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  • 📶 Ashley Smith (GP @ Vermilion Cliffs Ventures) on operators-turned-investors, the evolution of engineering roles, and how GTM is changing in 2025

📶 Ashley Smith (GP @ Vermilion Cliffs Ventures) on operators-turned-investors, the evolution of engineering roles, and how GTM is changing in 2025

Non-traditional paths to become a GP, secondary effects of AI co-pilots, hiring the unhireable, and why you can't take a one-size-fits-all approach to GTM strategy

March 06, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

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Good morning đź‘‹

I didn’t know Ashley (@ashl3ysm1th) before this interview, so I read her fund manifesto before we hopped on. (It’s worth reading.)

She’s one of the more interesting GPs I’ve spoken with, she came in highly-referenced from other LP friends, and I’ll (hopefully) have more things to work on with her in the future.

We covered a lot of range in this talk including:

  • Non-traditional GP paths and the operator-turned-investor movement

  • Secondary effects of AI co-pilots and the evolution of engineering roles

  • Why you should be hiring the unhireable

  • Why you can't take a one-size-fits-all approach to GTM strategy

Let’s get into it.

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