AI isn’t just rewriting product roadmaps. It’s blowing up the old go-to-market (GTM) playbook.
In the season finale of TechCrunch’s Build Mode podcast, host Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Paul Irving, partner and COO at GTMfund, to unpack what a modern GTM motion looks like when competitors can copy features in months instead of years.
Distribution is the last real moat
Irving argues that when technical advantages evaporate fast, distribution becomes the final defensible moat. If anyone can ship similar AI features, the question shifts from what you build to how you get it into customers’ hands.
That means:
- Your GTM motion can’t be generic or copied from someone else’s deck.
- It has to be tailored to your specific ICP (ideal customer profile).
- Your edge is the unique way you reach, educate and convert those customers.
Fewer channels, more focus
Early-stage founders often spread themselves across every possible channel. Irving’s advice: don’t.
Instead of trying 10 different GTM channels, focus hard on one or two that actually move the needle. That focus lets you:
- Learn faster
- Iterate your messaging
- Build muscle around repeatable distribution
AI makes outreach radically specific
The conversation also hits on how AI changes outbound and customer engagement.
According to Irving, AI now enables unprecedented specificity in customer outreach. You can:
- Craft highly tailored messages to a narrowly defined ICP
- Reference concrete problems or opportunities in that customer’s world
- Scale this precision in a way that wasn’t realistic a few years ago
But the tooling isn’t enough. You still need a clear narrative about the problem you solve and why your distribution motion is different.
Warm-intro mapping over cold pitching
One of the most tactical segments of the episode digs into warm-introduction mapping and relationship-building with operators who can actually open doors.
Irving and Johannessen emphasize:
- Map the operators and leaders who sit inside your target accounts
- Build authentic relationships, not transactional, one-off asks
- Treat your network as an extension of your GTM motion
Crucially, put the sales pitch away in first meetings. Instead of blasting a deck, show up with:
- A clearly framed problem you’re wrestling with, or
- A concrete opportunity you’re exploring
Approach people with curiosity and authenticity, not desperation. That’s where, as Irving notes, one of the best parts of the startup ecosystem shows up: the altruistic nature of founders and operators who are genuinely willing to help when you come to them the right way.
Build Mode is coming back in February
This episode closes out the current season of Build Mode, with Season 2 launching in mid-February.
- Host: Isabelle Johannessen
- Produced and edited by: Maggie Nye
- Audience Development: Morgan Little
- With support from: The Foundry and Cheddar video teams
Who’s behind the mic
Johannessen isn’t just a host. She leads Startup Battlefield, TechCrunch’s launchpad and competition for early-stage startups. She scouts founders across 99+ countries and preps them to pitch on the Disrupt stage in front of top investors and global media.
Before TechCrunch, she designed and led international acceleration programs across Japan, Korea, Italy and Spain, connecting global founders with VCs and helping them enter the U.S. market. She also brings a Master’s in Entrepreneurship & Disruptive Innovation—and a past life as a professional singer—to help founders sharpen their storytelling and stage presence.
If you’re rethinking your GTM strategy for the AI era, this Build Mode finale is a concise playbook for how to start fresh—and why your next moat won’t be code, but distribution and relationships.
