Most B2B AI Features Fail; Winners Do Differently
Hot take: 90% of "AI features" shipping in B2B right now are terrible. The companies winning are doing something completely different. Come to SaaStr AI 2026 May 12-14 and learn what actually works from founders with the receipts. https://t.co/Ff7DKVt1H2
Founders’ Retention Payments Can Outshine VC Liquidation Preferences
Yes, VCs often have a “liquidation preference” But there is also a “founder preference”. It’s called retention payments, which can often be eight figures on top of any return from common. And are often structured in a way to...
AI Accelerates Competition: Stay Ahead or Become Irrelevant
Old rules: Around Year 5, the Competition Catches You in Whatever Made You Special Around Year 10, you have an Existential Threat. The tech world has changed so much, what you started with is sort of irrelevant. Today, with AI, often happens...
Your AI Strategy Deadline: SaaStr AI
If you're a VP of Sales, CRO, CMO, or Head of Product at a B2B company and you haven't figured out your AI strategy yet... May 12-14 is your deadline. SaaStr AI 2026. SF Bay. Come with questions. Leave with...
One‑Time Billionaire Tax Is Just First Step
My take on California’s “One-Time” Billionaire Tax. It’s much worse than it looks. 📉 Will it pass? Yes, likely. It only needs 50%+1 voter approval. SEIU + CTA have done this before—Prop 55 won 63% in 2016. ⚖️ Will it...
AI Agents Outperform Mediocre Hires, Replacing Mid‑Pack Workers
"If I had 2 more great humans, I'd hire them tomorrow. If they were truly great. But a Pretty Good AI agent is better than ... hiring a human that isn't great. We don't need placeholder hires anymore. AI Agents...
Hire Salespeople Who Are Motivated by Money
Never hire anyone in sales that doesn't care about money You'll see
Zuckerberg Faces $49B Tax Bill Over Voting Power
Everyone’s focused on Brin and Page fleeing California. But there’s a ticking time bomb buried in the billionaire tax: Mark Zuckerberg may be facing a $49 Billion tax bill he literally cannot pay. 🧵 The California billionaire tax has a provision that...
Startups Only Need a Strategist for Few Hours
The one hire I don't need, and none of my portfolio cos need, is a "Strategist" I know at certain stage in many folks' career, that's what they want to do Advise on strategy more than do work themselves No criticism But most startups...
Assume Layoff, Master AI, Become Indispensable
Here’s my brutal advice for 2026 but it’s given with love and to help: Assume You Get Laid Off This Year. Just assume it. Why? - Assume you aren’t AI fluent enough - Assume an AI agent replaces you -...
AI‑Driven GTM Built in 180 Days: Key Wins
1/ Personio's CRO Phil Lecor built an AI-powered GTM in 6 months. From nothing to all-in in 180 days. $8.5B company. 400 salespeople. 15,000 customers. Here's what actually worked (and the mistakes to avoid): 🧵 https://t.co/qhDbuFmAxS
Boost Growth by Optimizing Customers, Churn, and Sales Focus
Best things to do when .. you don't know what to do: 1/ More time w/existing customers. Meet 5/mo IRL. 5/week on Zoom. 2/ Hire 1 great VP 3/ Drive down churn. You grow faster even w/o more leads 4/ Join more sales calls....
Practical AI Tactics for Scaling Revenue and Reducing Churn
No fluff. No panels about "the future of AI." At SaaStr AI Annual 2026 (May 12-14) you'll learn: 💲How to price AI features 🤖How to reduce churn with AI agents 💰How to build AI GTM agents that work 🧖♀️How to hire (or not...
Leverage Existing $100M ARR to Build AI In‑House
Ok so on LinkedIn this week I saw another founder I know at $100m+ ARR where growth has slowed … just leave the keys on the table. Quit. This founder said he was excited to explore what AI could do...
Start VC Young, Enjoy Returns Decades Later
Ideally, you'd start in venture around 13-14 years old That way, in 20 years, when the carry checks finally get material, you still have time to spend it
AI SDRs: Realistic Expectations & Real-World Results #shorts
The video warns sales leaders to temper enthusiasm for AI‑driven sales development representatives (SDRs) by treating them as experimental tools rather than mission‑critical assets. Presenter stresses starting with low‑stakes outreach to avoid early disappointment and to allow the technology a...
