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The GTMnow Podcast

The GTMnow Podcast

Written by: GTMnow
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The GTMnow Podcast interviews well-known tech executive, VC, and founders - the expert operators in the trenches who have ‘been there, done that’ to build some of the fastest-growing software companies. Every week, a guest joins Sophie Buonassisi to dissect their stories, revealing expert insights around what worked, what didn’t, and how things actually went down.

This podcast is produced by GTMnow, the media brand of GTMfund - sharing insight on go-to-market from working with hundreds of portfolio companies backed by over 350 of the best go-to-market executives. GTMfund is an early-stage VC fund focused on investing in the most exciting, up-and-coming B2B SaaS companies across the world. The LP network consists of VP and C-level Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success leaders from companies like DocuSign, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Snowflake, Okta, Zoom, and many more.

Visit gtmnow.com for more details and to sign up for our newsletter and other content resources.

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Episodes
  • How Esper Is Building the Operating System for Government Policy | Maleka Momand

    How Esper Is Building the Operating System for Government Policy | Maleka Momand
    Jun 4 2026

    Maleka Momand, co-founder and CEO of Esper, joins Sophie Buonassisi on GTMnow to break down what it actually takes to build and sell software to government. Esper is the operating system for government policy, serving as the system of record for the regulation and internal policy that shapes daily life, from NYPD procedures to nurse practitioner licensing in rural Tennessee.

    Maleka shares hard-won lessons from 8 years in GovTech: why winning trust matters more than winning business, why professional services are a moat (not a cost center), and how Esper turns slow, paper-based policy processes into live digital workflows. She also covers the DOGE effect across red and blue states, why enterprise SaaS still has defensible moats in the age of AI, and her advice to founders entering regulated markets.

    Whether you're a founder, GTM leader, or operator selling into complex, slow-moving markets, this conversation is packed with practical playbooks on trust, go-to-market, and building durable enterprise software.

    Chapters:
    00:00 Intro
    00:44 Two types of government policy (regulation vs internal)
    02:06 The NYPD 3,000-page policy problem
    03:23 Digitizing a paper-based, 20-person workflow
    04:12 Why policy is infrastructure
    05:23 Real impact: Tennessee healthcare & Arkansas hunting licenses
    07:45 Esper's ideal customer: complexity, catalyst, volume
    08:18 Going to market in GovTech (and why it's slow)
    10:16 Advice for founders entering GovTech: win trust first
    11:27 Why professional services are a moat
    12:38 In-house vs third-party services
    13:49 What DOGE actually looks like on the ground
    15:11 Is DOGE a tailwind for Esper?
    16:36 The new funding round & enterprise SaaS in the age of AI
    19:13 From VC to founder: why Maleka made the shift
    22:10 Advice for founders: read fiction, not productivity books
    24:14 AI, data quality, and the problem with vibe coding
    26:43 How Esper uses AI internally (meet "Poly")
    27:27 Building a high-agency culture while scaling
    29:00 Closing thoughts

    Connect with Maleka Momand:
    Co-founder, CEO of Esper
    Twitter/X: @MalekaMomand
    LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/malekamomand

    Host: Sophie Buonassisi, SVP at GTMnow
    Follow Sophie: https://x.com/sophiebuona
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisi/

    ABOUT GTMnow

    GTMnow is the media arm of GTMfund, sharing the strategies, tactics, and stories from the operators and investors building the next generation of go-to-market.

    Visit us on: https://gtmnow.com
    Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow
    Follow us on X (Twitter): https://x.com/GTMnow_
    Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_now
    Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gtmnow_
    Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gtmnow_/

    Subscribe to GTMnow for the latest episodes on AI, founder strategy, fundraising, and go-to-market from the best builders in tech.

    #GovTech #GoToMarket #EnterpriseSaaS #StartupAdvice #GTM #SaaS #FounderAdvice #GovernmentTechnology #PolicyTech #AI



    The GTMnow Podcast
    The GTMnow Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.

    Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.

