~100 in attendance in Flatiron NYC @ Clay’s HQ
Last week, my firm, VibeScaling, and our friends at Clay (shoutout to 1 —> 100M in 2 years 🤯) threw a private GTM + AI event at their HQ in Flatiron, NYC.
We did a similar event with Clay back in August in NYC, and it was such a hit that we knew we had to do another one in NYC with so much GTM talent being based there.
It was an awesome turnout (~100) of some of the best technical GTM talent in NYC - a talent-dense room from the likes of OpenAI, Cursor, Fireworks, Harvey, Modal, Runway, Baseten, Braintrust, ClickHouse, Vercel, Plaid, Stripe, Profound, Outtake, Traversal, Tennr, and many others in the AI space.
I wanted to document 5 takeaways from the panel + conversations I had with attendees.
The TL;DR
Also, huge shoutout to Zach and the Sensei team, who continue to be a great sponsor for these events.
If you’re a modern AE or sales leader drowning in busywork but craving sharper deal visibility, you should give Sensei a look. It automates CRM updates, emails, and notes while quietly unifying your data behind the scenes to deliver accurate, real‑time deal guidance and orchestration.
#1 - Product Sentiment: Is There "Rabid Desire"?
The #1 question we get asked at VibeScaling - how do I choose my next breakout GTM opp?
The 80/20 of this answer is two things (which we wrote in detail here): 1) talent density and 2) market pull
The #2 on this is a consistent theme - but our panelists went a little deeper here on how they chose their company to work at (as well as previous ones).
You need to validate that the market loves the tool, not just tolerates it. How strong is the PLG?
✅ Look for "Rabid Desire": Do users have intense, fanatical love for the product? Think sentiment around Clay, Cursor, and early days of Gong or dbt Labs.
✅ The "T-Shirt" Test: Do people wear the brand? Are they posting organically? Gong/Clay has this effect better than any company I’ve ever seen in sales tech, and the same for Cursor in the developer community.
✅ Conduct Reference Calls: Call users and previous/current employees. Nothing bad to say = strong signal of PMF. Take notes of how they talk about the product and how others speak about it.
Finding a product that is so easy to sell that even the worst salesperson can sell it is a consistent theme among reps with fulfilling jobs.
#2 - Assess the "Moat" and Defensibility
Liam Mulcahy (GTM Operating Partner @ Kleiner Perkins) shared his framework to assess product stickiness + potential longevity. Pillars of durability:
🎯 Workflows: Does the product fundamentally change how work gets done (10x faster/easier)?
🎯 Integrations: How deeply does it hook into existing tech stacks? More roots = harder to rip out.
🎯 Context: Does the product build a unique context window based on the user's data?
#3 - The Founder "Vibe Check" (Crucial for Sales)
For sales, a BIG risk is joining technical founders who view sales as a necessary evil vs. strategic partner.
🟢 Strategic v. Perfunctory: Is the founder hiring sales b/c they genuinely believe it accelerates growth, or b/c "the board told them to"?
🟢 Reporting Structure: At early-stage (Seed/Series A), the 1st sales hires should report directly to the Founder/CEO. Anything else = "canary in the coal mine" that you will not be empowered.
🟢 The "Ride-Along" Test: Ask how involved founders are in closing deals.
Good Sign: They join calls, take coaching from the rep, actively try to drive the deal.
Bad Sign: They show up, multitask, or steamroll the rep with "founder magic" without following a process.
#4 - Evaluate Internal "Connective Tissue"
Assess the relationship between Engineering/Product and Sales.
🔍 Sales as a 1st-Class Citizen: When was the last time engineering shipped a feature based specifically on sales feedback? If they can't answer, the teams might be siloed.
🔍 Data Access: Will you have access to PLG/usage data? If sales is walled off from seeing how users actually utilize the tool, you could be flying blind.
🔍 Talent Density: Who is joining? Who are their investors? Top performers from other successful companies? High talent density usually indicates smart people have already done due diligence.
#5 - The GTM talent bar in NYC is insanely high/strong
~90-100 NYC-based GTM talent came out (majority AEs, with some long tail of BDR/SDR/sales leaders in attendance
I am always amazed by 1) how fast these fill up and 2) how talent-dense the group that comes out typically is.
We’re consistently booking these 2x faster than in SF (a combination of NYC being more of a social/boozin’ town and more GTM talent here by the numbers).
Shoot me a DM if you want to be considered for our next one!
Thanks for being a reader/subscriber of GTMBA.
For those who are new, my name is Chris Balestras, and I’m a partner @ VibeScaling - we work with seed through series C AI-natives to help with GTM advisory, recruiting their early teams, media, and investing.
My main focuses in 2026 are our recruiting and media practice, so please reach out if:
You’re an SDR/BDR/AE/sales leader who is looking for their next move in AI (strong preference in SF/NYC, although we have some hybrid/remote roles)
You’re interested in being on the podcast (sales leaders @ AI-natives) or helping to sponsor it
You’re a startup looking to hire top GTM talent
Where to find VibeScaling:
See you next time 🫡,
Chris