Pax8 is “absolutely in this to build a large-cap company”, CEO Scott Chasin has emphasised as he talked through its efforts to put clear water between itself and its peer group.
The cloud commerce marketplace caused a stir last month when it ran a full-page advert in the New York Times goading TD Synnex and Ingram Micro for “selling the past”.
Pax8 has declined to talk about the ad further, citing the logic that it spoke for itself.
But in an interview with IT Channel Oxygen, Chasin – along with Chief Commerce Officer Nick Heddy and EMEA CEO Harald Nuij – opened up on what qualities they feel make Pax8 stand alone from its peer group, as well as where it is headed.
“That data point proves we are different”
Pax8’s advantage – as they see it – was consolidated last June by the launch of the latest version of its marketplace. It debuted two new features in the shape of Storefronts and Opportunity Builder.
Pax8’s success in replicating B2C behaviours in the B2B world, and digitising the “first 11” steps of the buyer journey for its MSPs, makes it fundamentally different from traditional distributors, Heddy claimed.
He picked out the launch of Opportunity Explorer and Storefronts as the high point of his 10-month tenure in his role.
While Opportunity Explorer is designed to help MSPs identify sales opportunities and tailor recommendations via AI, Storefronts enables them to then create a branded buying experience for customers who want a self-serve option.
Partners who are adopting Storefronts are growing 35% faster than benchmark data for MSPs, Heddy claimed.
“It’s no surprise that B2C behaviour is moving into the B2B world. The signals and data [we’re getting] that we were right and that this is actually how B2B wants to adopt technology – that feels good, that feels galvanising, and that is definitely a data point that proves we are in fact different,” he said.
Heddy threw shade on some peers who are also now branding themselves as marketplaces.
“There are lots of people who like to be fast adopters of the language when we use it first, but then lack the proof points behind how [they are] different,” he said.
Chasin added: “Other people sell stuff; we enable businesses.”
“Agentic future”
Looking to the future, Chasin said “you’re going to hear a lot from Pax8 this year in terms of AI and agents and the agentic future”.
Pax8’s decision to take out a full-page ad in the New York Times may have been an attempt to shape investor sentiment ahead of a possible IPO or fundraiser, rivals felt.
The cloud marketplace this week moved to appoint a new CFO in the shape of Craig Foster, whose tech industry and investment banking experience Chasin said makes him a “perfect fit” for the role.
“We’re absolutely in this to build a large cap company at the end of the day,” Chasin said as he revealed the Colorado-based outfit now has close to 2,000 employees.
“This is a marketplace and a platform that is not only disrupting today, but will be around to disrupt tomorrow as well, and we’ll do that globally.”
Full interview begins on following page…