    Show More Show Less
    31 mins
  • How He Built a $250M Company With Zero Employees | Ben Cera, Polsia

    How He Built a $250M Company With Zero Employees | Ben Cera, Polsia
    May 29 2026
    One Person, $10M+ ARR, $30M Raised: How Ben Cera Built Polsia (AI Operating System) SoloBen Cera, founder of Polsia, just raised $30M at a $250M valuation while running the entire company alone. His AI agent handles his emails, manages customer support, even led his fundraising calls. This is what a solo founder with an AI operating system looks like at scale.Polsia is an AI operating system that builds and runs companies autonomously. Give it an idea and it builds the product, writes code, conducts research, creates tweets, sets up company infrastructure, and works 24/7 on your behalf. Users are hitting $10M+ ARR using Polsia to scale their businesses.In this episode we cover:00:00 - Intro & The Viral Launch Nobody Forgot01:24 - How He Raised $30M at $250M Valuation with Himself as the Only Employee02:15 - The Origin Story: Building Polsia from Scratch04:13 - Why the Controversial Product Name Became Free Marketing ($Millions in Earned Media)05:55 - What Polsia Actually Does (AI Operating System for Founders)06:25 - How He Hit $10M+ ARR Running Solo (No Cofounders, No Hires)10:30 - Building a Company OS That Works 24/7 on Your Behalf12:00 - The Psychology of Single Founder Mode (Why It Scales Faster)14:45 - AI Agents Handling Customer Support, Refunds, & Bug Fixes16:30 - Email Automation: How Polsia Responds to 100% of His Emails20:15 - The Viral Fundraising Stunt (Live Dashboard + Agent-Led Investor Calls)25:00 - Why He Let His AI Agent Handle First Meetings with Investors28:30 - The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of Distribution (More Visibility = More Traction)32:15 - How Distribution Strategy Becomes Your Go-To-Market35:45 - Building in Public While Running Everything Solo38:00 - Customer Obsession at Scale (Staying Close When You're Alone)42:56 - Founder Availability: Direct Phone Access to Customers44:00 - Manufactured Moments That Feel Authentic50:13 - Why Distribution Isn't an Afterthought AnymoreKey Insights:- One founder + AI operating system beats small teams without leverage (speed, decision-making, equity concentration)- Polsia lets you build multiple products simultaneously without hiring (products work 24/7 on your behalf)- The more controversial your positioning, the more people talk (free marketing from debate)- AI agents can handle 80% of founder work: emails, support, customer refunds, even investor screening- Live dashboards showing real-time growth create self-fulfilling prophecies (transparency = conviction)- Distribution is how you reach product-market fit faster (not an afterthought)- AI agents leading first investor meetings works (validates the product claim + generates buzz)- Customer intimacy at scale = founder still takes direct texts from users- Retention matters more than naming: customers don't complain about the name, they just use it- One person with AI tools > 5 people building without leverageWhy This Matters:This is the playbook for next-generation founders in 2026. Ben shows you how to: scale solo using AI agents, multiply your output without hiring, go viral intentionally, raise capital through distribution, and stay close to customers at scale. If you're a founder thinking about AI leverage, autonomous systems, or scaling lean, this is essential.Watch This If You're:- Solo founders scaling without a team- Founders interested in AI agents and autonomous systems- Learning about AI-first product development- Studying modern GTM and distribution strategy- Raising capital in 2026 (fundraising case study)- Building products with AI agents doing the work- Curious about the solo founder + AI agent trend- Following autonomous company buildersConnect with Ben Cera:Founder & CEO of PolsiaTwitter/X: @bencera LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benbroca/Host: Sophie Buonassisi, SVP at GTMnowFollow Sophie: https://x.com/sophiebuonaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisi/ABOUT GTMnowGTMnow is the media arm of GTMfund, sharing the strategies, tactics, and stories from the operators and investors building the next generation of go-to-market.Visit us on: https://gtmnow.comFollow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnowFollow us on X (Twitter): https://x.com/GTMnow_Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_nowFollow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gtmnow_Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gtmnow_/Subscribe to GTMnow for the latest episodes on AI, founder strategy, fundraising, and go-to-market from the best builders in tech.The GTMnow Podcast The GTMnow Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.
    Show More Show Less
    51 mins
  • The $575B AI Bet (Biggest Since the World Wars) and the New Two-Buyer Reality in Software | Tomasz Tunguz, Theory Ventures

    The $575B AI Bet (Biggest Since the World Wars) and the New Two-Buyer Reality in Software | Tomasz Tunguz, Theory Ventures
    May 26 2026

    AI Infrastructure Spending is Insane: Hyperscalers Betting $575B on the Data Center Race | Tomasz Tunguz

    This year's data center infrastructure spending will be the 5th largest infrastructure project in history (bigger than everything except railroads and the two world wars). Tomasz Tunguz breaks down what nobody appreciates about the scale of the AI boom.

