SaaStr 703: Who Will Win the Go-to-Market AI Race — Startups or Incumbents? with Stage 2 Capital's Managing Director and Co-Founder Mark Roberge
Nov 28, 2023
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Mark Roberge from Stage 2 Capital discusses the advantages and challenges of using AI for Go-to-Market strategies. He highlights how startups disrupt established players with their agility and innovation. The chapter also covers raising venture capital, the shift to efficiency, and strategic insights for hitting revenue goals in 2024.
Startups disrupt established players with their agility, innovation, and ability to adapt to changing market dynamics.
Entrepreneurs should identify and exploit the innovator's dilemma in their industries, finding opportunities where big companies lack the necessary data or vision to compete with startups.
Deep dives
The Allure of AI and the Blank Canvas of Possibilities
The podcast highlights the excitement surrounding the potential of AI and its unparalleled ability to reimagine everything in the B2B software realm. The speaker discusses how AI is different from other technological advancements like blockchain or mobile, as it presents a blank canvas for innovation. This artistic freedom fuels the visionaries in the industry, inspiring them to reimagine use cases and solutions in a post-AI technology world. The speaker emphasizes the importance for founders to be visionaries and encourages them to rethink their startup's purpose and problem-solving strategies to avoid potential irrelevance.
The Parallels Between AI and the Internet
The podcast draws parallels between the impact of the internet on society and the potential disruption AI could bring. The speaker refers to the Gartner hype curve and likens the current state of AI to the internet in the late 1990s. They discuss the hype, iterative ideas, and the fact that not all first movers succeed in the initial wave of disruption. The speaker suggests that AI has the potential to follow a similar trajectory of disruptive innovation, and advises entrepreneurs to think big, beyond iterative AI solutions, and strive for true disruption that can sustain long-term and create unicorns.
Navigating the Innovator's Dilemma in an AI-First World
The podcast explores the concept of the innovator's dilemma and its relevance in the context of an AI-first world. The speaker explains how big companies often struggle to adapt to disruptive technologies due to their focus on selling big products for big profits in their current markets. The speaker uses the example of CRM technology and how Salesforce disrupted the market dominated by Siebel and Act by targeting small companies first with a disruptive seat-based pricing model. The speaker urges entrepreneurs to identify and exploit the innovator's dilemma in their industries, finding opportunities where big companies lack the necessary data or vision to compete with startups.
Choosing the Right Beachhead and Data Acquisition for AI Startups
The podcast discusses the importance of choosing the right market to start with and securing data for AI startups. The speaker advises startups to select use cases where big incumbents don't have access to necessary data, thereby stacking the odds in their favor. They also highlight the advantage of targeting the tech industry, which is more open to adopting new technologies and emphasizes the importance of building MVPs that can quickly penetrate the tech market, allowing for subsequent growth in other sectors. The speaker suggests considering data acquisition as a critical function for startups aiming to make the most of the AI opportunity.
As AI continues to reshape the way businesses operate, it has become a critical differentiator in gaining a competitive edge. Stage 2 Capital Co-founder and Managing Director Mark Roberge dissects the advantages and challenges faced by both startups and incumbents in leveraging AI for Go-to-Market strategies. Uncover the unique capabilities that startups bring to the table and how they disrupt established players with their agility, innovation, and ability to adapt to changing market dynamics.
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