In the season finale of Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Paul Irving, Partner and COO of GTMfund, to discuss go-to-market strategies for the AI era. Drawing from his work with over 120 portfolio companies and a network of 350+ operators from companies, Paul shares specific, actionable advice on how early-stage startups can win even when facing well-funded competitors who iterate at lightning speed. He also explains why distribution has become the final remaining moat when technical advantages disappear in months instead of years, and why every company needs a unique go-to-market motion tailored to their specific ICP.

If you just can’t get enough AI-native GTM strategies, check out this episode of the GTMnow podcast: Build your AI Outbound Machine with ChatGPT

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:44 Meet Paul Irving – GTM Fund

04:02 Finding Competitive Edge in Specific Channels

07:34 Matching Operators to Startups with AI

12:08 The End of the B2B SaaS Playbook Era

14:09 Creative GTM Strategies

16:18 The Power of Warm Introduction Mapping

25:25 Red Flags in Go-to-Market Strategy

27:29 Advice for Resource-Constrained Founders

31:22 When to Start Hiring a GTM Team

34:57 Outro

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Isabelle Johannessen is our host. Build Mode is produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience Development is led by Morgan Little. And a special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.