go-to-market - Adjacent

May 23

Xiaomi's CEO Admits Product Gap, Launches Cheaper SUV to Challenge Tesla

Lei Jun's acknowledgment of Xiaomi's pricing disadvantage and subsequent product correction shows how Chinese automakers compete on cost and speed-to-market in ways legacy competitors cannot match. The move signals Xiaomi's commitment to establishing itself as a credible EV player through rapid iteration rather than prolonged development cycles. Chinese manufacturers are using ecosystem advantages and manufacturing scale to compress price floors faster than Tesla can respond—structural advantages Western automakers lack the agility to counter.

theme-brand sales strategy go-to-market talent/org

May 15

AI and buying groups are making RDRs more essential, not obsolete

Source: Featured Blogs - Forrester

Forrester is pushing back against the assumption that self-service buying eliminates entry-level sales roles. RDRs are repositioning as orchestrators who navigate fragmented buying committees and synthesize AI-enabled research rather than prospect-hunting gatekeepers. The shift reframes RDR value from volume (cold outreach) to intelligence work (mapping stakeholders, timing interventions, qualifying complex deals), which changes hiring, compensation, and training models for revenue organizations. Sales layoffs blamed on "automation" may actually be a reclassification problem—companies cutting RDR headcount to cut costs are likely losing the connective tissue that closes complex B2B deals faster than algorithms alone.