Startups For the Rest of Us

Episode 823 | Hot Take Tuesday: Is A.I. Killing B2B SaaS?, ChatGPT Ads, OpenClaw

March 10, 2026

Key Takeaways Copied to clipboard!

  • B2B SaaS is not fundamentally dying; it is simply evolving, and established players are expected to integrate AI capabilities rather than be immediately uprooted by simple 'vibe-coded' AI solutions. 
  • The noticeable year-over-year improvement in general-purpose AI models is incremental, suggesting that major capability leaps may require a fundamental breakthrough beyond simply adding more data and compute. 
  • The emergence of new advertising platforms, like potential ad networks within ChatGPT, presents a significant early-mover opportunity for B2B SaaS founders seeking cheaper customer acquisition channels than established platforms like Google or Meta. 

Segments

Sponsor Readout: Mercury Banking
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: Mercury offers entrepreneurs a unified banking dashboard suitable for everything from single-member LLCs to multi-step approval workflows for venture investments.
  • Summary: Mercury is presented as a banking solution that avoids the need for duct-taping multiple tools together common in traditional banking. Its interface supports both simple daily banking and complex approval processes for large transfers. Getting started is free, requires no in-person visits, and has no minimum balance.
Episode Introduction and Topics
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(00:01:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Episode 823 of Startups For the Rest of Us focuses heavily on AI’s impact, covering B2B SaaS disruption, ChatGPT advertising, and OpenClaw.
  • Summary: Host Rob Walling introduces the Hot Take Tuesday format, noting the episode is unintentionally focused on AI topics. He promotes accessing two unlisted bonus episodes by subscribing to the email list at startupsfortherestofus.com. The main topics include AI’s effect on B2B SaaS, ChatGPT ads, and OpenClaw.
M&A Guide and QSBS Clarification
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(00:04:05)
  • Key Takeaway: The opaque B2B SaaS M&A market between $2M and $20M ARR often sees 70% of acquisitions being private equity-led stock purchases, though asset purchases are common below $1M ARR.
  • Summary: Einar Vollset promotes Discretion Capital’s M&A guide for B2B SaaS founders, noting the market is opaque below $20 million ARR, leading to founders potentially selling for far less than worth. A rule of thumb suggests stock purchases become much more common around $1 million in ARR, while buyers often prefer asset purchases for tax reasons below that threshold.
AI Killing B2B SaaS Debate
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(00:09:25)
  • Key Takeaway: The market panic over AI killing B2B SaaS is likely an overreaction, as subscription software remains necessary, and established incumbents like HubSpot are too complex to be easily replicated by simple AI prompts.
  • Summary: Tracy Osborn argues that subscription software for businesses will persist, but builders must defend their uniqueness against easier creation tools. Einar Vollset believes public SaaS stocks are oversold, asserting that SaaS will only die if a super-intelligent AI capable of doing everything perfectly is invented. He views current AI as a new software capability, not a fundamentally different entity.
Noticing AI Model Improvements
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(00:17:00)
  • Key Takeaway: For surface-level use cases, the perceived improvement in AI models over the last year is marginal, with structural changes like Claude Code’s harnessing being more impactful than core model version upgrades.
  • Summary: Tracy found ChatGPT frustratingly inconsistent with specific tasks like Zapier questions, leading her to prefer Claude for communication tasks, though overall improvement felt asymptotic. Einar noted he often doesn’t notice incremental model upgrades (e.g., 5.0 to 5.1) unless they enable longer, more agentic workflows, suggesting a major breakthrough is needed for the next capability level.
Sponsor Readout: Designli Prototyping
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(00:25:09)
  • Key Takeaway: Founders lacking a technical partner can use Designli’s two-week SolutionLab Prototyping Sprint to create a clickable, investor-ready prototype.
  • Summary: Designli offers a structured two-week sprint pairing founders with a product owner, designer, and developer to define and prototype an idea. This service aims to provide a real foundation beyond a ‘vibe-coded’ MVP. Startups for the Rest of Us listeners receive a $3,800 discount on the sprint.
ChatGPT Ads and Competitive Response
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(00:26:11)
  • Key Takeaway: While users dislike ads in tools like ChatGPT, the massive economic incentive for monetizing free, mass-market AI tools via advertising is too strong for either OpenAI or Anthropic to ignore long-term.
  • Summary: Tracy expressed annoyance at ChatGPT potentially running ads, viewing it as a poor monetization choice, which Anthropic leveraged in a Super Bowl ad criticizing OpenAI’s approach. Einar countered that advertising is the dominant economic model for mass media, guaranteeing that both ChatGPT and Claude will eventually adopt advertising if they aim for public growth.
Opportunity in New Ad Networks
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(00:31:11)
  • Key Takeaway: Founders should actively seek early access to emerging AI-based ad networks, mirroring the low-cost acquisition opportunities seen during the early days of Google AdWords and Facebook ads.
  • Summary: The high cost of established SEO and PPC channels creates an opening for new ad networks associated with platforms like AI.com. Historically, early adopters on platforms like Facebook ads secured very low click costs (15-25 cents) before documentation and competition drove prices up. Early entry into these nascent AI ad spaces is crucial for SaaS growth.
OpenClaw: Hype vs. Substance
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(00:32:32)
  • Key Takeaway: OpenClaw (formerly Clawbot) represents a significant step toward useful AI agents by securely accessing a user’s entire digital context, a capability Apple is perfectly positioned to implement securely.
  • Summary: Einar is a strong believer in OpenClaw, viewing it as what Apple Intelligence should have been, as true utility requires deep, secure access to a user’s email and calendar context. Tracy is hesitant due to security concerns, fearing an agent might incorrectly filter necessary information, similar to her experience with Superhuman email management.
Host Updates and Wrap-up
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(00:38:56)
  • Key Takeaway: Rob Walling is launching SaaS Institute, a premium coaching program for seven and eight-figure ARR SaaS founders who are too large for the TinySeed accelerator.
  • Summary: Tracy is working on SaaS Institute, a new program for founders at $1M+ ARR needing a TinySeed-like experience. Einar is active on Twitter discussing Norwegian politics and promoting the M&A guide. The episode concludes with a request for listeners to subscribe and rate the show.