded on this principle. It got there gradually by listening to its customers.  Tune in for an engaging dialogue with a veteran SaaS founder. Itzik has plenty of advice on how to service the SMB market with software. In particular, Itzik offers tips on driving engagement among SMBs, long one of the biggest challenges in the small business software industry.  This Week in Local is brought to you by Localogy. To learn more, please visit Localogy.com.

In E38, Localogy senior analysts Charles Laughlin and Mike Boland return to bat around two top of mind AI topics. Mike begins by musing on which uses of AI are good applications and which are really just AI solutions in search of problems. Mike offers examples of both, noting that we are in the phase where a lot of spaghetti is being thrown against the AI wall in the hope that something will stick.  Charles then raised a question that touches on AI but was spurred by a development he observed in the payments space. When a tech exec says they welcome regulation, do they really mean it? Please be sure to listen to the full episode to catch the hosts sharing their choices for “Who Won the Week”. This week’s WWTW entries range from advances in personal technology to what is the best job in sports. This Week in Local is brought to you by Localogy. To learn more, please visit Localogy.com.

In E34, guest Co-host Jason Barnard, founder and CEO of brand search consultancy Kalicube, joins Localogy senior analyst Charles Laughlin to explore a disparate set of issues, from AI search to the future of work. Jason begins by musing on how generative AI’s application to search is leading SEOs and other search professionals to pivot back from being digital marketers to just marketers. Charles then offers a mini-rant on the ham-handedness (his words) of many back to office efforts, notably Meta’s recent commandment that workers head back to their cubicles three days a week. Please be sure to listen to the full episode to catch the hosts sharing their choices for “Who Won the Week”. This week’s WWTW entries straddle both the real and virtual worlds. This Week in Local is brought to you by Localogy. To learn more, please visit Localogy.com.

In E36, Mike Boland and Charles Laughlin banter about two issues that were on their collective minds over the past week. First, Mike talks about a potential new threat to Google’s search advertising dominance. And that is TikTok’s moves into search marketing via its new and oddly named Search Ads Toggle. Then Charlie raised an unrelated topic. Are down rounds becoming normal? And are they a harbinger of the end of the VC winter? This thread was promoted by the fintech Ramp raising an impressive $300 million, but at a significantly reduced valuation.  This Week in Local is brought to you by Localogy. To learn more, please visit Localogy.com.

In E35, Charles Laughlin explores the fast-changing world of digital marketing with special guest Matthew Marx, CEO of Evocalize.  Our conversation with Matt covers a wide range – from how AI is changing the way local businesses create content (and its limitations) to the true meaning of automation to common misconceptions about the current  funding environment for B2B SaaS businesses. Evocalize was recently landed on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing U.S.  companies, helps franchise businesses in several verticals, notably real estate and restaurants, automate digital marketing.  This Week in Local is brought to you by Localogy. To learn more, please visit Localogy.com.

In E34, guest Co-host David Arslanian, Managing Director of investment bank Progress Partners, joins Mike Boland to explore the intersection of big tech and banking.  David shares why this is a perilous time for smaller regional banks and a golden time for online-only neobanks.  Then transitions into a discussion of what exactly Apple is up to in the financial services sector. Hint: it’s a lot.  Listen to catch the hosts share their choices for “Who Won the Week”. Which straddle popular culture and local-digital.  At several points the hosts refer to conversations on previous episodes: Ep. 14 Examines the Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) Ep. 16 Explores Adobe’s AI Moves and Apple Pay LaterEp. 32 Asks Will Apple GPT Kill Siri & Does “X” Mark the Super App? This Week in Local is brought to you by Localogy. To learn more, please visit Localogy.com. ##

In E33,  Co-host Mike Boland is joined by guest Co-host Jason Cross, SVP Product at Newfold Digital to bat around two important topics in local. First Mike and Jason talk about whether Google’s experiments with an AI-tool for writing news articles is a net plus for local journalism.  The two then pivot to discuss whether Google’s efforts to revamp its digital assistant with AI spells the beginning of the end for voice assistants like Google’s, plus Alexa and Siri. The two also find time for some discussion of how AI is transforming the process of creating new businesses – from choosing a name to finding just the right domain.  Please be sure to listen to the full episode to catch the hosts sharing their choices for “Who Won the Week”. This week it’s all about cars and toys.  This Week in Local is brought to you by Localogy. To learn more, please visit Localogy.com.

In E32,  hosts Mike Boland and Charlie Laughlin break down recent developments from Apple and Twitter  – Apple’s latest AI moves plus X’s (née Twitter) “everything app” ambitions.  Mike shares his thoughts on Apple’s foray into conversation AI via Apple GPT. We debate whether this may finally (and thankfully) spell the end of Siri. Charlie argues that superapps fare much better in emerging markets, while consumers in North America do not seem to be clamoring for one app that does everything. While Mike points out that superapps offer value that explains why so many pursue this ambition. He calls it the “Three S’s” – scale, stickiness, and sustainability.  Please be sure to listen to the full episode to catch the analysts sharing their choices for “Who Won the Week”.  This Week in Local is brought to you by Localogy. To learn more, please visit Localogy.com.

Episode 31 examines (with a dose of humor) the recent accelerated evolution of the boring old online calendar. Mike lays out recent changes Google has made to its Calendar to make it more transactional (great for SMBs), more automated, and more location sensitive. As Mike notes, the calendar is not likely to lead off product demos at developer conferences. Still, perhaps some attention was overdue. Cohost Charlie Laughlin ties this to Shopify’s recently rollout of a tool now embedded in each employee’s calendar that measures the actual cost of online meetings. If widely adopted this could significantly shake up corporate meeting culture. So technology and both consumer and SMB expectations are catching up to the staid online calendar. This could make calendars more powerful tools yet with less power over our daily lives. This Week in Local is brought to you by Localogy. To learn more, please visit Localogy.com.

Episode 30 features Michael Hershfield, the Founder and CEO of Accrue Savings.  The conversation goes in depth on the payments landscape, savings culture, and how his company can win in an immediate gratification culture like the United States. Michael also offers his take on Jared Leto’s performance as Adam Neumann in WeCrashed.  Michael is a Canadian native who was a senior sales executive at WeWork before starting Accrue. He is also the veteran of several early stage startups. He says he founded Accrue in 2021 in dismay over the state of the payments landscape in his adopted country. This Week in Local is brought to you by Localogy. To learn more, please visit Localogy.com.