Former Founders Fund Partner Launches AI-Powered Sales Platform with Human-in-the-Loop Approach

Sam Blond, former partner at Founders Fund, has officially unveiled his latest venture after departing the VC firm a year ago. On Wednesday, he brought Monaco, an AI-native sales platform, out of stealth mode. The startup was co-founded with his brother Brian Blond, a partner at Human Capital and former Sutter Hill associate, alongside two additional co-founders: Abishek Viswanathan (ex-CPO at Apollo and Qualtrics) and Malay Desai (former SVP of Engineering at Clari).

Monaco has secured $35 million in total funding, comprising a $10 million seed round and a $25 million Series A, both led by Founders Fund with participation from Human Capital. The platform has been operating under private beta testing for several months and transitioned to public beta availability this week.

The founding team leveraged their extensive network to attract prominent angel investors, including:

• Stripe co-founders Patrick and John Collison
• Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan
• Greenoaks Capital founder Neil Mehta

Differentiated Approach to AI Sales Automation

Monaco distinguishes itself in the crowded AI sales technology market through its unique human-in-the-loop methodology. Rather than pursuing complete automation, the platform combines AI-native tools with experienced sales professionals who monitor, guide, and validate the AI's operations.

The platform targets early-stage startups (seed to Series A) with a comprehensive product suite that includes:

• AI-native Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system
• Proprietary prospect database (comparable to Zoominfo)
• Automated email outreach campaign creation and execution
• AI-generated follow-up email drafting
• Integrated meeting notetaker functionality

According to Blond, the platform can "replace full workflows with agents," automating prospect database construction, target identification within organizations, outreach sequencing, and meeting scheduling. However, the critical distinction is that human sales professionals conduct actual customer meetings—no AI avatars or synthetic representatives.

"It's this combination of the technology, but also the service," Blond explained. "Monaco does not have an agent pretending to be a sales rep trying to sell to the customer."

Market Positioning and Competition

Monaco positions itself as a more accessible alternative to enterprise platforms like Salesforce, currently competing primarily with HubSpot in the early-stage startup segment. While specific pricing details remain undisclosed, the company operates on a flat-fee model with beta-period discounts.

The sales technology landscape has become exceptionally saturated, with Y Combinator alone graduating hundreds of sales-focused startups in recent years. Monaco faces competition from multiple categories:

• AI-native CRM platforms (Attio, Clay, Conversion)
• AI SDR (Sales Development Representative) tools (11x, Artisan, 1mind)
• Incumbent platforms with AI capabilities (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, Zoominfo)

Blond acknowledges the competitive density but argues that legacy platforms were "built in another era" and that no emerging player has established clear market dominance. "There definitely is not the 'Cursor for sales'," he noted, referencing the popular AI coding assistant. "But there will be."

Company Vision and Culture

With approximately 40 employees, Monaco has cultivated a sales-centric culture complete with WWII-inspired motivational posters featuring slogans like "Save Startups" and "Build the future with Monaco." The office even features a ceremonial gong that rings whenever the AI successfully schedules a prospect meeting.

"In the broad category of sales technology, there's a market leader right now. That market leader is Salesforce," Blond stated. "We are in the early innings of the next platform shift that will lead to a new market leader."

As a self-described "non-technical founder" with extensive sales experience (including former head of sales at Brex), Blond views sales technology as the natural domain for his entrepreneurial efforts. The company aims to make experienced sales expertise accessible to startups too early-stage to hire senior sales talent directly.