How Important is GTM for Companies Building AI-native Solutions?

AI-native startups are exploding onto the scene with user-friendly products. Many are hiring engineers and designers at a rapid clip and seeing strong early traction with a PLG motion.

At first, founders believe if they build an easy-to-use enterprise-ready product, adoption and expansion will follow naturally.

Some even ask: Is this the new approach to build software companies?

Here's the truth:

Technical leverage isn't the same as business leverage.

Yes, AI makes product design and development faster and cheaper. Some apps (like Cursor and Windsurf) are being adopted rapidly through mostly PLG approaches. But for most enterprise applications, business fundamentals haven’t changed, even with AI.

Early growth is often followed by stalled expansion and high churn.

Founders are asking, “Why is this happening, and what do we need to do differently?”

The answer is that having a great product is only part of the solution. What drives long-term growth is the whole product experience — everything that surrounds and amplifies the core solution.

This includes:

• A deep understanding of your customer's business during the sales process
• Genuine curiosity about their challenges and recommending a tailored solution
• A solution proposal that includes necessary products and services
• High-touch onboarding, and value realization team to plan and measure ROI
• Responsiveness in incorporating customer feedback into product roadmap

Too often, founders and sales teams fixate on ROI, feature requests, and technical issues. They completely miss the key reason they won the deal:

The differentiator isn’t just the product. It’s the complete solution.

That’s also why high-growth companies invest in more than product and engineering. They build robust GTM functions and customer-facing teams, even if some outliers seem to defy the rules.

Because here's the reality:

• Selling is still hard. Enterprise procurement hasn't gotten easier because you use GPT-4. Decision makers still need to trust you with their careers.
• Hiring is still hard: Scaling and maintaining quality doesn’t get automated.
• Customer experience is still everything: If your support takes three days to respond, your advanced AI wont matter.

At the end of the day, your customers aren't just buying your product. They're buying confidence that you'll make them successful.

So what separates the winners?

• Obsessing over the fundamentals
• Mastering customer discovery
• Building meaningful relationships
• Delivering on your promises, no matter how small

While your competitors build impressive demos, you should build a business your customers can't imagine leaving.

The product gets you in the room. Everything else consistently grows your customer base and revenues.