Deel-Breaker
A Perfect Contrast
As my plane landed in Phoenix for isolved’s inaugural analyst event on Monday, my phone buzzed with messages and texts. Why? Deel and Rippling are locked in a battle straight out of an episode of Silicon Valley, complete with allegations of corporate espionage and Slack messages as star witnesses.
You might think watching two unicorns slug it out would be pretty entertaining. You’d be right. I almost got popcorn on my way to the hotel. Is all of this drama relevant to work leaders? Maybe not directly, but I’ll admit: I’m keeping an eye on it (And seriously, if the allegations are true — maybe don’t do that? Just an idea.)
But not every tech company story has to be ripped straight from the tabloids. My 1.5 days in Arizona with my friends at isolved were notably drama-free.
Honestly, a little more action wouldn’t have hurt, especially since customers weren’t around to dish out those great, informal insights between sessions. Usually, those casual conversations provide context that’s just as valuable as the formal presentations.
I did get a beer from a burro, though. Also, I got to see Taliesin West as an adult who could fully appreciate Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterful work. Not bad? Not bad!
As usual, I had some clear takeaways from the huge amount of things we covered.
1. Small is Big (No, Really)
A 500-employee company might sound modest unless you’ve actually tried running one. Without the right tech or approach, managing 500 people can feel more like wrangling 5,000. Trust me, I’ve been there.
Go to the typical vendor event and you might be shocked to hear this stat: fewer than 25,000 of the nearly 19 million businesses in the U.S. have over 1,000 employees. The vast majority of companies are far smaller, yet so many vendors often dismiss these businesses as low-margin, high-hassle clients. And to be fair, if you haven’t built your business around that, that can be exactly what it is.
isolved, however, sees genuine opportunity here, leveraging a hybrid sales approach of direct customer relationships and reseller and partner networks. Their flexible tech approach and shared sales and service model with payroll bureaus, ASOs, and PEOs can combine high-touch service with tech-forward solutions, all depending on what best serves their client’s business.
Could some of their product naming be clearer? Absolutely. I didn’t exactly get why they branded some of their products (like Perfect Payroll™) while others were left with just descriptive names. Their demos weren’t exactly mind-blowing, but they were practical, robust, and showed genuine awareness of SMB needs. AI agents were in the product roadmap as you might expect, but if anything, it was focused on the pragmatic.
Bottom line: Small businesses deserve solid software and support. I hope isolved keeps them at the heart of what they do as they continue their growth.
2. Quiet Confidence (Maybe Too Quiet?)
Payroll-first companies like Paychex, Paylocity, and Paycom quietly rake in billions annually. Paycor is nearly there too, soon to join forces with Paychex. isolved doesn’t publicly disclose revenue, but anyone who knows how to do some quick, back-of-the-envelope math based on employee headcount could tell you they’re comfortably holding their own.
Despite the company’s bold, neon-pink branding, the event itself felt intentionally low-key. No flashy walk-up music, minimal hype around upcoming announcements, and a product roadmap that felt reasonable and aligned with what I hear from companies outside the enterprise.
isolved’s strategic bets, particularly in hospitality, professional services, and staffing, are also backed by solid research rather than buzzwords and gut feelings. It’s generally a smart, methodical approach and refreshingly driven by ethnographic research (my colleague Aaron Delgaty would’ve loved to dive deep into the conversations they were able to have with users and buyers).
Bottom line: This is another reason why I like having customers there: Energy. Some of these features are going to be super helpful and customers should love the direction here. A little humblebrag now and then doesn’t hurt.
3. What’s Next for isolved?
Could isolved eventually mirror the Ultimate-to-UKG evolution? Possibly. They’re recruiting talent from large-scale HR tech companies and cautiously exploring the enterprise market.
But they haven’t lost sight of their roots. They continue to solidify their position in foundational markets that they’ve done so well in and steadily grow their direct customer business.
However, don’t hold your breath for immediate global expansion. isolved remains unapologetically focused on the U.S. market, leveraging partnerships (like Remote.com) to meet international customer needs. They acknowledge their North American focus, comfortable playing to their clear strengths.
Regarding future plans or potential exit paths (like the aforementioned Paycor acquisition by Paychex), isolved was open but not overly forthcoming. Their private equity backers, Accel-KKR, appear perfectly content to support their unwavering growth. Cheap money still isn’t cheap and an IPO isn’t a sure thing, even for companies with a solid track record and healthy profit margins.
Bottom line: While isolved’s event lacked the TMZ-esque drama of Deel and Rippling and other tech-forward events, maybe that’s precisely the charm of the whole thing: straightforward, reliable, and practical. Keep it real and keep growing, without the weird spy vs. spy shenanigans.
It was great to reconnect with peers in the analyst community like Steve Boese, Karen Steed, Stacey Harris, Tami Nutt, Joey Price, Nicholas W.J. Biron, Jessica A Cheung, Matthew Brown, George Rogers, Steve Goldberg, Ivan Oz, Jan Erik Aase, and probably a few more I’m missing. A few have already posted some recaps of the event and I’m sure there will be some fantastic takeaways.
Finally, it was great to get hosted at the event by the folks at isolved and it was a nice excuse to get out of the dreary PNW. Big thanks to Amberly Dressler and her team for all her hard work in making it a success as well as the folks at isolved who took the stage like Celia Fleischaker, Pragya (Malhotra) Gupta, Kelli Rico, Amy Mosher, Opal Wagnac, Megha Shah, Alice McDonald, Megan Coen, Meredith Reilly, and Todd La Fever.
Now, it’s time to be back in my cozy confines.
QUICK HITS FROM AROUND THE WEB
How AI-Enabled ‘Bossware’ Is Being Used to Track and Evaluate Your Work via ComputerWorld
Job Redesign Around AI: Work Intelligence Tools Arrive via Josh Bersin
Employers Are on an Unsustainable ‘Hiring Spree’ for AI Talent, Report Says via HR Dive
Breaking the Stigma: Menopause Benefits Gain Momentum in the Workplace via ERE
Federal Agencies Plan for Mass Layoffs as Trump’s Workforce Cuts Continue via NPR
The “No Robo Bosses” Act (SB 7): How California’s New Bill Targeted at AI Could Impact the Workplace via California Labor & Employment Law Blog
How Rippling’s Legal Action Against Deel May Affect the HR Tech Market via HR Executive
Assessing the ‘Mood Music’ - Are Employee Surveys the Right Tool? via HR Grapevine
Flimsy NDAs and a Little Streisand
Meta’s effort to silence a whistleblower is possibly turning into a labor law fiasco. KQED reports that Meta’s attempt to enforce an NDA against a former employee’s tell-all book has now raised significant questions about labor law, inadvertently boosting the very story it sought to bury.
Two key points immediately jump out:
Labor law isn’t typically center stage in tech disputes, but Meta may have handed critics and federal labor officials a compelling case. Labor protections cover more than union organizing. They shield employees’ rights to speak openly about workplace issues, even controversial ones. Meta’s aggressive tactics could soon put them under unwanted scrutiny but part of the question will be how Trump labor officials read and enforce the law.
This saga is a classic example of the Streisand Effect. Many people would never have paid attention to the whistleblower’s book had Meta not taken such aggressive steps to suppress it. By overusing NDAs, Meta amplified attention and curiosity — exactly the opposite of its goal.
Meta’s situation underscores a valuable lesson: the harder companies fight to suppress information, the louder and more damaging the conversation becomes.
That’s it for this week!