Philip Walton

Apollo.io case study with Anthropic just dropped 🔥 Honestly, seeing our work featured in Anthropic's official case study feels surreal - but the numbers tell the story of why we bet everything on Claude. When I first tested Claude for my own writing, I knew we had something special. But convincing our team to make it Apollo's default messaging model? That required data. We ran blind testing across four metrics: accuracy, clarity, relevance, and tone. Claude 3.5 Haiku crushed it with a 76% preference rate - not even close to other models we tested (outside of Claude Sonnet 3.7!). But here's what really validated our decision: when we deployed Claude in production, we saw our retention spike from +15%. Our customers immediately felt the difference. The results that followed blew my mind: - 35% boost in meeting bookings for reps using Claude-powered messaging versus traditional methods. Dan at FLO EV Charging cut his email writing time by 80%. Jesse saw engagement rates jump 20% with key accounts after implementing our Claude-powered tools. - 5M+ Claude-powered messaging actions per month across our platform. That's production-scale AI that sales teams genuinely trust and use daily. What I'm most proud of? We didn't just plug in AI and hope for the best. We built Claude into our entire workflow - signal aggregation, voice matching, personalized templates that learn each rep's authentic style. This case study validates what we've believed from day one: the future isn't replacing sales reps with AI, it's making great reps unstoppable with the right AI assistance. Huge thanks to the Anthropic team for building something that genuinely understands sales communication. This is just the beginning! Check out the case study for more! https://lnkd.in/gNS3PtHz

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I've run over 1,000 SWE interviews, first at Airbnb, now at Graphite. Here’s what I’ve learned: Recruiting - especially at scale - is fundamentally about discovering truth and reducing risk. We’re trying to figure out if someone can solve our problems, fit our culture, and thrive long-term. A strong interview loop isn’t about showing off the “correct” method or adopting the hottest new assessment trend. It’s about generating clear signals with minimal noise. 1. The specific format of your interviews matters less than the clarity of the signal you get. 2. Customize your process to the actual need of the role, not some arbitrary “hiring bar.” A "bullseye" is a better mental image than a "bar." 3. Reference checks can be a superpower if you use them intentionally, especially blind references. 4. Don’t be shy about having a “tough” loop - just make sure you execute your end flawlessly. Bottom line: Aim for interviews that generate strong, reliable signals - then combine them with thoughtful reference checks. https://lnkd.in/ewTrWFGc

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The new "Deep Think" feature is rolling out in the Gemini app, and it's a game-changer for complex problem-solving. Powered by the advanced Gemini 2.5 model, Deep Think uses parallel thinking techniques and extended "thinking time" to explore multiple ideas simultaneously. This isn't just an upgrade, it's a leap forward. The model is a powerful new tool for anyone looking to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation. #GoogleAI #Gemini #DeepThink #AI #Innovation #ProblemSolving #TechNews

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The time to build is NOW. I've been spending the last few months in San Francisco (SF is totally back), in person, in the office, building. Working with a spectacular team (we're actively hiring), with state of the art tools and noticing a ton of trends, including how teams are now building more with less. What you can do with cursor + intelligent & structured prompting to build and test quickly and deploy is game changing. Yes, there are rough edges, but even the first car had a ton of rough edges and see where we are today. Companies are being built differently. Fewer layers, more builders, shorter distance between builders and customers. Platforms are being rearchitected from the inside out. If there is ever a time to rebuild yourself, upskill, think 10X better than status quo, it is NOW. Aakash Gupta and I sat down last weekend to discuss some unfiltered and very honest observations of what's happening in tech and how teams are evolving. Key points I personally believe are important for anyone building a product (also a *demo* of how AI tools that builders *could* use to accelerate) - The role of AI in reducing roles, and layers between builders and customers - The lost art of estimating the impact of what you are building - Testing quickly and separating the losing ideas from your winning instinct (ref: Mark Pincus / who I respect and learned a lot from) Link in comments. PS: I never record podcasts, I'm not a seasoned speaker; the purpose of this post is to merely share what I'm learning on the ground!

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It was a lot of fun to speak last night to the current cohort from the Generation AI program, run by Amir Nissen at Boab. Last night's session was on metrics for early stage companies, and I came online just in time to hear Amir teaching the AARRR framework. That thing is timeless. I shared a few lessons from the early days of my startup career, as well as stories about fundraising in Australia. No matter where you go or what the topic is, all conversations with startup founders eventually turn to fundraising. I might have to start calling that "Scott's Law". One of the questions last night was: "How do you manage to survive on no wages or small wages while your startup is getting off the ground?" It's a great question and honestly, it's probably one of the aspects of startups we don't talk about enough. There is no getting around it. At a certain point in your startup journey, you will need to go without a wage for some time. It may last months, but for some founders it can stretch into years. This is hard to achieve when you don't have a big bank balance. How do people solve for this? 1. High-paying partner. This is more common than you think, and many founders have a partner at home whose job pays the bills. 2. Take consulting gigs as you build. This is effectively how the Culture Amp founders bootstrapped their company for the first two years. Every few months, one of them would head back to corporate land and consult to reset the bank balance. Once they had enough cash, they would jump back into the startup. Rinse and repeat. 3. Stay in your full-time job until the startup can afford to pay you. This is possible, but really hard to do. This approach means your startup will take a considerable amount of time to build and even longer to gain traction. 4. Live at home with your parents and minimise your expenses. Only possible for the under-25s. 5. Spend a few decades in corporate land first and build up a nest egg via wages and property investments. 6. Win Tattslotto. Whatever you decide is right for you, it will require a financial sacrifice to make your startup a reality. It is one of many hurdles in entrepreneurship that mean only the truly committed end up taking the leap. Because often, it doesn't make financial sense to do it. But we do it anyway. 🤘 #letsgo

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Waymo's best feature is the one they can't advertise. Most companies lead advertising with their strongest feature: AirPods’ noise canceling, iPhone’s Face ID, Galaxy’s foldable design. Waymo can't do this. Currently, Waymo's marketing revolves around the safety case. It's smart positioning. They're introducing sci-fi tech into one of the most entrenched industries on Earth: the taxi business. - Municipalities are concerned about economic disruption. - Taxi unions don't want to lose their jobs. - Uber and Lyft are fighting to keep their businesses alive. So Waymo chose the one argument nobody can dispute: saving lives. Their data shows that AVs are dramatically safer than human drivers. And NO ONE would ever position themselves staunchly against safety. But the reason I love Waymo is not the safety, it's the experience. Riding in a Waymo is like breathing a sigh of relief. It's calm, peaceful, and private. No Uber driver swerving through lanes or talking angrily on the phone with his girlfriend. No unwanted advances. No feeling on edge. No cramped seats or stuff strewn about. The car is clean and comfortable. You can bring your kids (and a car seat), call your mom, or play your own music. You can do it YOUR way, with no airs about you. What makes it brilliant is what they can’t say: rides are better without a human driver. But Waymo won’t directly advertise that, because the last thing they want to do is be painted as anti-human. Robotics and big tech are already scary enough, and they don’t want to give their opponents more fodder. This breaks a golden rule about product marketing for new, innovative products. You’re told to focus on your best feature, and double, triple down on it. So Waymo will have to play this game where they dance gracefully around the real issue. They’ll market their safety case with full force, but downplay the delight of the human-less experience. They’ll leave it to people like me to tell their friends via word of mouth, just like I'm telling you now: The human-less taxi experience is so good that once you ride one, you’ll never want to go back.

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