Vishal Sunak 🚀

I’ve spoken to over 2 dozen MDs at PE firms I can confidently say that the arb of figuring out how to implement Vertical AI at portfolio companies is very real right now It will fundamentally change underwriting for those who can do it predictably and unlock generational returns. Most are aware they need to act. Very few have.

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Agents are starting to execute work autonomously. This shift breaks many of the metrics we’ve relied on for the past decade of SaaS. When humans stop logging in, clicking buttons, and reviewing dashboards, traditional signals like DAU, feature adoption, and session duration stop telling us whether a product is valuable. In the Agent Era, the right questions look different: - Are tasks completed successfully? - How often do humans need to intervene? - What outcomes are produced, and at what cost? - How much autonomy does the customer actually trust the system with? Read more for a framework comparing SaaS Era metrics vs Agent Era metrics, focused on measuring outcomes, reliability, and economic leverage rather than interaction. How are others are thinking about measuring autonomous systems? #AI #Agents #SaaS #Metrics #Startups

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NEW: NY’s OCM has decided to transition to Metrc for their seed-to-sale tracking system. This comes after the partnership between Metrc and BioTrack, BioTrack of course was the tech company initially given the seed-to-sale contract in New York. Things to keep in mind as per https://lnkd.in/g_gunAbG: • Licensees who were sending data via the BioTrack NY STS API can now stop. • All licensees are still required to maintain an electronic, real-time inventory tracking system. • Metrc UIDs will cost $0.10, and any BioTrack tags previously purchased will be credited. • Third-party integrators will not be charged to transition from BioTrack’s API to Metrc’s API. • Labs will send testing data to Metrc under the new system. • Until Metrc goes live, transfers must use paper manifests, and licensees should keep historical data in their own systems. • OCM and Metrc will provide updates on API access, sandbox testing, training, and tags in the coming months. • Operators are advised to continue to submit inventory/sales reports to the Office via the portal. • They are aiming to help operators go live with Metrc in early 2026 Distru is a validated third party software integrator with BioTrack in NY, and we are committed to working with Metrc as OCM figures out what next steps are in the coming months. #NYCannabis #Metrc #SeedToSale #Compliance #CannabisTech #Distru

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Pendo.io isn’t your typical platform from polished presentations that get forgotten the next day. It’s more like an honest mirror for companies convinced they understand their users but are actually flying blind. No tricks or empty promises just clear data showing where users get stuck, what breaks the flow, and what truly works. What stands out is how it connects two often disconnected worlds. Product teams get lost in technical details, launching features nobody uses. Executives only see abstract numbers, far from the user’s reality. Pendo translates behavior into insights everyone can understand, bringing those groups together. But visibility alone isn’t enough. The real advantage is how fast teams can act without leaning on overloaded engineers. In markets like ours, where resources are tight, this autonomy can be the difference between progress and stagnation. Beyond technology, success depends on culture. I’ve seen projects with similar tools fail because organizations resist data-driven decisions or prefer gut feeling fine, but risky without evidence. So the question is: are we ready to face the truth, even if it’s uncomfortable? On AI, Pendo.io shows rare caution. Instead of riding the hype and launching bots blindly, they focus on whether those agents genuinely improve user experience or cause frustration. Their governance over AI interactions is crucial to avoid turning digital engagement into a gamble. For example, a fintech in Mexico and Brasil used Pendo.io to find that a digital onboarding flow was causing 40% of drop-offs. The issue wasn’t the product but confusing communication aimed at users with little financial knowledge. A simple fix boosted retention no code changes needed. Pendo strikes a balance: leverage what works while exploring improvements without big overhauls or budgets. In our region, where change often means risk, that’s a winning formula. I don’t see Pendo.io as just a tool, but a mindset shift in how we approach software and digital experience. It won’t solve everything, but it shines a light on what truly matters: what users actually do, not what we think they do. And that’s invaluable. Okta, Agorapulse, Wiley, American Cancer Society, Labcorp, Covetrus, iRobot, Verizon Connect, Essity, OpenTable, Morgan Stanley, IHS Markit, Citrix, Alarm.com, JLL, Elsevier, SiteCompli®, Zendesk, Adobe Marketo, Salesforce, Cisco.

