Letter from the Editor

This is a magazine BY and ABOUT...HUMANS.

In today's AI-obsessed world, more and more "content" on the internet is AI-generated. So much so that in many cases it's nearly impossible to distinguish what's real and what's not. Don't get me wrong, I'm one of the most gung-ho AI-fanboys out there. And HubSpot as a company is dedicated to ensuring its team members become experts in its use.

But no matter how gung-ho you are for the latest GPT model, at some point, you just want to connect with humans again.

This issue is exacerbated when we start following and learning about the business leaders and technology superstars who are paving the way for a new era of industry. We watch their webinars, listen to their podcast interviews, read about their latest round of funding on Pitchbook and Crunchbase, and we sometimes forget that those are human beings, not super heroes. They laugh, cry, and hurt at the same things that make you laugh, cry, and hurt.

It reminds me of a scene from David Cronenberg's reimagining of the sci-fi horror classic, "The Fly," starring Jeff Goldblum. (Trust me. I am going somewhere with this). After a horrific failure testing his teleportation machine—where he literally turns a baboon inside out—Goldblum's character, Seth, realizes that the telepod doesn't understand the complexities of organic matter. He demonstrates this by giving his girlfriend two different pieces of cooked steak—a regular steak, and a second one he sent through the teleporter. After tasting each, she spits out the teleported steak, saying it doesn't taste right. "It tastes synthetic," she says.

Seth realizes that the computer doesn't understand the complexities of organic matter. It doesn't get excited about the flesh. He says it's "rethinking it, rather than reproducing it, and something's getting lost in the translation." So, he proceeds to "teach" it about the flesh by inputting Shakespeare and classical music.

Increasingly, more of the information we consume feels "synthetic," and the totality of what makes a founder, CEO, or VC a human gets "lost in translation." We don't want to contribute to that noise.

Within these digital pages, you will find stories that will both educate and inspire. Don't worry, you'll still learn about the "how" of scaling a business from those doing it masterfully; but you'll also get a look inside the hearts and lives of these founders, and glean insights you might not expect. Whether it's how Stan CEO and co-founder John Hu applies his love of surfing to his business philosophy; to how Joyful Ventures VC and Women's Vegan Summit founder Jenny Stojkovic took the painful death of a close friend to give her a perspective that drives her business; to the profound insights that Hightouch Co-CEO Kashish Gupta has about money. We will always strive to give you a 360-degree view.

So, on behalf of the HubSpot for Startups team, I'm excited to invite you to dive into the dreams and aspirations of these fascinating individuals. My hope is that this "steak" will be worthy of a Michelin Star.

Drop us a line and give us your takes, insights, and anything else you'd like to share at letters@scalingsmartermag.com.

Sincerely, Ron Dawson Executive Editor, Scaling Smarter Magazine