Clef de voûte

Wondering where your Product & Engineering organization stands on AI? Take our AI Maturity Check here (3 min).
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In this episode, I have the pleasure of welcoming Nicolas Dessaigne, Partner at Y Combinator, one of the most influential startup accelerators in the world. Nicolas is a repeat founder who co-founded Algolia, a company that became one of Europe’s biggest B2B SaaS successes before expanding globally. Today, he supports hundreds of founders as part of YC, helping shape the next generation of iconic startups. We recorded this conversation in San Francisco, where Nicolas shared his unique perspective on how YC has evolved — from 2 batches a year to 4 — and how this new AI era is transforming the way startups are built. We talk about the new wave of AI-native founders, why product iteration speed matters more than ever, and how large companies are struggling to keep up with the pace of change. Nicolas also shares what makes YC truly unique, the role of technical founders, and why code is no longer the moat it used to be. If you’re a founder, a product builder, or just curious about how YC sees the future of startups in the AI era, this episode will give you a rare inside look.
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[00:00] Intro
[01:36] YC in 2025
[02:37] Batch model & investment strategy
[03:50] Billion-dollar success rates
[05:14] Alumni support post-YC
[06:44] What makes YC unique
[08:25] Partners are ex-founders
[09:20] New AI product categories
[11:13] AI in healthcare, robotics
[12:27] His product preferences
[14:03] Moonshot companies & YC goals
[16:00] Why some repeat YC
[17:11] Post-YC momentum as a predictor
[18:21] Founding with a family
[19:49] AI native vs integrated products
[20:30] AI as standard infrastructure
[22:11] Founders are getting younger
[24:43] How YC startups build fast
[26:52] Balancing speed vs quality
[29:39] Pressure creates creative founders
[31:25] Code is no longer precious IP
[33:11] Spring 2025 batch growth stats
[36:08] Rapid AI tool evolution
[38:00] AI vs humans in support
[39:46] Case study: Prosper
[40:54] Evals as a key asset
[43:15] AI amplifies all founder types
[44:41] AI’s effect on larger orgs
[46:54] Risk of inertia in scale-ups
[47:20] Future of PM and eng roles
[49:04] Tools lower the bar to entry
[50:47] How non-AI YC alumni adapt
[53:14] Pre-AI companies
[55:11] Examples: Replit, Vercel
[56:55] What Nicolas would work on today
[58:56] Backing founders
[59:28] Robotics vs. Progress
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3. Join the YouTube channel

Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Wondering where your Product & Engineering organization stands on AI? Take our AI Maturity Check here (3 min).
Get the in-depth analysis from every episode by subscribing to the Clef de voûte newsletter.
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In this episode, I’m really excited to welcome Spenser Skates on Clef de Voûte.
Spenser is the co-founder and CEO of Amplitude, the digital analytics platform that helps more than 4,500 companies around the world understand their users and build digital products that matter.
In our conversation, Spenser will share what it really takes to grow from the scrappy early days to meaningful enterprise scale : the trade-offs, the tough choices, and how you keep moving fast as the company gets bigger. We’ll also talk about building real product differentiation with AI : how to see through the hype, spot what’s real, and focus on long-term value rather than chasing trends. And finally, Spenser will give us a look at Amplitude’s roadmap for AI : where the company is headed next, how they’re planning to deploy AI, and how it will positively impact their customers.
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🔨 4 pillars to structure a top product-tech team
🔨 How to launch a market-ready product in 18 months ?
🔨 The method to turn a technical tool into a self-serve SaaS
🔨 How to structure your roadmap in 2 layers (6 months / 6 weeks)
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[00:00] Intro
[02:40] Origin of Amplitude
[06:15] First customers
[09:30] Product analytics market
[14:01] Why not compete with GA
[16:50] Building a self-serve product
[18:50] User friction and onboarding
[20:15] Feedback loop with support
[23:00] Product org
[25:30] PMs and data modeling
[28:00] Structuring tech & product teams
[31:45] Vision vs execution cycles
[34:20] Product verticals
[38:00] UI for different industries
[41:10] Amplitude’s competitors
[44:00] What Spenser would do differently
[47:00] Advice for new PMs
[50:00] Wrap-up
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💥 To support the podcast:
1. Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode 🔔
2. Leave a great review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify ❤️
3. Join the YouTube channel

Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Wondering where your Product & Engineering organization stands on AI? Take our AI Maturity Check here (3 min).
Get the in-depth analysis from every episode by subscribing to the Clef de voûte newsletter.
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In today’s episode, I’m glad to be with Marie Martens, Co-Founder of Tally.

Marie co-founded Tally, a simple yet powerful online form builder, to solve a small frustration, and ended up challenging the biggest software companies on the market without raising a single dollar of venture capital.

With over 1 million teams worldwide using their product, her bootstrapped journey proves that keeping things radically simple can be your biggest competitive advantage.

In this episode, we explore how ignoring traditional startup rules and giving away core features for free fueled massive product-led growth.

We dive into the daily realities of staying intentionally small, turning down lucrative enterprise clients, and leveraging transparent public building to generate authentic word-of-mouth.
Marie also shares her direct experience with the unexpected challenges of AI-driven customer acquisition.

