The Wire

Real-time updates from ANZ tech sales

3 months ago
News

AI tools adding workload for sales teams, not cutting it

## The efficiency promise is not delivering AI was supposed to give sales teams more time for selling. The reality looks different. New research from UC Berkeley tracked 200 workers at a US tech company for eight months as they adopted generative AI tools. The outcome: people did more work, not better work. Product managers started writing code. Researchers took on engineering tasks. Sales teams filled what used to be breaks with AI-prompted micro-tasks. Work intensified. Natural pauses disappeared. The workday got longer and denser. ## The numbers tell two stories Individual productivity is up. Email processing is 25% faster with AI. Coding tasks complete 55.8% quicker. US productivity growth hit 2.7% in 2025, nearly double the previous decade's average. Generative AI contributed 1.1 to 1.3 percentage points of that growth. But here is the catch: 95% of organisations report no measurable return on AI investment, according to MIT Media Lab. AI adoption doubled since 2023. Usage jumped from 55% to 78% of organisations. The tools work at the task level. They are not working at the business level. ## What this means for ANZ sales teams If you are using AI for prospecting, email sequences, or proposal writing, watch for these signs: your day feels fuller but quota attainment is flat. You are checking AI output more than you expected. Small tasks are multiplying. The tools make individual tasks faster, but your workload keeps growing. The Berkeley researchers call it "intensification of work." Sales teams call it grinding harder for the same result. Worth noting: lower-performing reps see the biggest individual gains from AI, suggesting these tools compress skill gaps while creating new management overhead. Wharton projects AI productivity gains will peak in the early 2030s, then fade as implementation complexity catches up. That tracks with what we are seeing now: fast adoption, minimal business outcomes, and teams working harder to manage both the AI and the work it generates. ## The burnout risk The research found workers felt "empowered" by AI, taking on tasks outside their normal scope. That confidence came with a cost: wider job scope, fewer natural breaks, continuous work involvement. Over eight months, what felt like efficiency gains accumulated into overwork. For sales leaders: if your team adopted AI tools in the past year and quota attainment has not moved, you are not alone. The tools work. The business case does not. Yet.

Startup Daily
3 months ago
News

HotDoc sells to Potentia PE for $250M-$300M, Airtree partially exits

## HotDoc sells to Potentia PE for $250M-$300M, Airtree partially exits HotDoc, Australia's largest patient engagement platform, sold to private equity firm Potentia Capital in a deal valued between $250M and $300M. Potentia now holds majority stake, with health tech investor Acclivis Group joining as a partner. Original backer Airtree, which led HotDoc's $2.2M Series A in 2015, remains as a minority investor. CEO and founder Dr Ben Hurst confirmed the sale on Wednesday. The company serves 23,000 medical practitioners and 13 million active patients, processing 2.5 million appointments monthly. Nearly 1 in 3 Australians use the platform to book GP appointments, handle telehealth, and receive test results. ### What This Means for the Sales Team PE acquisitions typically trigger sales org restructuring within 6-12 months. Potentia will likely assess: customer acquisition costs, sales cycle length, quota attainment rates, and whether the current team structure supports aggressive growth targets or needs optimisation. HotDoc added 66 employees in October 2020 during its growth phase. No word yet on current sales team size, recent sales leadership hires, or whether Potentia plans to expand into enterprise hospital systems beyond GP practices. That expansion would mean new AE roles, longer sales cycles, and different comp structures. Airtree's partial exit after 10 years signals a liquidity event for early employees with equity. For current sales staff without significant stock, PE ownership usually means: clearer revenue targets, more aggressive quota setting, potential territory realignment, and pressure to prove ROI on every role. ### The PE Playbook Potentia operates healthcare and tech portfolio companies. Standard PE moves: implement rigorous pipeline forecasting, standardise comp plans, evaluate whether current OTEs align with market and performance, assess which sales roles drive the most efficient revenue growth. Hurst remains CEO, which provides continuity. But PE majority ownership means the growth mandate likely shifted from "build market share" to "optimise unit economics and prepare for next exit." For sales professionals watching this deal: PE acquisitions create opportunity for high performers who can operate in a metrics-driven environment. They also mean less patience for missed quota and underperforming territories. Know your numbers, document your wins, and understand your equity situation before any restructure conversations start.

