A private WhatsApp community, by application
The group chat where pipeline gets built.
GTM engineers, sellers and AI operators trade the tools, plays and models that work.
- Members
- 2.1k
- Messages
- 375k
- Since
- 2021
“There's one great one started by this guy, Jesse Ouellette, who's awesome, and it's called the SaaS Yacht Club.”
“Where do these people live? So they actually live in WhatsApp groups… There's one great one started by this guy, Jesse Ouellette, who's awesome, and it's called the SaaS Yacht Club.”
— Varun Anand, co-founder of Clay, on First Round's In Depth
Where Clay found its first customers
Clay's co-founder has told the story on three shows. Every clip is about the club, and nothing else.
This week
This week in the club
Curated by the SYC editors from the club's public counts and the week's launches. No one is named or quoted.
Updated Oct 8, 3:00 AM EDT
- Rising toolDeepSeek11 mentions per 1,000 messages lately, up from 2.Club data Oct 7
- Topic picking upModel competition trackingMembers track frontier capability claims and benchmark scores to decide which models to adoptClub data Oct 7
- Most-asked problemChoosing the right tool or stack11% of a sample of 600 recent questions.Club data Oct 7
- New modelAnthropic: Claude Haiku 5.51M context · $0.10/M in · $0.50/M outCatalog Oct 8
- Thread worth readingSharing AI progress in mathematicsHacker News · news.ycombinator.comWeb Oct 8
Trending
What's moving in the club
Tools and topics whose share of messages rose versus the prior year. Rates are mentions per 1,000 messages. Nobody is named.
Counted Oct 7
- Claude / Anthropic↑ 11.1 → 23.3
- DeepSeek↑ 2 → 11
- GitHub↑ 1.6 → 7.7
- OpenAI↑ 8.3 → 11.4
- Terminal coding agents4.5 → 18.9Operators compare coding agents and open models they wire into repos and version control
- Model competition tracking0.7 → 9.5Members track frontier capability claims and benchmark scores to decide which models to adopt
- Chinese model adoption3.5 → 18.5Teams evaluate and run Chinese model families as cheaper alternatives for their workloads
- Open weights in production18.9 → 37.4Members discuss running open models locally and what hardware that demands
- Context and memory limits7 → 15.2Practitioners manage context windows, token budgets, and persistent memory for their systems
- Model provider updates1.6 → 9.7Members react to new model releases and infrastructure news from the major providers
Topics the club goes deep on
Numbers, tools, launches and outside research, one page per topic.
- 01GTM engineeringBuilding outbound as a system: data, enrichment, signals and the automation that ties them together.
- 02AI engineering & agentsCoding agents, harnesses, routing and the economics of running models in production.
- 03Email deliverabilityAuthentication, sender rules, warm-up and inbox placement for outbound email.
- 04Data & enrichmentFinding and verifying emails, phones and company data, and keeping it accurate.
Tools the club swears by
The 29 tools the club mentions most, counted across every message since 2021. Nobody is named.
Counted Oct 7
| # | Tool | What it does | Members | Mentions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  OpenAI↑LLMs, routing & AI builders | AI lab offering GPT models through ChatGPT and a usage-priced developer API. | 401 | 3,616 |
| 02 |  ClayData & enrichment | Spreadsheet-style workspace that chains many data providers and AI research steps into enrichment and outbound workflows. | 429 | 3,271 |
| 03 |  SmartleadCold email & sequencing | Cold email platform built for high-volume outbound with unlimited mailboxes, warmup and inbox rotation. | 429 | 3,185 |
| 04 |  LeadMagicData & enrichment | Enrichment platform and API for finding and verifying work emails, mobile numbers and company data, billed only on valid results. | 326 | 2,569 |
| 05 |  Apollo.ioData & enrichment | All-in-one sales platform combining a B2B contact database with sequencing, dialing and pipeline tools. | 445 | 2,536 |
| 06 |  n8nWorkflow automation | Workflow automation platform that combines AI steps with integrations, available as cloud or self-hosted. | 210 | 1,174 |
| 07 |  HubSpotCRM | CRM platform with marketing, sales, service and content hubs, plus free foundational tools. | 226 | 1,154 |
| 08 |  Claude / Anthropic↑LLMs, routing & AI builders | AI lab behind the Claude models, available via chat apps, Claude Code and a developer API. | 175 | 1,052 |
| 09 |  InstantlyCold email & sequencing | Cold email and sales engagement platform with unlimited sending accounts, warmup, a lead database and CRM. | 196 | 667 |
| 10 |  SalesloftSales engagement platforms | Enterprise sales engagement platform that turns buyer signals into cadences and pipeline actions. | 97 | 625 |
| 11 |  ZoomInfoData & enrichment | Enterprise B2B data and go-to-market intelligence platform with contact data, intent signals and AI prioritization. | 155 | 601 |
| 12 | Stripe | Payments platform and API for billing, subscriptions and checkout. | 118 | 549 |
| 13 |  SalesforceCRM | Enterprise CRM platform for sales, service and marketing with AI agent capabilities. | 128 | 541 |
| 14 | Cloudflare | DNS, CDN, security and serverless platform for websites and apps. | 121 | 507 |
| 15 | GitHub↑ | Code hosting and collaboration platform for Git repositories. | 92 | 487 |
| 16 | Zoho | Suite of business apps including Zoho CRM, Mail and Books. | 104 | 480 |
| 17 |  FindymailEmail finding & verification | Email and phone finder that verifies contacts in the same step and keeps CRM records enriched. | 74 | 445 |
| 18 | Airtable | Spreadsheet-database hybrid for building lightweight apps and workflows. | 104 | 393 |
| 19 |  LavenderAI agents & SDRs | AI email coaching and writing assistant that helps sellers write better sales emails. | 65 | 388 |
| 20 | Uptics | Cold email and sales engagement platform. | 45 | 378 |
Apply to join
Membership is by application and kept small on purpose, so the signal stays high. You apply by chatting with the club's bot on WhatsApp, and Jesse reads every conversation.
GTM engineering
Clay tables, enrichment waterfalls, signal-based plays and the plumbing behind outbound that works.
Sales that ships
Reply rates, deliverability, messaging and what actually books meetings this quarter.
AI operators
The agents, models and workflows people run in production, costs and rough edges included.
Apply on WhatsApp
Apply on WhatsAppOpens WhatsApp with application already typed. Send it to start.
Not in yet? Get the newsletter
Message “application”
Send the word application to the club's number on WhatsApp.
Have a real conversation
The bot asks about who you are, what you build and what you'd bring. Around ten to fifteen questions, at your pace.
The owner reviews
Jesse reads every conversation and decides. Approved members get the invite in the same chat.