Episode 44 | Cvent Acquires ON24’s for $400M Shortly after Goldcast - Is B2B Events Officially Consolidating?

Cvent just acquired ON24. You're probably thinking, "Okay, another B2B acquisition, who cares?" But they bought Goldcast just 2 weeks earlier.  In this episode, we break down: Why Cvent is suddenly on a buying spree OpenAI is speculated to purchase Pinterest  LinkedIn took down another data provider, Artisan, but this one has a happy ending. Microsoft’s AI Irony: AI writes 30% of their code, yet Windows 11 keeps breaking. Is adding Reddit moderator to your resume a flex or nah? McKinsey’s Creator Play: even the B2B dinosaurs are into influencers  Reverse Psychology Ads: Why "DON’T BOOK A DEMO" is outperforming traditional CTAs. And much, much more.  Join us, it’s episode 44.    Timestamps: 03:08 Cvent's acquisition spree 07:01 OpenAI's rumored acquisition of Pinterest 15:17 LinkedIn takes down Artisan 20:11 Chris Walker's Encoded website 27:35 Microsoft's AI irony 34:03 Reddit moderator on resume   --- Connect with the hosts: Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41 Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasbober Subscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments. ---   Today's episode is brought to you by Exit Five. Thanks to Dave and the Exit Five team for being OG supporters of Notorious B2B. Tim and Tas have both been members since the beginning and get a ton of value from being part of this community. Join the top community of B2B marketers now at ExitFive.com and get access to one of the 30+ in-person events Exit Five is hosting in 2026. Also, we heard Dave is super jacked, a millionaire, a great father, a speed reader, he’s run 300 marathons, and donates over $1M a year to very important charities. ---   Also, special thanks to our friends at Vector - the only ad platform brave enough to say what we’re all thinking: native targeting is a scam. Vector lets you build audiences by name. Not “job title at tech company.” Actual people who clicked your ad, visited your site, or creeped on your pricing page. (Also, the branding has cute ghosties. What more do you want?) Check them out at vector.co and stop paying to show ads to your uncle’s dentist’s cousin. --- Finally, huge shoutout to Sahil, CEO of Spiralyze, the company that captures winning A/B tests from 78,000 websites. He kinda knows what works on B2B websites. This February, he's teaming up with folks like Anthony Pierri, Jess Cook, Rob Kaminski, Alina Vandenberghe, and our very own Tas Bober, to host Above the Fold - a workshop-style event designed to help you build a better website. No keynotes. No panels. Just hands-on, practical sessions you can actually use.  Join us in February. Get the details at spiralyze.com/abovethefold