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The {Closed} Session

The {Closed} Session

By: Tom Chavez Vivek Vaidya super{set}
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Building a company from scratch is soul-sucking and mind-numbingly hard - but it’s the best thing ever. We know this because we’ve built a couple ourselves - and we’re building a lot more right now. We’ve made a lot of money for our employees, our shareholders, ourselves - we’re proud of that - and that’s why we want to talk about how it’s done. Join us - Tom Chavez and Vivek Vaidya - in The Closed Session, where we reveal all the joys and sorrows of company building. From the guttermost to the uttermost, we’re not going to hold back.© 2019-2022 Economics
Episodes
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    Oct 6 2025

    Most AI pilots fail because founders are retrofitting old playbooks instead of rebuilding revenue architecture. Mark Roberge, founding CRO at HubSpot who scaled from $0 to $100M revenue, breaks down how AI compresses traditional sales cycles and transforms go-to-market execution. He reveals why selling time will jump from 25% to 75% of a rep's week, how AI enables real-time ICP refinement and account targeting, and why sustainable moats now depend on owning the point of work rather than systems of record.

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    41 mins
  • Growth lessons from consumer tech operator‑investor
    Sep 15 2025

    Most vertical AI companies fail because they're building features, not businesses. Rachel ten Brink, GP at Red Bike Capital and former Scentbird co-founder (scaled to 500K+ subscribers, $29M raised), breaks down how to build defensible vertical AI that survives the regulatory gauntlet. She reveals her operator's test for distinguishing product businesses from services wrappers, explains how winning data network effects emerge from proprietary processing of public data, and shares the specific go-to-market playbook that works for enterprise AI sales cycles.

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    39 mins
  • Is AI in Investment Banking a Replacement or Revolution?
    Sep 3 2025

    Most AI adoption in finance is just automation theater—real transformation requires rethinking entire workflows. George Lee, former CTO and M&A head at Goldman Sachs, explains why AI won't replace bankers but will compress deal cycle times from weeks to days. He breaks down how junior talent using AI companions can eliminate rote tasks while expanding analytical surface area, and why the "Boyle's law" principle means human capital will always find new problems to solve for clients.

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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    6 mins
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