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Looking Back to Look Ahead
[Un]Churned Chapter 009
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This week pulled up a lot of old memories and new ideas as I heard from colleagues about how they’ve seen the industry shift over time.
Here’s what’s been on my mind this week.
A Masterclass in Category Creation from the Leaders at Gong and Gainsight ft. Udi & Lauren (This Week’s [Un]Churned 🎙️)
This week on [Un]Churned, we interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for a refreshing episode that looks back on how two marketing heavy hitters created entire categories for their products.
This episode isn’t just for marketers. It’s for anyone that wants to see the real work that goes into bringing a solution to a market that needs it, but doesn’t know it yet. Udi Ledergor, Chief Evangelist and former CMO at Gong, and Lauren Olerich, Sr. Director of Corporate Marketing at Gainsight, rewind time and talk about how they first established product market fit and what it takes to discover the voice that really hits with your audience.
They share the key moments that brought Gong and Gainsight to where they are today, like prioritizing community, educating an entire potential market, and using big fonts to get big ideas across (IYKYK).
The next step? Disrupting the very categories they’ve created as their companies grow to fit the AI boom. This is a great listen for anyone ideating on or launching something new this year. Lauren and Udi’s experiences are guaranteed to get you in a ‘break-the-mold’ mindset.
“Claude was the hands. I was the head.”
What do Ratatouille, The Matrix, and software have in common? They were all inspiration for our CEO, Chuck Ganapathi’s, recent vibe code project: ‘Glue’, a mobile native app he uses to prepare for customer meetings. In this article, Chuck reflects on just how quickly the software industry has changed.
When he was at Siebel, nine months to launch a new product had him “amazed at how such a small team could drive so much innovation in such a short period of time.” But here’s the kicker: Glue went from idea to reality in five days.
Not Churning ≠ Growth
We’re all feeling it—SaaS is figuring out how to navigate the AI disruption in real time. As Jason Lemkin puts it, “I am less and less sure every single week what B2B software looks like in 2027 and beyond.”
In this article, Jason works backwards to see how we got here and looks at the opportunities that lie ahead.
If we’re going to succeed, we need to own the AI agents that make our platforms thrive. Otherwise, we’ll find ourselves in the low-churn-flat-growth purgatory.
It’s a grounding reminder to not panic, move fast, and focus on innovation that will keep you relevant.
News From the AI Epicenter
How do you talk to your friends and family about AI who aren’t in the tech industry? I ran into a neighbor that shared this viral article with me and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.
Matt Shumer’s post is a sobering and realistic look at just how insanely fast AI has advanced in the last few years—heck, even the last few months.
We’ve seen it firsthand. AI is going beyond busywork and handling true cognitive judgement and intuition, impacting jobs that were regarded as “safe” for at least the next few years. No matter what industry you work in, the knowledge gap is closing quickly and the time for early adoption has passed.
Bonus [Un]Churned Episode: How Do You Measure AI Proficiency in Your CS Team? ft. Guy Galon (Obrela)
This 16-minute [Un]Churned episode is packed with insights from Guy Galon, CCO at Obrela. He shares how curiosity, flexibility, and thinking ahead gives you an advantage when it comes to customer-facing roles and building AI strategies. If you’re interested in learning how to build a multifaceted CS team and where AI comes in, hit play and get inspired.
Wrapping Up
Sometimes you have to take a step back to see the full picture. While the industry might be rapidly changing, the lessons you’ve learned over time still matter. These are discussions worth having with the people in and out of the tech industry because the call to action is now.
See you next Monday 🧠
— Josh
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