A GTM Blueprint for 2024, AI Is Rewriting the SaaS Playbook, and Experts Talk Unlocking Real-World AI

This week’s insights dive into building a winning go-to-market plan, crafting a dynamic hiring strategy, and leveraging AI for enterprise growth. Madrona's S. Somasegar and Sabrina Wu unpack how AI is rewriting the SaaS playbook. Anna Baird and Loren Alhadeff  offer takeaways on aligning your GTM strategy to drive impact in the year ahead. The Aspiring for Intelligence team dives into Anthropic’s remarkable trajectory, exploring its approach to reshaping the AI landscape. And a special congratulations to Madrona Managing Director Matt McIlwain on being named to Business Insider’s 2024 AI Power List. From the portfolio, Read AI raised a $50M Series B, INDOCHINO hired a VP of retail sales and operations, and so much more.

Madrona News

How AI is Rewriting the SaaS Playbook  

There’s a lot of debate right now about whether “SaaS is dead.” Curious to unpack this, Sabrina Wu and S. Somasegar recently explored how AI is rewriting the SaaS playbook because they believe it’s essential for founders to understand — and act on — the way AI is transforming traditional SaaS.

Today’s applications are evolving beyond tools; they’re becoming intelligent partners that learn, adapt, and deliver value autonomously. This shift is redefining what software can achieve, opening new ways for founders to drive outcomes and scale their businesses.

In this blog, they break down how intelligent applications are reshaping business models, why continuous learning systems are critical, and how founders can stay competitive in an AI-driven world.

If you're ready to rethink your approach to SaaS, check out the full blog to see what this could mean for your product, your customers, and your growth.

Aligning Your GTM Strategy for FY 2025 Success: 5 Lessons for Founders

Founders, as we approach FY 2025, it's time to take a hard look at your go-to-market strategy. Whether you're navigating hyper-growth or refining product-market fit, the decisions you make now will impact your trajectory for years to come. At a recent AMA with Madrona portfolio company CEOs, Madrona's Anna Baird and Loren Alhadeff explored the elements of a successful FY 2025 plan. From focusing on core priorities to aligning your teams around shared revenue goals, we've compiled five actionable insights to help you drive growth in the year ahead.

• Stay focused: Pivoting too often leads to lost momentum. Follow Warren Buffet’s 5/25 rule—identify your top 5 priorities and commit to them for real impact.
• Customer-first: Align your GTM strategy with what your customers need, not just what your team wants to push. Listen to their pain points, and build from there.
• Cross-functional alignment: Revenue is everyone’s responsibility. Sales, marketing, customer success, and product must all contribute to hitting shared revenue goals.
• Equip your GTM team: Ensure your sales reps have fair territories and the tools they need to succeed. Focus on realistic quotas and sustainable growth.
• Pipeline is lifeline: Without a strong, healthy pipeline, even the best strategies will fall short. Set clear pipeline creation goals and review progress regularly.

Founders, it’s time to execute with precision and intention. Read the full guide to learn how to position your startup for success in FY 2025.

Business Insider: The AI Power List 2024

Congrats to Madrona Managing Director Matt McIlwain for being named to "The AI Power List 2024" by Business Insider.

At a time when AI is revolutionizing every sector, this recognition highlights Matt's pioneering role in the space — from early-stage AI investments in the early 2010s to helping bring together the Cancer AI Alliance to spearheading the IA Summit.

More than just investing in AI, though, Matt and the team at Madrona understand that building a great company goes beyond the technology — it's how you turn AI into a sustainable business model. As Matt says, "It doesn't work to just repackage other people's technology if you're not providing clear, differentiated value."

If you’re a founder navigating AI’s fast-paced landscape, Matt and the team at Madrona get it — the long game, the business model, and how to build a moat. 

We're proud to see Matt and Madrona recognized for our commitment to being at the forefront of intelligent applications and AI innovation. This journey is just beginning!

You can see the full list here.

2024 IA Summit

Models Are NOT All You Need

During the IA Summit "Models Are NOT All You Need" panel, industry leaders Rama Akkiraju (NVIDIA), Chetan Kapoor (CoreWeave), and Christian Kleinerman (Snowflake) discussed how enterprises are leveraging large language models (LLMs) and AI to optimize operations, improve productivity, and address infrastructure challenges. Moderated by Tom Dotan of The Wall Street Journal, the conversation spanned from AI model commoditization to specific enterprise applications and infrastructure needs, underscoring the evolving landscape of AI-powered enterprise solutions.

This panel didn’t just talk about the potential of AI; it dug deep into what works now and provided great strategies for what founders can implement today. Watch on YouTube above or view and read the transcript here.

Newsletters

Aspiring for Intelligence: Anthropic Closing the Gap?

Anthropic is breaking new ground in 2024. With major hires from OpenAI’s leadership, a $4B Amazon investment, and fresh product launches like the Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Haiku, the startup is redefining the AI race. While often cast as the “Pepsi” to OpenAI’s “Coca-Cola,” Anthropic's ambitions align more with an “Apple vs. Microsoft” rivalry: two powerhouses carving distinct paths through tech, culture, and innovation. For a deeper dive into what sets Anthropic apart, explore the full breakdown of their recent moves and innovations in this week’s Aspiring for Intelligence by Partner Vivek Ramaswami and Investor Sabrina Wu.  

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Hooked: FRIQing Awesome Series — Learning to Hire (Part 2 of 6)

For founders moving into the startup world, hiring isn’t just about filling roles — it’s mission-critical. This week's Hooked newsletter from the Madrona Talent Team highlights the shift needed from traditional, transactional hiring to a "learn-it-all" mindset, where each hire shapes the startup's future. Adapting hiring methods, refining what "great" looks like, and operationalizing processes are key to avoiding costly mis-hires. With practical steps like post-mortems, structured interviews, and feedback loops, this guide sets the stage for building impactful teams. Dive into this week's Hooked for actionable steps to build a team that drives impact and supercharge your hiring strategy.  

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Portfolio Roundup

ReadAI raised a $50M Series B. The product is now also available on iPhones for in-person meetings and integrates with Jira and Confluence.

Indochino hired Sean Wrenn as Vice President of Retail Sales and Operations.

Deepgram was included in the piece “Agents of Change: How AI-API Synergy Turns Insights Into Action,” published in Forbes.

Pulumi was featured in a piece in The New Stack.

Evocalize CEO Matthew Marx joined the Krish Marketing Podcast.

CommerceIQ Head of Product Himanshu Jain shares how brands can go beneath the bid for smarter retail media spending in a column in Retail TouchPoints.

Envisagenics was recognized by Tracxn as one of the “Emerging Startups of Life Sciences Tech” in their latest award series.

Gradial is hosting a “Lessons Learned” panel on Oct. 30 for those interested in discussing the do’s and don’ts of leveraging AI in the workplace.

Crowd Cow was nominated for USA Today’s best meat delivery service.

MotherDuck Founder Jordan Tigani joined The MAD Podcast with Matt Turck.

Amperity SVP of Marketing Jason Perocho joined The Peerbound Podcast.