SPOTLIGHT: What It Takes to Step into the CEO Role with Eric Anderson of Walnut
Release Date: 06/19/2025
Asad Zaman's Take: Rethinking Key Person Risk and Business Growth
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Asad Zaman, CEO of Sales Talent Agency, joins Sam Jacobs to challenge conventional wisdom around key person risk. Asad's unique perspective on building a business deeply intertwined with personal brand and long-term vision offers a fresh take on driving growth without the traditional focus on enterprise value. This episode is perfect for leaders questioning the status quo and seeking to build enduring businesses with a personal touch. Revenue Blindspots is brought to you by Otter.ai. To learn more, visit https://get.otter.ai/samjacobs/
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E118: Did Windsurf Screw 200+ Employees for $2.4B ft. Carta's Peter Walker
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Windsurf grew fast, hit $82M in ARR, and was nearly acquired by OpenAI for $3 billion—until the deal collapsed. Google stepped in with a $2.4 billion offer, but only for 40 engineers. In this episode, Sam, Asad, and AJ are joined by Peter Walker, Head of Insights at Carta, to break down what really happened and what this deal signals for the future of startup M&A. They explore how acqui-hires are evolving into talent-first extractions, what founders owe their teams in billion-dollar outcomes, and why equity might not mean what employees think it does. The crew also debates whether...
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AJ Bruno's Journey: Balancing Growth with Sustainable Revenue
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Sam Jacobs welcomes AJ Bruno, Founder and CEO of Quotapath, who reveals how a single meeting changed everything he knew about business growth. From nearly tanking his company's retention to creating a legendary "war room" strategy, he'll share the brutal lessons that transformed his approach to customer success. Learn how chasing new logos can be a dangerous game, why AI isn't always the silver bullet, and how one founder turned potential disaster into a $200 million success story. Warning: Contains raw entrepreneurial wisdom, unexpected candy bar history, and plenty of startup battle scars! ...
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E117: How AI Native Orgs Are Reshaping RevOps and Post Sales
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This week on Topline, Sam Jacobs, Asad Zaman, and AJ Bruno dive into how AI-native companies are reorganizing go-to-market teams—with more investment in RevOps and post-sales, fewer traditional marketers, and agent-led outbound replacing SDRs. They break down new data from , unpack Figma’s S-1 through the lens of revenue quality, and explore what makes these orgs structurally different. Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday. Don’t miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Elevate your 2026 strategy and join us...
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Elaine Zelby on AI and Marketing: Lessons in Operational Scaling
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Buckle up for a marketing revolution! 🚀 Elaine Zelby, Tofu's co-founder and CRO, drops bombshell hot takes on Revenue Blind Spots, revealing: Why marketing teams should get variable pay How AI can personalize marketing for 1000 accounts instantly The counterintuitive truth about data and attribution From VC to startup founder, Elaine unpacks the secrets of revenue leadership that will transform how you think about go-to-market strategies. Prepare for insights that challenge everything you know about marketing and sales! Revenue Blindspots is brought to you by Otter.ai. To learn...
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E116: Why Adaptation Is the Only Strategy That Works in AI
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Sam Jacobs, AJ Bruno, and Asad Zaman unpack what it means to lead through uncertainty in a time of rapid change. They reflect on Q2 wins, the emotional cost of ambition, and why founders are feeling more anxious than ever. From letting go of the SaaS playbook to adapting in real time, they explore how AI is reshaping leadership, team culture, and what “good” revenue looks like. Plus: the decline of CS, the rise of forward-deployed engineers, and how to build when nothing feels stable. Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday. Don’t miss GTM2025 — the...
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E115: The Cultural Divide Between AI Startups and SaaS
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AI-native startups are outpacing legacy SaaS companies across every metric—growth, product velocity, and market attention. In this episode, Sam, Asad, and AJ unpack why the GTM landscape is shifting fast. They dive into the resurgence of IPOs, the rise of rollups, and the cultural edge AI-first teams have when it comes to speed, experimentation, and brand building. Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday. Don’t miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Elevate your 2026 strategy and join us from...
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SPOTLIGHT: Skipping the SMB Trap and Building for Big Brands with CEO Matt Allison
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Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday.
Don’t miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Elevate your 2026 strategy and join us from September 23 to 25 in Washington, D.C. Use code TOPLINE for 10% off your GA ticket.
Stay ahead with the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends
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E114: How Apollo Plans to Grow From $150M to $1B+ in ARR
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Apollo co-founder and CEO Tim Zheng reveals the pivot that rescued his company from a 2:1 CAC payback ratio. This episode breaks down how Apollo transformed from a struggling $10K ACV sales-led model to $150M+ ARR by reducing prices to $99/mo and going all in on PLG.
Tim dives into why over 50% of Apollo's code is now written by AI, the challenge of finding executives who can scale across multiple growth stages, and how Apollo plans to break through the billion-dollar barrier that has pr
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SPOTLIGHT: What It Takes to Step into the CEO Role with Eric Anderson of Walnut
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What happens when a seasoned GTM leader becomes CEO for the first time and steps into a founder-led company with a global team? In this episode, Eric Anderson, CEO of Walnut, shares what it’s really like to take over a business built by someone else. He talks with AJ Bruno about building trust across time zones, rebuilding the go-to-market motion, and making bold decisions while honoring legacy culture. From listening tours to tough calls on pricing and segmentation, Eric opens up about the challenges
info_outlineWhat happens when a seasoned GTM leader becomes CEO for the first time and steps into a founder-led company with a global team? In this episode, Eric Anderson, CEO of Walnut, shares what it’s really like to take over a business built by someone else. He talks with AJ Bruno about building trust across time zones, rebuilding the go-to-market motion, and making bold decisions while honoring legacy culture. From listening tours to tough calls on pricing and segmentation, Eric opens up about the challenges and wins of his first six months in the role.
Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday.
Don’t miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Elevate your 2026 strategy and join us from September 23 to 25 in Washington, D.C. Use code TOPLINE for 10% off your GA ticket.
Stay ahead with the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends with Topline Newsletter by Asad Zaman. Subscribe today.
Tune in to The Revenue Leadership Podcast every Wednesday, where host Kyle Norton talks with real revenue operators and dives deep into what it takes to succeed as a modern revenue leader.
You’re invited! Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders, share insights, and keep the conversation going beyond the podcast!
Key chapters:
(00:00) - Introduction to Topline and Eric Anderson
(02:30) - Eric's Journey to CEO at Walnut
(06:49) - Navigating Cultural Differences in Leadership
(09:11) - Understanding Board Dynamics as a CEO
(11:36) - Making Bold Decisions as a First-Time CEO
(15:00) - Strategic Focus and Market Positioning
(16:52) - Looking Ahead: Future Plans for Walnut