About Jason Lemkin
Jason Lemkin is the founder and CEO of SaaStr, the world’s largest community for B2B software professionals. Before SaaStr, he was co-founder and CEO of EchoSign (acquired by Adobe for $400M), and VP at Adobe. He’s now one of the most vocal advocates for AI’s transformation of sales and marketing.
Career Highlights
- SaaStr (2012-present): Founded the largest B2B SaaS community - events, content, fund
- Adobe (2011-2013): VP after EchoSign acquisition
- EchoSign (2006-2011): Co-founder & CEO, acquired by Adobe
- Angel investing: Early investor in many SaaS unicorns
Notable Positions
On AI Timing
“None of these AI products worked until Q2 2024. Gamma was founded in 2020 - 5 years to $1M, then 1 to $80M this year. If you had a bad experience with AI GTM tools before March 2024, write it off.”
On The 2021 Playbook
“The 2021 playbook is dead, but the plays are the same. Look at who’s running the hottest AI companies - Vercel’s COO from Stripe, Replit’s CRO from ZoomInfo. That wouldn’t be possible if the plays don’t work.”
On Career Survival
“Become proficient at 2-3 leading agent tools. Deploy them yourself. Iterate daily for a month. Only 2% of marketers have these skills - you’ll be infinitely hireable.”
On AI SDRs
“You can’t just buy a tool and turn it on. Train it like a human SDR: figure out what works in the real world, then tell the AI what worked. Iterate every day for a month.”
Key Quotes
- “If you can’t sell it yourself, the AI can’t sell it for you.”
- “Warm outbound performs 2-3x better than cold.”
- “CIOs are saying: give up an app if you want to add an AI tool.”
Related Reading
- AI Agents - The tools transforming GTM
- Enterprise AI - Where AI budget is going
Video Mentions
Q2 2024 AI inflection point
AI SDR products didn't work before Claude 4. Gamma was founded in 2020 - took 5 years to $1M, then 1 to $80M this year. None of these products worked until Q2 2024.
Career advice for AI era
Become proficient at 2-3 leading agent tools. Do the deployment yourself. If you have those skills, you will be infinitely hireable for the next 18 months.
Real AI SDR metrics
SaaStr's own data: 21,000 AI SDR messages, 7.5% response rate. Warm outbound performs 2-3x better than cold.
AI GTM continuity
The playbooks may not work as well, but the plays are the same. Look at who's leading the hottest AI companies - same people from SaaS 2017-2018.
Top 5 issues managing 20+ AI agents in production
We need unification, not orchestration. No product can integrate Agent Force, Artisan, Qualified, Monaco. You need a Chief Agent Officer — and critically, you must have two people, not one.
10 things to know before rolling out your first AI SDR
Most people still prefer to chat with an AI SDR over chat or email versus voice or video. 85% choose chat, 15% use video. You're competing with mediocre humans — get above that bar and people are happier to talk to AI.