Cydni W.

There’s been a lot of talk in the DTC space about whether AI can actually drive real business outcomes. At The Whalies, it became real. For months, we’ve been sharing where Triple Whale is headed, how agents will transform decision-making, execution, and performance across ecomm teams. But this wasn’t more talk. What happened at The Whalies was the shift from concept to conviction. You could feel it. Last year, the conversations were about what’s possible. This year, they were about how fast can we go. Customers weren’t asking “When is this launching?” They were opening their laptops mid-event and asking, “Can I buy this right now?” One agency partner pulled me aside and said: “We’re running a hackathon on the hotel roof tonight to build SOPs with your agents.” That level of urgency, that clarity, wasn’t there even a few months ago. And when AJ kicked off a live agent run during the keynote, someone in the crowd muttered: “Holy $**t.” (In the best way possible.) That’s when it clicked. This isn’t hype. It’s impact. And while not everyone could be in the room, we’re doing everything we can to bottle that energy and bring it to you. Because this isn’t just momentum anymore. It’s a movement.

102

2 Comments

Pipeline truth in under 10 minutes. I joined Octave after they'd successfully run the YC playbook...doing things that don't scale, PLG, community-first, customer love everywhere. That's a win. It worked. But now we're graduating. Series A targets mean we need real pipeline, not hopeful pipeline. And that means introducing friction into deal cycles to separate signal from noise. A former leader of mine, Tony Alika Owens, drilled this into me: the right friction doesn't slow deals down. It accelerates truth and that lesson stuck. Enter the stripline. Here's the stack I built to operationalize this: → Octave as the brain (ICP, product positioning, value narratives) → Claude Code MCP to build 101/201/PhD-level enablements around financial literacy, sales methodologies, storytelling, solution engineering - all through the lens of how Octave serves customers → HubSpot ↔ Claude MCP to summarize every engagement through those enablements - flagging inconsistencies, unconsidered needs, missing business case → Claude generates the stripline email in brand voice powered in Octave → Send → Response from power in 9 minutes. Someone I'd never engaged. Screenshot below. 👇 I already know some hardos are loading up comments about "you need to push back" and "handle the objection." A few thoughts: - I want customers who WANT to BUY, not customers who feel like they're being SOLD. Huge psychological difference in how those relationships unfold. - Yes, a deal isn't real until you hear "no" a few times. But I operate from abundance. Going back and forth with someone clearly disengaged is thirsty ex energy. The healthiest move is to recognize sunk cost fallacy and move on. - Objection handling content drops soon. Stay tuned. 😏 Clear is kind. Truth is efficiency. So let me ask you this: How much would you pay to get the truth from power on every deal in your pipeline... in under 10 minutes? Because if you're not doing this, what exactly are you doing?

28

4 Comments

Last night, we spoke at AICamp Seattle to introduce ArcBlock's AIGNE Framework to the Seattle development community. It was one of the largest turnouts this. Robert Mao shared some background on how the idea came to be starting with Aistro, an astrology AI app, that is generated tens of thousands of downloads, to the recent release of ArcSphere, a new AI browser that gives users a companion AI, while protecting user data with decentralized identity and zero tracking. The AIGNE Framework was designed to empower developers and organizations to build, deploy, and manage AI-native applications with ease and security. During the event, we showcased how AIGNE’s modular architecture, robust privacy features, and seamless integration capabilities are setting new standards for the future of AI development. Key takeaways: - Modular, developer-friendly architecture for rapid AI app creation - Built-in privacy and security to protect user data and ensure compliance - Interoperability that enables easy integration with existing systems and tools - Integrated observability to monitor your agents A big thank you to the AI Camp community for valuable feedback. Look for us at more events including the upcoming SeattleJS meetup, AI Production Mini Conference and BELLE Community Young Entrepeneur Conference. Learn more about AIGNE Framework: https://lnkd.in/gNpUpdim to learn more.

