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In the three years since, we have created over 300 knowledge pieces covering all stages of building a company. We collaborated with 80+ industry experts, successful founders, and mentors to create thematic series, reports, blogs, guest articles, podcasts, and other forms of content. Overall, we have reached 500K knowledge seekers.
Microsoft on AI Startups: Why Speed, Taste, and Trust Will Define Winners | Decoding AI
We’re in the early innings of AI, and the playbook for building companies is already changing.
In this episode of SeedToScale, Shekhar Kirani, Partner at Accel, sits down with Jason Graefe, CVP of Microsoft’s AI Partner Catalyst Team, to unpack what’s actually changing in the AI era.
From building products to winning enterprise customers, the playbook is being rewritten in real time.
Jason brings a unique vantage point, working closely with some of the fastest-scaling AI companies globally, while also operating inside Microsoft at the forefront of AI transformation. The insights are practical, grounded, and directly relevant to founders building today.
Here’s what we explore in this episode:
• Why we’re still in the “early innings” of AI, and what that means for founders
• The shift from horizontal AI tools to durable, workflow-driven products
• Why the first enterprise sale is always a trust sale
• How design partners can accelerate product-market fit
• Speed as a moat: why faster iteration is defining winners
• The role of “taste” in building products users actually stick with
• Why go-to-market needs to be built from day one, not as an afterthought
• The “golden age of margin”: reducing costs while creating entirely new products
• India’s structural advantage in building and scaling AI startups
If you’re a founder, builder, or operator trying to understand how to win in the AI cycle, this conversation is a clear, grounded playbook.
Chapters:
0:00 - Introduction
0:58 - India’s startup energy and why this market stands out
2:07 - What’s changed since pre-COVID
3:18 - Global AI ecosystems and where India fits
4:42 - The rise of second-generation founders in India
6:05 - Why startups are scaling faster than ever
7:26 - From Flipkart to AI-native companies: the infra shift
9:12 - Is the AI market already crowded?
10:36 - Why we’re still in the early innings of AI
11:48 - AI in traditional industries: where we actually are
12:31 - The “golden age of margin” explained
13:52 - Startups hitting profitability faster with AI
15:04 - Moving atoms vs moving bits: what AI can’t disrupt easily
17:18 - Where the real opportunities still exist
18:42 - Horizontal vs vertical AI: speed vs durability
20:11 - Building AI products that adapt to enterprises
22:07 - Why personalization creates sticky products
23:34 - Software that feels like it’s built for you
25:02 - Enterprise AI adoption: two buyer behaviors
26:41 - Why the first sale is always a trust sale
28:06 - How to win your first design partners
29:52 - Enterprises are more open than ever to co-building
31:08 - Surviving rapid LLM evolution
32:14 - Taste: the ultimate differentiator in AI products
33:27 - Real-time feedback loops → faster product iteration
34:52 - Speed as the new moat
36:09 - Domain experts vs first-principles builders
37:42 - First-mover advantage in AI
39:03 - How product + GTM cycles are compressing
40:18 - Why GTM must be built from day one
42:06 - Experimentation in go-to-market
43:38 - India as a proving ground for global products
45:11 - Why early customers matter more than big logos
47:02 - Product-led vs forward-deployed models
48:36 - Selling outcomes, not software
50:07 - India’s structural advantage in AI talent
51:19 - The culture of learning driving adoption
52:27 - Outro
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#SeedToScale #Microsoft #Accel #AI #AIFounders #Startups #ArtificialIntelligence #Product #GoToMarket #IndiaTech #AIStartups
24 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT
Inside Ixigo’s Series B Deck: The Making of a Listed Company | PitchCraft Season 2
Ixigo MD and Group CEO Aloke Bajpai discusses Ixigo's 2016 Series B deck with Shailesh Lakhani, revealing strategic shifts that propelled them from startup to publicly listed travel technology leader in this interview.
10 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT
Lessons for founders from an early backer of Figma, CRED, Curefit, Airtable, and Postman | SeedToScale Specials
Founders today are building in an environment shaped by constant technological shifts and evolving team dynamics.
In this episode, Gokul Rajaram, Partner at Marathon Management Partners and early backer of companies like CRED, Figma, Curefit, and Postman, shares how he thinks about building startups that endure. Drawing on his experience as a product leader, investor, and board member, Gokul reflects on the patterns he’s seen across hundreds of companies.
The conversation explores how founders navigate inflection points, scale teams responsibly, make irreversible decisions, and earn trust over time—with customers, teams, and investors. Gokul also speaks candidly about what tends to break early companies, and what quietly compounds when founders get the fundamentals right.
Inside a recent episode
Microsoft on AI Startups: Why Speed, Taste, and Trust Will Define Winners | Decoding AI
Published 15 Apr 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] By the time a domain expert and AI person comes in 18 months to say, I know how to do it versus somebody who has done this faster. there is a higher chance of the first mover to win. That's true. Because they have the momentum. That's true. And that we are seeing industry after industry that's happening. And that's where I see some of the incumbents may miss an opportunity because a new age people are running fast compared to the incumbent saying that, okay, I need to rehash myself. Yeah. I mean, I think of that as speed is the moat. Absolutely. Right? You can launch a product and it doesn't even have to be amazingly great. […]
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