CDOQ

Earlier this week, at a roundtable hosted by Chargebee , a group of GenAI (AI) founders compared notes on a shared learning: building and selling AI products to businesses is not just harder than selling SaaS — it is "fundamentally different'. Many entered the market expecting to ride the SaaS (Software as a Service) playbook to success. They are now discovering it’s written in a different language. Here are five reasons why: 1. The Vanishing Customer Profile In SaaS, identifying the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is often straightforward: a clear job to be done, a known budget holder, and measurable ROI. In GenAI, that clarity dissolves. Everyone wants to “experiment with AI.” Few want to commit. Interest is high, intent is elusive, and trial usage often masks the absence of a real buyer. 2. The False Promise of PLG Product-Led Growth — the darling of modern SaaS — is stumbling in the AI world. While PLG drives traffic and trials, it fails to convert at scale. AI products often...

The Complexity of B2B Decision-Making B2B marketing isn’t about impulse-driven purchases—it’s about navigating a maze of stakeholders, each with different priorities. A CRM software purchase, for instance, must satisfy the CFO’s cost concerns, the CRO’s sales enablement needs, the CIO’s security requirements, and the CEO’s strategic vision. These competing perspectives make sales cycles longer and more complex, demanding that marketers craft tailored, high-impact messaging. Evolving Buyer Personas: From Static to Dynamic For years, B2B marketers have relied on buyer personas—fictional representations of ideal customers based on roles, challenges, and goals. Personas like "Strategic Sarah" (VP of Operations focused on efficiency) or "Risk-Averse Richard" (Head of Procurement prioritizing compliance) help humanize audiences. However, traditional personas are often too rigid. Today, AI-powered insights allow for real-time persona refinement, using behavioral data, sent...

When we listen to stories we have the tendency to suspend disbelief in order to be entertained, says Paulos [John Allen]. But when we evaluate statistics, we are less willing to suspend disbelief in order that we are not duped.  Storytelling vs. Statistics  Paulos goes on to describe the two types of errors in formal statistics. Type I error occurs when we observe something that is not really there. A Type II error occurs when we fail to observe something that is actually there. According to Paulos, those who like to be entertained and wish to avoid making Type II error are more likely to prefer stories over statistics. Those who do not necessarily yearn for entertainment but are desperate to avoid Type I errors are apt to prefer statistics to stories.  - From the book: Investing - The last liberal art  

"Failure to explain is caused by failure to describe." - Benoit Mandelbrot

The length of the cigar butt is influenced by how many cigars remain in the humidor.

Which is better: a person of good character with good intentions who tries to improve society but fails, or a person of questionable character with self-interest in mind who does something that benefits him and ends up making society better?

No two people live the same life. 

If you get the 'what' wrong, it's hard to get the 'why' right.

Nature dominates nurture. 

Leaders who want to do more with less have been doing less with more. 

It's ironic how caring for our home—planet Earth—seems to drift in and out of fashion.

In some clocks, the pendulum swings only to deceive—it has nothing to do with keeping time.