Theory's 2026 Go-to-Market Survey is live. The 25-question study, run annually since 2022, tracks how startups are evolving sales, marketing, customer success, and cash management. Tomasz Tunguz will publish results and host Office Hours to discuss findings. Participants get anonymized raw data to run their own analysis.
Five hypotheses drive this year's design, each built to be rigorously testable. First: augmented reps, humans plus AI, outperform both fully autonomous AI and unaugmented humans on conversion and productivity. Second: AI is widening the performance gap between top and bottom quartile GTM teams. Third: buyer-side AI, think automated RFPs and AI-assisted vendor evaluations, is a bigger disruptor than seller-side AI, likely lengthening sales cycles. Fourth: AI efficiency gains are showing up as headcount reduction, not revenue growth. Fifth: founder expectations on AI have reset downward after 2024 data showed respondents who predicted 500% efficiency gains recorded 0%.
The last hypothesis is the one worth reading the full results for. If the perceived-to-measured gap on AI ROI has genuinely narrowed, it signals a market-wide recalibration with direct implications for hiring plans, sales tooling budgets, and GTM strategy in 2026. The survey is 25 questions. Take it.
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