SmartCompany
3 months ago
News

Shopify hits $11.6B revenue, 30% growth. Stock down 28% anyway.

## The Numbers Shopify closed 2025 at $11.6 billion revenue, up 30% year over year. Free cash flow hit $2 billion on a 17% margin. GMV grew 29% to $378 billion. They announced a $2 billion buyback and guided Q1 growth to low 30s, above Street expectations. The stock is down 28% in 2026 so far. Down 38% from its 52-week high. ## What Actually Matters for Sales Shopify now processes 14% of all US e-commerce. GMV growth is accelerating: 20% in 2023, 24% in 2024, 29% in 2025. At nearly $400 billion in transaction volume, they are speeding up, not slowing down. Shopify Payments penetration hit 68% of GMV in Q4, up from 45% five years ago. That is $248 billion in payments volume. Merchant Solutions (the payments-heavy segment) is now 76% of total revenue. Subscriptions are just 24%. They have become a fintech company that happens to sell commerce software. B2B commerce grew 96% for the full year. Every quarter cleared 84% growth, with Q4 at the low end. Brands like Carrier and Dermalogica are using Shopify for B2B now. The horizontal platform went upmarket without building a separate product. ## The Profitability Turn Free cash flow swung from negative $186 million in 2022 to positive $2 billion in 2025. Operating expenses dropped from 60% of revenue in Q1 2023 to 29% in Q4 2025. They divested logistics, cut headcount, and got disciplined. The gross margin compressed slightly as payments grew, but operating leverage more than compensated. ## The Market Reality Shopify trades at roughly 100x earnings, 73x forward. At some point, even strong growth has to meet valuation reality. The business is performing. The multiple is compressing. That is the story. For anyone selling into or around e-commerce: the underlying platform is expanding fast. GMV growth is accelerating. B2B is nearly doubling. The infrastructure layer is getting stronger, regardless of what the stock does on any given Tuesday.

SaaStr
3 months ago
News

eBay buys Depop from Etsy for $1.7b, chasing Gen-Z fashion resale

eBay is buying fashion resale platform Depop from Etsy for $1.7 billion in cash, marking another shift in marketplace consolidation strategy. The numbers: Depop has 7 million buyers, 90% under 34. Three million active sellers moved $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in 2025. The platform has grown since Etsy acquired it in 2021 for $1.6 billion, meaning Etsy exits with a modest gain after four years. ## What eBay Gets Depop runs on social commerce: Instagram aesthetics meets peer-to-peer selling. Founded in 2011 by Simon Beckerman, it targets Gen-Z with secondhand fashion and vintage clothing. The platform generates engagement beyond transactions: in its early days, users were hitting 13 million likes and 18 million follows daily. eBay CEO Jamie Iannone says Depop gets access to eBay's scale and operational capabilities. Translation: logistics infrastructure, payment systems, and cross-platform inventory management that smaller marketplaces struggle to build alone. ## The Marketplace Play This fits eBay's pattern of buying established vertical marketplaces rather than building them internally. Depop stays standalone, keeps its brand and platform. That suggests eBay learned from past integration missteps: let the acquired team run their playbook, layer in backend infrastructure where it helps. For B2B marketplace operators, the take is clear: vertical focus with strong demographic lock-in creates acquisition value. Depop owns Gen-Z fashion resale the way LinkedIn owns professional networking. That defensibility justifies premium multiples even in a category (peer-to-peer resale) that eBay already serves. Etsy's exit after four years signals something too: owning a social-first marketplace alongside its maker-focused platform did not generate the synergies they expected. Sometimes the best acquisition strategy is knowing when to sell. Depop continues operating independently. The 500-person team stays intact, headquartered in London with a New York office. No layoffs announced, which in 2026 M&A is worth noting.

SmartCompany