[Un]Churned – The No. 1 Podcast for Customer Retention Why Your Ideal Customer Profile Is Broken and How AI Can Fix It ft. Mark Roberge (Co-Founder of Stage 2 Capital)
Nov 5, 2025
Mark Roberge, co-founder of Stage 2 Capital and former HubSpot CRO, dives into the transformative power of AI in sales and market strategies. He emphasizes the need to replace CAC obsession with a focus on optimizing customer lifetime value. Roberge outlines four phases of AI evolution in go-to-market tactics, predicting blurred departmental lines and the rise of autonomous agents. He also discusses the societal implications of AI, questioning whether capitalism can adapt alongside these advancements. It's a captivating look at the future of work and customer dynamics!
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Ideal Customer Profile Should Target LTV
- Mark Roberge argues ICP should be based on lifetime value (LTV) not CAC or easiest-to-close segments.
- He says LTV correlates with retention and signals true product-market fit.
Solve Customer Governance To Win Adoption
- Build vendor sales approaches that solve customers' governance, IT, and security barriers to adoption.
- Treat vendor responsibility as including customers' workflow, data, and change management.
Stage 2's Early Go-To AI Scouting
- Stage 2 ran a call for go-to leaders and collected 250 go-to AI startup submissions quickly.
- That process produced many meetings but only one pilot initially due to enterprise roadblocks.