Anthropic Hits $350B in Record 4.5 Years
Anthropic from 0 to $350 Billion Valuation. Is this the fastest ever from founding? The data says yes. Time to $350B: 🥇Anthropic: 4.5 years (founded 2021) 🥈OpenAI: ~10 years (founded 2015) 🥉SpaceX: 22 years (founded 2002) Anthropic is reaching SpaceX-level valuations roughly 5x faster. Even crazier:...
Make Your B2B AI Agent Truly Conversational by 2026
Can your customers truly talk to your B2B app -- for real? As well or better than ChatGPT or Claude? Can your customers just tell your app what they want it to do -- and it goes off and does...
Your AI Agent's Success Depends on Your Training
"The best AI startups do the AI training and onboarding for you. In a sense, that's not new. What is new is your AI agent will fail if no one properly trains it. It's on you to make it awesome. ...
Top Reps Handle the Heavy Lifting; Is Your Team?
A great sales rep does most of the work for the prospect: Does the scheduling Does the demos Solves the problem Helps sell other stakeholders Follows up Simplifies deployment AI can do some of this now. But how much of it does your team really do?
The Step-By-Step Playbook for Building AI-Powered GTM Teams with Personio's CRO
Personio’s chief revenue officer, Philip Lor, outlined a step‑by‑step playbook for turning a traditional go‑to‑market organization into an AI‑powered engine. He recounted the company’s internal “AI Search Week,” the launch of a dedicated Slack channel, and the broader initiative to...
Build Trust with Prospects to Boost Acquisition Odds
Getting to know potential acquirers in your space does increase the odds they acquire you — if you do it for the right way. Why? Because it builds trust. And a big part of M&A is trust. Will the team we just...
SaaStr Scales GTM Dramatically with Minimal Staff
"SaaStr went from 10 humans in GTM to 1.2. And it does just as well. But we'd still love to hire 2 more humans." with @lennysan https://t.co/TKyWoJ0aau
Seamless ElevenLabs Integration Into Founderscape and Replit in Minutes
Just integrated @elevenlabsio into Founderscape (and @Replit) in about 5 minutes And it just ... works This is how you do it. Well done https://t.co/Z0lVQTk4Or
AI Agents OUTPERFORM Human SDRs: The Data PROVES It! #shorts
The video showcases how AI‑powered sales agents are outpacing traditional human sales development representatives (SDRs) by delivering higher engagement metrics at scale. By operating around the clock, the AI agents recorded a 6% overall response rate, well above the typical...
VC Returns Collapse: Only 7% of Deals Hit 3x
Yes, M&A is back. More deals are getting done. But per @SiliconVlyBank, VCs make 3x or more their money on just 7% of them That’s way, way down from 22% in 2021, and even 15% in 2019 https://t.co/5oeZOGTpNr
Ask VCs Their Investment Odds to Save Time
It's totally OK to ask a VC at the end of a pitch meeting, "Based on what you know now, what are the odds you'd invest?" In fact, it can save a lot of time
AI Sales Bot Books Meetings While You Sleep! #shorts
The video showcases Amelia, an AI‑powered sales bot that books meetings automatically, replacing a six‑month‑old manual lead‑routing process. Previously, inbound prospects filled a web form, triggered an email alert, and a human routed the lead based on company size, territory, or...
Leaders Must Deploy AI Agents Themselves, Not Outsource
"#1 advice for sales and marketing leaders: deploy an AI agent yourself. Don't hire an agency. Don't tell someone on your team to do it. Deploy an AI agent into production, for real, yourself." with @lennysan "For junior sales...
Pick Vendors Who Actually Deploy Your AI Agents
So we have 20+ AI Agents running SaaStr now What criteria did we use for which vendors to pick? 👉 We picked the ones that helped us the most. Not the ones with sales folks that wanted to “get on a call” Not the...
AI + B2B in 2026: Find the Tailwinds or Get Left Behind | Jason Lemkin
The podcast spotlights the 2026 AI‑driven B2B landscape, warning that firms that fail to embed powerful AI agents this year will be left with a "D‑" rating and risk irrelevance. Jason Lemkin stresses that the market’s new mantra is to...
AI Enables Anyone to Build Million‑Use Apps—Work Remains Hard
"This is the most exciting time in our lives to build software" with @lennysan "I can't even code and I've built 12 apps on @Replit that have been used almost 1,000,000 times. And we run an eight figure business with 2...
Cognitive Limits, Not Tech, Define 2026 Vibe Coding
Right now I have two live projects in @Replit One is a fun MMORPG that simulates running a start-up to IPO and to global domination, -> https://t.co/od8DggqoKS The other is a big enhancement to https://t.co/D1x4RaX5t7 to match the best founders + best...