14

Your PMM role is changing: How to build human+AI workflows that define what's next That's what I'll cover on April 1 at Product Marketing Alliance's Product Marketing Summit in Denver. I will show HOW I guide AI live using various AI platforms. Your launch campaign workflow could connect positioning, messaging, content, and sales enablement in one flow. Your sales enablement workflow could build pitch decks, dynamic sales prep dashboards, and interactive ROI calculators. This becomes possible when you move from using AI to building with it. The PMM's job is changing. Trailblazing PMMs are building AI teammates trained on their expertise, connecting them into workflows across functions, and deciding how humans and AI work together. They're writing the new job description themselves. You'll see real workflows for product launches and sales enablement, and a tool that helps you identify which workflows to build and which AI teammates to connect. You'll learn: ► How to find workflow ideas and decide which are worth building for PMM work ► How to design workflows that create new value, not just speed up existing processes ► How to evolve your role from AI user to builder and orchestrator Looking forward to learning from an insightful line-up of speakers on April 1-2. Come join us. See link in comments for more info and to register.

26

3 Comments

Dayna Grayson is a leading VC who has “sat in every chair” at a young age. She founded Construct Capital with Rachel Holt, an early leader at Uber. Together, they are tackling the digitization of industry. Dayna will discuss macro trends, what it takes to be a founder, and the potential for AI. She is one of the few who have successfully blended a career of operations and investing.  Check out our discussion at: https://lnkd.in/eYBUGjbW #leadershipdevelopment

111

9 Comments

On AI and SaaS Sales. Just listened to Adam Robinson and Pete Crowley's (from RB2B) podcast with the G2 CEO Godard Abel. Got me thinking. Basically, the conversation was about how an (early-stage) startup can get on G2 and Reddit, and it can have people talk about it, and appear larger than it is and, which would lead to great results and also for AI discovery. All true because - as Godard noticed - AI values user-generated content - reviews, Reddit threads, YouTube. I kind of wish the conversation made a more drastic distinction between Reddit conversations and conversations that happen on platforms like G2 and how AI treats both. Pete Crowley 💡 mentioned that Reddit is hard to influence, and I've heard this on a number of podcasts now. I don't think it's really true. The common line is that the community is self-policing, but if you spend enough time on Reddit (I do), you start seeing tons of manufactured threads, and mods are clearly not catching very many of them. Plus Reddit is anonymous. So people do influence it, regularly, producing fantastic results. But I find it hard to believe this stage will last for long bacuse AI is getting smarter (I hope so). And this is where the difference between Reddit and G2-like platforms kicks in. Software directories hold a pretty unique position - they have structured data on products, those products are categorized, compared and rated and they also have reviews to which vendors can respond. But the difference is, in order to leave a review you have to get verified. And the platforms scrutinize people big time before they approve a single reviews from them. The best verification if via Linkedin (where you cannot be anonymous) or work email. So in fact it's a double verification. And if you've ever tried to collect or leave reviews on G2, you know what I'm talking about. So when an AI system is trying to recommend software, a hundred anonymous Reddit comments and twenty G2 reviews should not be treated as the same input. And yet they probably are now. So I'd be curious to hear more about that - the trust layer and how companies like G2 are working to solve it (if at all). Otherwise, a great episode, I recommend listening. P.S. Adam - on your Capterra and G2 comparison, there's a fascinating story on how the founder of Capterra Michael Ortner launched reviews back in 2008 (!) and how the idea was super controversial at the time, because the company was also making money from vendors.

18

4 Comments

Last year’s Series A was a milestone, but it wasn’t a stopping point. As proof that we’ve only been moving faster than before, I’m excited to share that Numeric raised a $51M Series B, led by investors like IVP, Menlo Ventures, Founders Fund, and more. Over the past year, we've launched AI-powered flux analysis that accountants actually trust, built out cash management tooling, and worked with some of the best finance teams in the industry. This raise funds what’s next: more AI agent capabilities, building a strong finance data layer, and expanding the team. If you're interested in working on hard problems in finance infrastructure, let's talk. More on the round: https://lnkd.in/gvkWqiDx

189

31 Comments