Article

We replaced our sales team with 20 AI agents (essay version)

Lenny Rachitsky · lennysnewsletter.com

The written breakdown of the same case, with the operating model you can copy.

Open on lennysnewsletter.com ↗

It answers 4 questions

  1. Why use AI to build databases and internal dashboards instead of buying SaaS?
  2. What real tasks are founders delegating to agents today?
  3. What are the highest-ROI automations a startup should build first?
  4. Do AI SDRs actually work, or are they hype?

Read with it

  1. Video How To Build A Company With AI From The Ground Up Y Combinator (Diana Hu)
  2. Hard survey data on the shift: 35% of teams already replaced a bought tool with a built one, 78% plan to build more. retool.com Article The Build vs. Buy Shift: AI, Shadow IT, and the SaaS Replacement Era Retool
  3. The clearest framing of why non-engineers building their own software is a structural change, not a fad. a16z.com Article Software's YouTube Moment is Happening Now Anish Acharya (a16z)
  4. A VC who funds both sides argues out loud where SaaS survives and where custom AI tools eat it. a16z.com Podcast Anish Acharya: Is SaaS Dead in a World of AI? a16z
  5. Video The Economics of AI Usage and What's Next For SaaS | Benedict Evans a16z
  6. Video Why Balaji Srinivasan Thinks the SaaS Apocalypse Is Overhyped a16z
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