Serial entrepreneurs Justin Gray and Josh Wagner combine decades of B2B and GTM expertise with unwavering honesty on The GTM Cheat Code Podcast. Episodes feature interviews with investors, founders and true experts who reveal the pragmatic approaches and ideas (read: ‘cheats’) they’ve employed over the years to side-step failure, create opportunity, break down barriers and ultimately beat the game.

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        &lt;p&gt;AI has created one of the biggest shifts venture capital has seen in decades. New companies are reaching unprecedented growth rates, valuations are climbing, and founders have more ways than ever to build software. But according to Jay Po, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Stage 2 Capital, the fundamentals of building a great business haven&#039;t changed nearly as much as people think.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In this episode, Jay joins Justin and Josh to discuss how AI is changing venture investing without changing what ultimately matters. He explains why customer obsession, repeatable growth, and retention continue to separate enduring companies from short-lived momentum, why investors are rethinking pricing models and valuation, and how founders should approach fundraising in a market filled with both opportunity and noise.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tune in for more on outcome-based pricing, forward-deployed engineers, customer success as a growth function, venture capital discipline, and why the next generation of market leaders will be defined less by AI itself than by how effectively they solve meaningful customer problems.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Chapters&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;00:00 Introduction and guest background&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;02:17 Stage 2 Capital&#039;s investment thesis and history&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;05:30 Market evolution from 2018 to today&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;10:07 Impact of AI on venture and market opportunities&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;15:04 The role of curiosity and innovation in startups&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;20:42 Pricing models and outcome-based strategies in AI&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;25:46 Customer success, retention, and long-term value&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;30:09 Valuation approaches and market dynamics&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;36:09 The messiness and opportunities in early-stage investing&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;40:14 Valuation discipline and market noise&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;45:05 Future outlook and strategic positioning&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;References in the Show:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/20/ai-startups-are-eating-the-venture-industry-and-the-returns-so-far-are-good/&quot;&gt;https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/20/ai-startups-are-eating-the-venture-industry-and-the-returns-so-far-are-good/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.stage2.capital/&quot;&gt;https://www.stage2.capital/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Quote of the Show:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;“One thing that I&#039;ve been finding pretty interesting is how companies are being funded relative to their underlying fundamental performance from a revenue perspective and whatnot. Just being so obsessed with what is the customer&#039;s pain point, life cycle, use case priorities, criticality, because there&#039;s no amount of capital that can solve that for you. Right? Like there&#039;s no amount of capital that&#039;s gonna have this manufacturing plant not wanna change their behavior, but still find value in your product.” - Jay Po&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ways to Tune In:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Spotify: &lt;a href=&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpM8myxsUinc5bfLIbjJz?si=0af576adfb8e49f8&quot;&gt;https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpM8myxsUinc5bfLIbjJz?si=0af576adfb8e49f8&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Apple Podcasts: &lt;a href=&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cheat-code/id1692445190&quot;&gt;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cheat-code/id1692445190&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Amazon Music: &lt;a href=&quot;https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cb0b3afa-063f-4f3b-96be-b98214c74912&quot;&gt;https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cb0b3afa-063f-4f3b-96be-b98214c74912&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;YouTube: &lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@CheatCodePodcast&quot;&gt;https://www.youtube.com/@CheatCodePodcast&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;<br />
      

The Cheat Code & Friends

The Data