We talk about :

Bootstrapping a global software product with a tiny team.
Using a viral free tier instead of hiring a sales department.
Turning down large corporate clients to maintain product focus.
Acquiring the first users through unscalable manual outreach.
Navigating the unexpected churn consequences of ChatGPT referrals.

Have a good listening !
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[00:00] Introduction
[01:55] What's Tally ?
[02:59] Radical simplicity
[04:21] No signup friction
[06:27] ICP focus
[09:32] Saying no to enterprises
[10:09] Features not built
[12:58] Freemium model
[17:34] PLG principles
[23:58] Limits of PLG
[26:08] LLM impact
[29:19] Acquisition strategy
[31:22] Early cold outreach
[35:28] No sales team
[38:06] Brand building
[41:54] Lovable products
[46:50] Building in public
[56:42] Key hires
[59:40] AI impact
[1:05:24] Common product mistakes
---
💥 To support the podcast:
1. Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode 🔔
2. Leave a great review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify ❤️
3. Join the YouTube channel

Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Vous vous demandez où en est votre orga produit & Tech sur l'IA ? Passez notre AI maturity check ici (3 min)
Reçois les analyses approfondies de chaque épisode en t'inscrivant à la newsletter Clef de voûte
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Dans cet épisode, j'ai le plaisir de recevoir David Zitoun, co-fondateur de Submagic.
Lancé en plein essor de l'IA générative, Submagic permet aux SMBs de créer du contenu vidéo sans réelles compétences.

David a fait le choix radical du bootstrap à une période où les levées de fonds de Produits IA s'enchaînent.
Ça ne les a pas empêchés de connaître une croissance quasi-instantanée avec leur 1er Million d'ARR atteint en 90 jours.

Dans cet épisode, on aborde :
Comment générer 1M d'ARR en 3 mois sans financement.

Comment trouver son PMF grâce à 1 fonctionnalité.

Quelles stratégies d'affiliation et d'influence activer.

Comment scaler sans équipe Sales.

Pourquoi recruter un profil Produit pour optimiser la conversion.

Bonne écoute.

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[00:00] Introduction
[01:48] Origine de Submagic
[03:23] Le choix du bootstrap
[06:40] Tester les associés
[10:26] Refuser de lever des fonds
[15:34] Focus sur le format court
[23:12] Influence et affiliation
[26:23] Scaler sans commerciaux
[30:03] Évolution de l'acquisition
[32:07] Recruter en Product Growth
[37:01] Lancement de Thumbmagic
[40:49] Stratégie de prix
[46:16] Améliorer l'IA
[49:35] Prioriser les fonctionnalités
[53:50] La distribution avant le produit
[57:16] Le pouvoir du contenu
[01:00:17] Conclusion

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Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Vous vous demandez où en est votre orga produit & Tech sur l'IA ? Passez notre AI maturity check ici (3 min)
Reçois les analyses approfondies de chaque épisode en t'inscrivant à la newsletter Clef de voûte
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Le CPO “stratège” est mort.
95% des projets IA n'ont aucun impact mesurable.
L'IA dégrade la qualité des produits.

Trois affirmations volontairement clivantes.
Trois CPOs pour en débattre.
Un nouveau format sur la chaîne.

Pour ce premier débat, j'ai invité trois CPOs de la communauté Stellar :
→ Nathalie Edlinger, CPO chez Paladin et Ex-CPO chez Jaji.
→ Geoffrey Janvier, ex-Chief Innovation Officer chez Cegid.
→ Arthur Rougier, ex-CPO chez JobTeaser, ex-VP Product chez Papernest.

Une heure de discussion honnête, avec des convictions, des désaccords et des exemples terrain tirés de leurs missions chez les plus belles boites techs.

Si tu es Product Leader, fondateur ou builder tech, ce débat est pour toi.

Quelques questions abordées :
Le rôle stratégique du CPO va-t-il vraiment disparaître ?
Faut-il investir dans l'IA maintenant ou attendre ?
Comment mesurer l'impact réel d'un projet IA ?
Pourquoi shipper plus vite peut dégrader la qualité ?
Quel conseil pour convaincre un Comex d'investir dans l'IA ?

Bonne écoute.
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[00:00] Introduction
[00:50] Le format débat expliqué
[02:24] Sujet 1 : le rôle du CPO est-il mort ?
[02:32] Pourquoi un CPO doit faire les choses lui-même
[05:28] Le produit n'a jamais été purement stratégique
[06:36] Quand les Product poussent dans la codebase
[07:28] Le workflow des Quick Wins chez Paladin
[12:33] Le CPO du futur, encore plus stratégique ?
[14:40] Le nouveau ratio Product / Engineering
[16:17] Les squads atlantiques
[23:03] L'indépendance qu'offre l'IA aux Product
[25:06] Sujet 2 : 95% des projets IA n'ont aucun impact
[26:20] Les 2 catégories de boîtes face à l'IA
[36:28] L'anecdote Zuckerberg chez Meta
[41:19] Sujet 3 : l'IA dégrade-t-elle la qualité des produits ?
[47:42] Pennylane vs Qonto : deux philosophies opposées
[56:03] Conclusion : le message controversé d'Arthur
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💥 Pour apporter ton soutien au podcast : 
1. Abonne-toi pour ne rien manquer 🔔
2. Laisse un super avis sur Apple podcast ou Spotify ❤️ 
3. Rejoins la chaîne Youtube

Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.