In partnership with
How can AI power your income?
Ready to transform artificial intelligence from a buzzword into your personal revenue generator
HubSpot’s groundbreaking guide "200+ AI-Powered Income Ideas" is your gateway to financial innovation in the digital age.
Inside you'll discover:
A curated collection of 200+ profitable opportunities spanning content creation, e-commerce, gaming, and emerging digital markets—each vetted for real-world potential
Step-by-step implementation guides designed for beginners, making AI accessible regardless of your technical background
Cutting-edge strategies aligned with current market trends, ensuring your ventures stay ahead of the curve
Download your guide today and unlock a future where artificial intelligence powers your success. Your next income stream is waiting.
The "Interrogation" Trap: Why Discovery is Dead
In a world of infinite AI noise, the standard discovery call has become a tax on the buyer. Most AEs treat these calls like a police interrogation, asking questions they should have already answered themselves.
If your discovery call feels like homework for the prospect, you aren't building a pipeline—you’re building a wall. To win, you must shift from Discovery (searching for pain) to Diagnosis (proving you understand it).
The "Internal Forward" Standard
Austin argues that the "Holy Grail" of GTM isn't a demo booked—it's the internal forward.
Most GTM teams optimize for clicks. High-signal teams optimize for usefulness. If you send a prospect something and they don't feel compelled to forward it to their boss or their team, you haven't provided value; you've just asked for their time.
The Test: Before sending an email or starting a call, ask: "Is this bookmarked-worthy?" If it’s not something a VP would save to an 'Operational Strategy' folder, it's noise.
3 Pillars of the Diagnosis Framework
1. Kill the "Interrogation" Script
Stop asking, "What keeps you up at night?" It signals that you haven't done the work. Instead, lead with a hypothesis.
The Old Way: "Tell me about your current SDR process."
The Diagnosis Way: "I’ve analyzed the last three months of your market's connect rates. It looks like you're hitting the 'Objection Ceiling' at the 30-second mark. Is that what you're seeing in your transcripts?"
2. Operational Assets Over "Thought Leadership"
Don't send fluffy PDFs or ChatGPT-written trend reports. Austin emphasizes that the highest-leverage pipeline comes from giving away operational assets—things the buyer can actually use to do their job better tomorrow.
The Rule: If it can be written by a generalist AI in 30 minutes, it’s useless.
The Goal: Provide the data or the framework that solves a "Level 1" problem for free, so they trust you to solve the "Level 2" problem for money.
3. AI as the "Feedback Bridge"
The biggest gap in GTM is the disconnect between what Marketing says and what Sales hears. Austin points out that AI should be the glue:
Use AI to ingest call transcripts and find the real reasons deals stall.
Use those patterns to fuel Marketing content.
When Sales and Marketing are looking at the same "Signal" data, the "Discovery" call disappears because the buyer is already sold on your expertise.
The Comparison: Discovery vs. Diagnosis
The Bottom Line
Value-first GTM is slower to start. It won't spike your response rates overnight. But it compounds. When you stop "selling" and start "diagnosing," you stop fighting for attention and start earning it.
Stop selling. Start being useful.
👉 The full episode is live on AI GTM WTF.
If this helped, subscribe — more conversations like this are coming.
-Rahul
AI GTM WTF isn’t here to celebrate the hype cycle. We’re here to arm you with what actually moves revenue.
If this hit, forward it to one operator who’s drowning in “AI strategy” decks and needs the signal, not the noise.
No AI SDR fairytales. Just the future of GTM.