Godard Abel's First Pitch for G2 (Find, Rate & Compare B2B Software)

In this episode of The First Pitch, Godard Abel joins Patrick Thompson and Somrat Niyogi to discuss how G2 has evolved from its original pitch, why marketplaces take so long to build, and how AI tools are reshaping the way buyers find and evaluate software. They explore the rise of AI search optimization, why appearing inside AI-generated answers is becoming a measurable source of revenue, and what founders must do to stand out as building software becomes easier. Chapters: 0:00 Intro: Why G2 had to exist 1:23 Godard Abel’s journey from BigMachines to G2 3:29 Reuniting the founding team 7:18 Why enterprise software buying was broken 8:35 Self-funding G2 and building the marketplace 12:45 Leaving G2, building SteelBrick and coming back 15:53 Inside G2’s original pitch deck 20:42 Disrupting the traditional analyst model 23:23 Building G2’s first product and finding early traction 24:45 Creating the G2 Grid and earning the first revenue 27:09 What the original pitch got wrong 29:23 Competition, category expansion and scaling G2 32:55 Why founders should still build financial projections 34:25 How AI is changing software discovery 37:55 The one thing founders must nail in their first pitch 39:26 Godard’s advice for founders building in 2026 40:37 Where to find Godard and G2