SpaceX IPO Could Top $1 Trillion, Biggest Ever
"What happens once SpaceX goes public at $1T+? It will be likely the biggest IPO of all time." with @rodriscoll @HarryStebbings + me https://t.co/jJPfjo7ShA
AI-Powered Restaurant SaaS Hits 3x YoY Growth
Nothing like epic investor updates on 1/1/26. First up is @owner: 👩🍳 One of the best companies I've ever invested in is @owner — AI for restaurants. A great example of AI Vertical B2B. They dramatically accelerated in 2025: • Growing almost...
True Success: 15‑20 Years Building Iconic Ventures
Serial entrepeneur is good Even better is putting in the 15-20 years it likely takes to build something iconic that lasts
AI SDR Secures $100K Deal on New Year's Eve
Our AI SDR booked a $100k+ deal on New Year's Eve It's truly becoming a different world And it's only just begun in GTM
AI Agents Swap, Not Eliminate, Management Workload
Here's something almost nobody tells you when you deploy your first AI agent: you're not eliminating management overhead. You're trading one type of work for another. It's different work. But it requires about as much time for oversight, review, and...
2026 H2 Set for Massive IPO Wave: SpaceX, Databricks, More
"2026 will be a year of MASSIVE IPOs in back half of the year: SpaceX first, Cavna, Databricks, and Anthropic. And that's just a start." with @HarryStebbings @rodriscoll + me https://t.co/DiFPYJGaET
AI-Native B2B Firms Command Premium, Others Face Discount
Navan IPO’d in October and hit $800m ARR growing 29%. And it still is trading at 5x ARR. If you aren’t truly AI Native, the world doesn’t love you today in B2B. Even with those numbers....
Choose only Fully Committed Cofounders, No Half‑measures
Don't pick a cofounder that - has something better to do - wants to see how it goes - has a clear backup plan - sees it as risky - argues over who should be CEO - doesn't 100% believe You'll see
Startup Competitive Edge Shrinking FAST: Adapt or Die! #shorts
The video warns that the traditional timeline for protecting a competitive edge in SaaS—12 to 18 months before a startup copycat and several years before a large incumbent—has evaporated. Today, innovations can be duplicated within weeks, compressing the advantage window...
ARR Multiples Often Irrelevant in Acquirer’s Strategy
M&A pricing can be a weird thing Meta buys Manus for $2B+ at $125m ARR Then likely … abandons all that revenue. It is a distraction, and in the end, immaterial to Meta’s revenues. Whatever Meta does with it, it...
AI B2B Software Budgets: Where The Money REALLY Goes! #shorts
The video highlights a paradox in enterprise technology spending: overall B2B software budgets are at record levels, yet CIOs face hard limits on how much they can allocate. While AI‑enabled solutions are booming, the surplus isn’t infinite; every new AI...
Benchmark, A16z, Hummingbird, Creandum Battle For
"Who Is The VC Fund of the Year? @benchmark vs @a16z vs @HummingbirdVC vs @creandum" with @HarryStebbings @rodriscoll + me https://t.co/9aw20r6YHL
Replit's 24/7
By late 2025, Replit got really, really good: - Context windows can be unlimited - Sub agents solving tough issues - Design mode + Fast mode It finally got great. Now … imagine by late 2026 if it could run 24x7 It just keeps building,...
SaaS Competitive Edge: Months, Not Years! New Strategy #shorts
The video warns that the traditional SaaS advantage—years of protection before a competitor could replicate a product—has collapsed into a matter of months, or even weeks. The speaker reflects on his own experience launching EchoSign, which gave DocuSign roughly 18...
Databricks Mastered the AI Wave—Founders Must Follow
"Databricks rode the 'AI Wave' better than anyone else in B2B. They were successful pre-AI, but man, JFC since then. And that's every founder's job. To ride the AI Wave." with @HarryStebbings @rodriscoll + me https://t.co/8DQ8PcZpux
13 Years of Daily Posts Built AI Knowledge Engine
👉August 22, 2012 to December 28, 2025 = 4,877 days 📖 I’ve written a SaaStr post every single day since August 22, 2012 That’s ~3.5 million words — more than 2x the entire Harry Potter series. Roughly 30+ full books. More than...
Even VPs Discover CEO Role Is Tougher than Expected
"I actually didn't know being CEO was this hard" -- every top VP that starts their own startup