SaaStr 823: Is GTM Really Dead?! with SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin
episode
The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors
46 min
2 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 17 days ago
Transcript
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Why do people think go‑to‑market (GTM) is dead in the AI era?
Welcome to the official Saster Podcast, where you can hear some of the best Saster speakers. This is where the cloud meets. Up today on the Saster Podcast. But here's the funny thing, guys. If you look at who is running go to market at some of the hottest AI companies, from open AI to to anthropic. On down, you'll see folks that spoke at Saster in the past few years. You will see the exact same people essentially running the same playbooks they ran before the AI explosion. Now not identical. There are differences and we're gonna chat about it, but literally they're the same people running somewhat upgraded versions of what worked. So Here's my tough love message. A lot of things are not working quite as well as they did.
Some things are working better. It's not that simple. We'll go through it. But if you think things are dead or if folks on your team are saying it's dead, or you hear mumbles in the hallway that it's dead, I think it's you. I think it's you. Because just about everybody that is tapping into AI budget is re accelerating. Everybody at Saster, connect data, automate busy work, and empower teams like nobody's business with the one platform that grows with you every step of the way. Learn how Salesforce works for startups at Salesforce.com slash SMB. That's Salesforce.com slash SMB. Hey everybody at Saster. Finn is the number one AI agent for resolving complex queries like refunds, transaction disputes, and technical troubleshooting, all with speed and reliability.
See how Finn can deliver the highest resolution rates and highest quality customer experience at fin.ai slash saster. That's fin.ai slash saster. Hey everybody. Get excited. Saster AI London is this December, December 1st and 2nd, and we're on track to completely sell out with the playbooks for AI and B2B. Join 2,000 plus BI and AI leaders for two days, two days of practical advice on scaling in the new year. We'll have speakers flying in from OpenAI, Wiz, Clay, Intercom Fin, and all your favorite B2B companies, including yours truly with Harry Stebbings and more doing our live. 20 BC Podcast. It'll be fun all in the heart of London. Don't miss out. Get your tickets. You can still go. Go to spodcast.sasterlondon.com.
That's podcast dot sasterlondon.com for special discount just for you. Good morning everybody. Welcome to Saster AI Live. I wanted to do something Hopefully brief and specific, but then open it up to any questions you guys have on go-to-market sales and marketing today in the age of AI. And I really just wanted to hit on one thing. I'll give you I'll give you a whole bunch of points around it, but one thing because I just I I see a little bit less of this on LinkedIn than I did six months ago, but man, I see way too much that go to market is dead. That uh outbound doesn't work anymore, that SEO is dead, woe is me, that all this stuff just doesn't work in the old go-to-market toolkit. I would say last year it was a little confusing for a variety of reasons that we'll get into.
But here's the funny thing, guys. If you look at who is running go-to-market at some of the hottest AI companies, from open AI to to anthropic. On down, you'll see folks that spoke at Saster in the past few years. You will see the exact same people essentially running the same playbooks they ran before the AI explosion. Now, not identical. There are differences and we're gonna chat about it, but literally they're the same people running somewhat upgraded versions of what worked. So Here's my tough love message. A lot of things are not working quite as well as they did. Some things are working better. It's not that simple. We'll go through it. But if you think things are dead or if folks on your team are saying it's dead, or you hear mumbles in the hallway that it's dead, I think it's you.
I think it's you. Because just about everybody that is tapping into AI budget is re-accelerating now. You can see it everywhere. Notion just said they're reaccelating at 500 million in AR as they launch their agents. Dialpad and Talk Desk have added nine figures of incremental AR from their AI agents this year.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why do people think go‑to‑market (GTM) is dead in the AI era?
0:01–6:04
2
How are leading AI companies still using outbound, SEO and classic playbooks?
6:04–10:25
3
What does SaaStr’s AI‑SDR look like and how was it trained?
10:25–16:20
4
Why do pilots, webinars and case studies work better than ever for AI startups?
16:20–22:08
5
Is SEO really dead or just evolving with AI‑driven content?
22:08–28:45
6
How can you make old‑school outbound and PR “awesome” with AI?
28:45–35:29
7
What are the biggest challenges when scaling AI‑powered sales and marketing?
35:29–41:57
8
What actionable steps should founders take to tap the AI budget today?
41:57–46:09
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors
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SaaStr 863: The Enterprise AI Reality Check: From Dashboard Graveyards to 30-Day Migrations with Databricks' Co-Founder and SVP of Field Engineering
SaaStr 853: The Agents #004: Tragedy Apps, Too Many AI SDRs, and Why Your Next Hire Should Report to an Agent
SaaStr 852: The Agents #003, Our Agent Now Runs Campaigns on Weekends, Plus Why We Pay More for Salesforce Than Ever Before
SaaStr 851: The Agents, Episode 002. Managing 20+ AI Agents: Lazy Agents, Stealth Churn & the Death of 60% Solutions