    Tomasz Tunguz, General Partner at Theory Ventures, and one of the most insightful voices on AI infrastructure, data stacks, and founder strategy.


    In this episode we cover:
    00:00 - Intro & The Scale Nobody Anticipated
    02:13 - Data Center CapEx Could Hit 5-7% of US GDP by 2030
    05:21 - For Every $1 AI Companies Make, They Spend $12 on Infrastructure ($575B Bet)
    06:20 - Market Share Capture vs. Margin Games: The Chicken Game Big Tech is Playing
    09:48 - How the Data Stack & AI/ML Worlds Have Completely Fused
    12:33 - Product-Market Fit is No Longer Binary: It's Continuous Now
    15:17 - How AI is Changing Venture Capital & Portfolio Management
    17:09 - The Future: Image & Video Data is Going to Require MASSIVE Infrastructure
    18:25 - Pattern Recognition Across Winning Companies (Domain Expertise is Key)
    20:50 - Hot Take: Corporate Org Structure Will Transform in 5 Years
    21:00 - Final Advice to Founders: Nobody Knows the Answer

    Key Insights:
    - Hyperscalers are spending ALL free cash flow + borrowing heavily to fund data center CapEx (Meta, Google, Oracle levered 7:1 on cash flow basis)
    - The dominant metric: intelligence per watt of electricity
    - Anthropic rumored to have very high gross margins (first wave competition)
    - Data teams are now reporting to heads of engineering (huge organizational shift)
    - Inference demand is infinite: models are growing 5-10x in size
    - Foundation models broke product-market fit: it's now continuous, not static
    - Second-time founders win because they understand domain history & distribution
    - PR is now a major distribution channel for AI companies (unlike software era)
    - Building for images & video is the next frontier (1,000-10,000x larger than text data)


    Watch this if you're:
    - Founders building AI/data companies
    - Investors analyzing the AI infrastructure play
    - Product leaders understanding AI's organizational impact
    - Anyone following the AI market seriously

    Connect with Max:
    https://x.com/hackitmax
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxaltschuler/

    Connect with Paul:
    https://x.com/PaulGTM
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulsirving/

    Guest: Tomasz Tunguz, General Partner
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomasztunguz/
    https://x.com/ttunguz

    Host: Sophie Buonassisi, SVP at GTMnow
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiebuonassisi/
    https://x.com/sophiebuona


    ABOUT GTMnow
    GTMnow is the media arm of GTMfund, sharing the strategies, tactics, and stories from the operators and investors building the next generation of go-to-market.


    Visit us on: https://gtmnow.com
    Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gtmnow
    Follow us on X (Twitter): https://x.com/GTMnow_
    Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTM_now
    Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gtmnow_
    Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gtmnow_/


    Brought to you by: AngelList
    From starting as a small, operator-led rolling fund, to evolving to an institutional platform, AngelList has been a core partner in every phase of GTMfund’s growth. Their software-first fund admin infrastructure allowed us to scale without sacrificing agility, from onboarding hundreds of LPs seamlessly to handling compliance, capital calls, and reporting as our fund size evolved.

    Transcript available under the episode here: https://gtmnow.com/tag/podcast/

    Subscribe to GTMnow for the latest episodes! https://gtmnow.com

    For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email gtmnow@gtmfund.com


    GTMnow is a media brand brought to you by VC firm, GTMfund: https://gtmfund.com/



    The GTMnow Podcast
    The GTMnow Podcast is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with the top 1% GTM executives, VCs, and founders. Conversations reveal the unshared details behind how they have grown companies, and the go-to-market strategies responsible for shaping that growth.

    Visit gtmnow.com for more episodes and other interesting content.

    Show More Show Less
    35 mins
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