GTMfund has rewritten the distribution playbook for the AI era | TechCrunch

"Building software products has never been easier, so why are so many well-funded startups failing to take off no matter how good their product is? In this season finale episode of Build Mode, our guest has an answer: Startups have focused too much on product development and not enough on distribution excellence. Paul Irving is partner and COO at GTMfund, which operates under the thesis that distribution is the final moat in the AI era."

"The traditional go-to-market playbook lays out a one-size-fits-all approach to hiring and scaling that may have worked in the days of traditional enterprise SaaS but won't cut it in the crowded, AI-driven startup era of 2025. Innovation cycles are moving faster than ever, and what used to take several years can now be achieved in just a few months. So Irving and the GTMfund team advise their portfolio companies to differentiate in their distribution rather than their product."

""The aperture for how you build your go-to-market or revenue engine and the decisions you make to get there have never had more unique and specific pathways depending on your company," Irving said. In this episode, Irving dove into several specific examples of what he's seen work for startups. The main takeaways: AI can help small teams hone their data-driven approach and find direct lines to their customer base through creative means;"

Distribution, not product, is the decisive moat for startups in the AI era. Traditional one-size-fits-all go-to-market playbooks tied to enterprise SaaS hiring and scaling are outdated. Rapid innovation cycles compress multi-year achievements into months, forcing unique, company-specific revenue-engine decisions. Founders should prioritize creative, data-driven distribution channels, use AI to identify direct customer pathways, and avoid scaling across all channels too early. Hiring should be deliberate rather than conventional. Building a team of trusted advisers is essential. Early-stage investors favor founders who reach customers creatively over those who spend heavily on ads or assemble full sales teams prematurely.

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