Block Kit helps deliver more visually appealing content in Slack

Slack has become a critical communications tool for many organizations. One of the things that has driven its rapid success has been the ability to connect to external enterprise apps inside of Slack, giving employees what is essentially a centralized workhub. This ability has led to some unintended consequences around formatting issues, which Slack addressed […] Continue reading Block Kit helps deliver more visually appealing content in Slack

Dialpad dials up $50M Series D led by Iconiq

Dialpad announced a $50 million Series D investment today, giving the company plenty of capital to keep expanding its business communications platform. The round was led by Iconiq Capital with help from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Amasia, Scale Ventures, Section 32 and Work-Bench. With today’s round, the company has now raised $120 million. As technology […] Continue reading Dialpad dials up $50M Series D led by Iconiq

Storytelling for B2B startups: Avoiding ‘buzzword bingo’ to make your wonky enterprise company worth talking about

If there’s one thing I learned from my time as both a journalist at The Wall Street Journal and Forbes and, now, advising a global venture capital firm on communications, it’s that storytelling can make or break a company. Continue reading Storytelling for B2B startups: Avoiding ‘buzzword bingo’ to make your wonky enterprise company worth talking about

Cisco scoops up BroadSoft for $1.9 billion to boost communications tools portfolio

 One thing is clear, Cisco is not afraid to use its considerable cash on hand to fill in holes in its product portfolio. Today it wrote out a big fat check for $1.9 billion to acquire BroadSoft, a Maryland company that delivers unified communicati… Continue reading Cisco scoops up BroadSoft for $1.9 billion to boost communications tools portfolio

Mitel buys Polycom for $1.96B in enterprise communications consolidation play

earth, connected, flight patterns As more enterprises move their communications services over to IP networks and cloud-based services, we’re seeing an increasing amount of consolidation as the businesses that serve them continue to grow to provide end-to-end services — and to shore up against smaller, newer and less expensive offerings from the likes of Slack, Skype, Google Hangouts and more. Today comes that… Read More Continue reading Mitel buys Polycom for $1.96B in enterprise communications consolidation play

Can Slack transform enterprise communication once and for all?

slackdroid_2x Those of us who have been around the block a few times have seen multiple attempts to kill email and change the way people communicate in the enterprise. Slack is just the latest, but one that has captured market share and money along the way. Consider that just today, Slack got $200 million in funding on a whopping $3.8 billion valuation. It launched just three years ago and has raised… Read More Continue reading Can Slack transform enterprise communication once and for all?

The suddenly exciting future of enterprise communications

cansstring Enterprise communications is not a sector that typically generates palpable excitement. In the enterprise, the plumbing is never as exciting as the fixtures, and people spend more time noticing what communications enables than how it’s delivered. It doesn’t help that enterprise communications is often dismissed as slow to innovate, given its high capital costs to deploy new… Read More Continue reading The suddenly exciting future of enterprise communications

Source: Microsoft mulled an $8 billion bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

slack rope When Slack announced new voice and video services earlier this week, the enterprise messaging startup signalled a move into territory dominated by the likes of Microsoft’s Skype. But it looks like this is not the only moment when the two company’s paths have crossed in recent times. Microsoft eyed Slack as a potential acquisition target for as much as $8 billion, TechCrunch… Read More Continue reading Source: Microsoft mulled an $8 billion bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead

Facebook adds 36K Telenor employees to Facebook at Work as it gears up for global launch

sommer_075-high-1250x585 Facebook at Work — the enterprise version of Facebook that lets businesses build their own secure social networks — has racked up over 60,000 companies on a waiting list while still in closed beta. And as it gears up for a full global launch and new features like an app platform later this year, Facebook is announcing its newest big customer. As of today, Telenor, the… Read More Continue reading Facebook adds 36K Telenor employees to Facebook at Work as it gears up for global launch