Mark Roberge, founding CRO at HubSpot and co-founder of Stage 2 Capital, joins Sam Jacobs and AJ Bruno to tackle the question every board is asking in 2026: how do you actually measure AI's impact on a go-to-market team? They get into the revenue velocity formula, why selling time is the one variable AI can realistically double, and the ICONIQ data showing AI lifts top-of-funnel conversion 11% while barely moving active deal cycles. Plus, a Quiz Pro Quo on Palantir's 137% rule of 40 and Twilio's $5.6 million ARR per employee, a debate on whether the AI-era winner is the first mover or the fast follower, and a bull-versus-bear on whether HubSpot is the most mispriced stock in software at $3.5 billion in ARR.
Key Takeaways:
- Of the four variables in the revenue velocity formula, selling time is the one AI can realistically double right now. As Mark Roberge put it: "best in class has historically been about 30%. And I see a lot of evidence that today's AI can push that to 60% plus… all you do is go from 30% to 60% selling time, just algebraically you double productivity."
- Before measuring AI's impact, stop accepting vague claims that a team is "AI-enabled." Roberge said he got fed up hearing it in board meetings if they can't show measurable impact.
- Set realistic expectations on what AI has actually delivered so far. Asked whether any company has jumped from tier B to tier A on AI adoption, Roberge was blunt: "Not on like a 2x, but on a 10% to 20%… I've been disappointed… it's not our portfolio, it's just the entire ecosystem." The step-change, he believes, is still ahead.
- In the AI era, the copycat often beats the pioneer. "they all say fast follower wins most of the time," Roberge said of the research he could find, "it's about a third first mover, two-thirds fast follower." Faster product cycles and first movers stuck in what he calls "ACV jail" tilt the odds toward the fast follower.
Connect with the Hosts & Guests:
Host: Sam Jacobs, CEO at Pavilion - https://www.linkedin.com/in/samfjacobs/
Host: AJ Bruno, CEO at QuotaPath - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajbruno3/
Guest: Mark Roberge, Co-Founder at Stage 2 Capital - https://www.linkedin.com/in/markroberge/
Topline is more than a YouTube Channel:
Chapters:
00:00 Introducing Mark Roberge
01:33 The Science Of Scaling Book
03:57 Vibe Coding Mark's Frameworks
05:42 NPS, Referrals, And Value
09:33 What Is Product Market Fit?
14:34 Measuring AI In Go-To-Market
19:25 The Revenue Velocity Formula
22:43 Selling Time Can Double Output
24:07 AI Use Cases That Move Metrics
32:56 Has AI Created Tier-A Yet?
42:35 How To Measure Selling Time
47:48 Quiz Pro Quo
54:05 First Mover Vs Fast Follower
1:08:42 Bulls And Bears
