Founder Curiosity, Growth and Valuation - Season 5: Episode # 94

AI has created one of the biggest shifts venture capital has seen in decades. New companies are reaching unprecedented growth rates, valuations are climbing, and founders have more ways than ever to build software. But according to Jay Po, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Stage 2 Capital, the fundamentals of building a great business haven't changed nearly as much as people think.In this episode, Jay joins Justin and Josh to discuss how AI is changing venture investing without changing what ultimately matters. He explains why customer obsession, repeatable growth, and retention continue to separate enduring companies from short-lived momentum, why investors are rethinking pricing models and valuation, and how founders should approach fundraising in a market filled with both opportunity and noise.Tune in for more on outcome-based pricing, forward-deployed engineers, customer success as a growth function, venture capital discipline, and why the next generation of market leaders will be defined less by AI itself than by how effectively they solve meaningful customer problems.Chapters00:00 Introduction and guest background02:17 Stage 2 Capital's investment thesis and history05:30 Market evolution from 2018 to today10:07 Impact of AI on venture and market opportunities15:04 The role of curiosity and innovation in startups20:42 Pricing models and outcome-based strategies in AI25:46 Customer success, retention, and long-term value30:09 Valuation approaches and market dynamics36:09 The messiness and opportunities in early-stage investing40:14 Valuation discipline and market noise45:05 Future outlook and strategic positioningReferences in the Show:https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/20/ai-startups-are-eating-the-venture-industry-and-the-returns-so-far-are-good/ https://www.stage2.capital/ Quote of the Show:“One thing that I've been finding pretty interesting is how companies are being funded relative to their underlying fundamental performance from a revenue perspective and whatnot. Just being so obsessed with what is the customer's pain point, life cycle, use case priorities, criticality, because there's no amount of capital that can solve that for you. Right? Like there's no amount of capital that's gonna have this manufacturing plant not wanna change their behavior, but still find value in your product.” - Jay PoWays to Tune In:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GpM8myxsUinc5bfLIbjJz?si=0af576adfb8e49f8 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-cheat-code/id1692445190 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/cb0b3afa-063f-4f3b-96be-b98214c74912 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CheatCodePodcast