It’s rare that I write a blog post about mergers and acquisitions in the talent acquisition space these days given that I have a team of people now that are much smarter than me. But, I was so excited by this particular development that I wanted to get my thoughts out into the market and share how this plays into my vision for the HR tech stack of the future.
No wonder they don’t let me write blog posts anymore…
When I was brainstorming titles for this piece, I couldn’t help but come up with all the fun ways I could play with the two companies’ names.
I started with “(H)Yellllllo, says WayUp”, but that sounded too much like my son’s children’s books, then quickly transitioned to “Yello, the sleeping giant, wakes all the WayUp”, my wife didn’t really get it, and ultimately landed on “Yello Goes WayUp”.
Co-Founder & Managing Director of @TalentTechLabs, Jonathan Kestenbaum, discusses recent advances in the #TalentAcquisition space as @Yello and @wayup merge to advance the future of #HR tech stack: Click To TweetThere were a few names that I can’t even share because they were so inappropriate.
But despite my wife’s misunderstanding, I think it’s sufficient to say that WayUp definitely woke a sleeping giant.
Let’s dive in to learn more.
What just happened?
Yello, the candidate relationship management system (CRM), has merged with WayUp, the diversity sourcing tool. Both technology companies are focused on early career hires.
Why is this interesting?
Yello has made a name for itself as the leading CRM in the early career space, making the strategic decision not to go after the more generalized CRM entrants. Unfortunately, the entrants have caught up to Yello, which has made the business case for a specialized early career hiring platform increasingly difficult. The merging of Yello’s CRM with WayUp’s diverse candidate database and analytics tool further differentiates these players and makes for a competitive system in this category.
How does this impact the tech stack of the future?
Publicly, many of you know of us for our ecosystem infographic we publish annually. This document is really just one lens into the data we are tracking. It shows the state of talent acquisition technology today. When we advise our clients privately, we guide them towards a future technology tech stack that is the byproduct of significant consolidation. Through this lens, we see five anchor systems that will remain in the next three to five years. As it relates to CRMs, we believe this category will merge into a broader candidate communication platform and will include all tools that allow you to engage with a prospect with whom you have collected personal identifiable information, including social search tools, candidate databases, referral tools, etc. This marriage fits squarely in that future state. Don’t be surprised if social search tools start to build CRM’s.
@TalentTechLabs Jonathan Kestenbaum breaks down the merging of #CustomerRelationshipManagement and #DiversitySourcing experts @Yello and @wayup in Talent Tech's latest blog. Read more: Click To TweetCan this unlock new opportunities for both players?
Aside from being able to cross-sell and win more deals due to their deep focus, we believe there is an additional opportunity for both players to unlock more malleable spend from recruitment marketing and convert it to recurring subscription revenue over time.
What’s next for these two love birds?
They plan to spend the next 6 months integrating the two companies, so they can deliver one value proposition to clients and have expressed that further M&A isn’t off the table.
What do I think?
A compelling case can now be made that you should have a candidate communication platform, like Yello for early-career hires, and not have to rely on a more generalized solution.
But, as with all M&A, we will see how well the market reacts and how effectively these two teams integrate their technology. I, for one, look forward to seeing this unfold.
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Jonathan Kestenbaum
Co-Founder & Managing Director of Talent Tech Labs
Jonathan is the Co-Founder & Managing Director of Talent Tech Labs. He is a lawyer by education and an entrepreneur and investor by trade. Prior to Co-founding TTL, Jonathan built and sold a talent acquisition technology company. Jonathan is passionate about being on the cutting edge of innovation and capitalizing on industry trends. He can be found at HR technology conferences all over the world as a sought-after speaker and panelist sharing deep insights into the evolution of the Talent Acquisition Ecosystem. Jonathan has spoken at the HR Tech conference, Unleash, Australasian Talent Acquisition Conference and has contributed to hundreds of research reports on the future of work.Jonathan graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University and a J.D. from Hofstra Law School.