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Kyle Poyar on "What GTM teams are doing with ChatGPT." An interesting read and suggests that the thin wrappers have even thinner value than many expected. As models get better at automating and accelerating knowledge work, the software layer that sits between users and models might get innovated out of existence... Team workflows ("systems of engagement") and verified enterprise data ("systems of record") might be the only moats. Perhaps, just perhaps, "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose?"

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Leaders from the Massachusetts AI Coalition are working with their teams to drive impact across the Commonwealth. Here's a quick update for those interested in following along. - Beacon Taskforce: A Founder Starter Pack is being assembled from the feedback of 30+ founders. Consistent themes are present (fast/flexible capital, free work space, GPU credits, connections to founders/operators), making consistent solutions testable. Excited for the first Founder Starter Pack to go live in early H1. - Tavern Taskforce: Tomorrow's event is ON. Excited for Luke Winston-Almanzar, Co-Founder & CEO of Reservoir, Ryan Jacobs, Co-Founder & CEO of Agency Robotics, and Shilpi Gupta, Founder & CEO of her company will be speaking on the "Industrial AI Builders Panel." - Banners Taskforce: Heads down. Cranking away. Working on a launch of our first big initiative on April 1st. Remember folks: The weather in New England is a feature, not a bug. 😉

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Too many SaaS companies are trying to manufacture a category right now. At seed stage, it feels audacious (and fundable). At Series B+, it still sounds good on a stage... But if your endgame is mid-market and enterprise, the reality can be harsh: ❌ Enterprise buyers don’t typically budget for nascent categories - and are typically quite slow to spend on and test newly established categories. 🫰They budget for problems they already know how to fund...the ones that have the leadership/procurement paths pre-carved out. That’s why category creation is almost always boom or bust. You’re not just selling software; you’re teaching buyers to name a problem, shift priorities, and convince slow moving enterprise bureaucracies to approve net-new budgets. Most companies don’t have the time or capital to push that uphill for prolonged periods of time. Slotting into a known category may sound less visionary, but in enterprise it often wins faster... ✅ Budgets already exist. ✅ Stakeholders already understand the space. 🤝 Your job is to show why you’re the obvious choice - clearer, faster, better, yada, yada... you get it Known budgets + defined buyers? Slot in, then differentiate ruthlessly. Unnamed problem + no budget line? You’re playing a long game. Make sure you have the war chest to survive it and the end outcome is worth it (tbf, typically with VC companies these go hand in hand). Snowflake and Gong pulled off category creation because they had capital, time, and undeniable customer impact. Snowflake's CMO, Denise Persson has talked about the extreme messaging consistency and endurance that was required to come out the other side. Most don’t have the time.⏳ Datadog, Zoom, and Okta won big without inventing a category. They just dominated one that mattered to enterprises. Category creation has become a crutch for founders and marketers. In enterprise, it should be the exception, not the default.

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🚧 Outbound isn’t broken — it’s just being rebuilt for the PE era Private equity firms aren’t just funding pipeline growth — they’re questioning the entire outbound motion. ❌ Hiring SDRs without strategy ❌ Measuring activity without conversion ❌ Throwing tech at the problem without solving the system At The Pipeline Group, we’re seeing leading firms shift their mindset: 🔁 From headcount to pipeline repeatability 📊 From surface metrics to real conversion signals 🔧 From tools to tightly integrated GTM systems It’s not about abandoning outbound. It’s about engineering it to perform under pressure. 👇 We unpack how top PE firms are doing just that: 🔗 How Private Equity Firms Are Rethinking Outbound GTM - https://lnkd.in/ezxp9Gc5

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