Cofounder @ Lavender | Write better sales emails faster with our in-inbox coach.
Consolidation is all the rage in SaaS. Don't confuse "All in One" in a mature market (RevTech) with "Master of None" in an emerging market (AI). ^ Yes, I realize there's a LOT of overlap there, but imagine workflows as mature and AI as emerging When a space is emerging (this seems to be especially true with AI) mastering product is hard. Focus is a super power. *Buyers - it's NOT your fault that this is confusing.* 1) When everyone calls their thing a "copilot" and makes the same claims... it's a lot. 2) Some functions from products sound the same. ex. "We pass something to ChatGPT and it generates text" NOTE: quality of output will be VERY different vendor to vendor. Maturity in AI tech is NOT the same as it is in workflow tech. Models change, inputs change, recipients change... it's not the same as a workflow where the task is the task. This is the BIG reason why product focus matters. Magic in a demo is VERY different than the maturity of workflows behind the scenes. How long have they been doing "AI"? Is this one of several models they need to upkeep? We're constantly testing and training models. Swapping them out against use cases with numerous variables being plugged in and tested. The workflows that the AI is housed in are important, and CAN be the difference makers when you're trying to make a decision on tech. But it's important to remember that when you are talking about AI products - if you build it and move on performance will not keep up. (PS. this focus on email quality is why I can point to multiple Lavender case studies with 20%+ reply rates) 3) Some functions from products are very different. ex. Ocean is different than Clay and Copy and they're all different from Lavender (That is a mean AI stack tho 😎) They're built for different problems... they just all happen to use AI. NOTE: It's good to explore what's out there. But, be sure... - whatever you buy actually maps to the problems you're trying to solve - you understand if it actually works for you (trials >>>) - implementation is clearly understood (Talked to someone that was 5 months in and they haven't sent a single email yet because of hallucinations... yikes) 3) Industry Maps are... vague at best Gartner put us (Lavender) in a "Cool Vendor" group and only one of the companies is remotely similar. VCs just lump "AI" and "Sales" into one big bucket Given the confusion in the space - my proposal would be to organize tools by the job to be done. Has anyone done this already? Would love to highlight others work here & help out where I can.
Samuel Darwin
1mo
💜 Will, great insights! Another factor to consider is the adaptability of AI tools to evolving data privacy regulations. Ensuring compliance while maintaining performance can be challenging. Also, understanding how these tools handle data security is crucial. An emerging AI tool that excels in product focus but falters on these fronts might not be a sustainable choice. Thanks for shedding light on these nuances.
Troy Munson
1mo
duuuude alll the rage right now. Then when everyone becomes a 'platform' you're not different and the smaller guys will come back out to play.
Jonathan Bregman
1mo
You see this with most legacy sales engagement platforms. Chasing consolidation led them to neglect core product innovation.
Andrew McGuire
1mo
And that's the more reason some people are just rather skeptical about anything AI. This is so on point.
Understanding the importance of focus and clarity in emerging markets like AI is key to success. 💜 Will Allred
Helping companies find Message-Market-Fit | Founder @ The Deal Lab | Smartlead Certified Partner | Clay Certified Expert
1moPotency of solution can be underrated vs coverage. Doing one thing exceptionally can justify using something (contain the thinking required to yield a benefit) vs enabling usefulness (dumping the burden of utility on the user) I adore clay, but they as an example put a lot of burden on the user. Lavender removes a lot of the thinking someone needs to have a benefit / is hyper potent to exactly what it does Also, I think it’s easier to trust purpose built companies (aka reliant on successfully delivering on xyz benefit) vs platforms (in theory allow you to do xyz) since the latter is less singularly focused on YOU Smartlead needs users like me to work vs apollo so I send with them, and it has nothing to do with feature overlap / parity & everything with skin in the game