Topline

Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday.

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Stay ahead with the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37158185

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 /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37116190

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 /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37116195

We explore how ChatGPT’s new integration capabilities are poised to turn CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot into “just another database.” This episode breaks down what it means when the interaction and analysis layers move outside the system of record—and what that means for GTM teams. The conversation also touches on the hallucination problem in LLMs, how leaders are using AI in real workflows, and why a growing number of founders are embracing an intense, seven-day-a-week work culture.

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AI is changing how companies build teams and entry-level roles may not survive the shift. In this episode, Sam Jacobs, AJ Bruno, and Asad Zaman dig into how automation is reshaping the job market, what it means for new grads, and why hiring managers need to rethink what “junior talent” looks like. From the rise of AI-native workers to the disappearance of traditional training grounds, this conversation explores the real impact of AI on the future of work.

Thanks for tuning in! New ep /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37046305

Eric Simons spent seven years building toward a vision that almost never saw the light of day. After countless iterations, near-misses, and growing pressure from his board to shut the company down, he and his cofounder made one final bet—and that bet became Bolt. In just four months, Bolt skyrocketed to $40 million in ARR, becoming one of the fastest-growing SaaS products in recent memory.

In this episode, Eric joins the Topline team to share the full story. He explains how years of qu /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37046310

In this episode, Yext CEO Michael Walrath joins Sam, Asad, and AJ to talk about what comes after Google. With over two decades of experience leading and investing in internet businesses—including Right Media and Moat—Michael unpacks how AI is reshaping the way we search, discover, and interact with information online.

He explains why the old rules of SEO no longer apply, how structured data and digital presence are becoming mission-critical, and what brands need to do now to stay vis /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37046315

Sam Jacobs, AJ Bruno, and Asad Zaman confront the emotional weight and operational strain of leading through sustained GTM volatility. They reflect on the mental health toll of missed quarters, the pressure to perform under investor scrutiny, and the fine line between perseverance and sunk-cost thinking. The trio explores how founders can navigate uncertain markets with clear contingency planning, why Pavilion is betting big on small peer groups to improve retention, and what the recent wave of strategic /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37046320

When Sam Jacobs founded Pavilion, formerly Revenue Collective, he set out to build a private community for operators in a startup world that traditionally celebrated only founders and operators. But after the community grew rapidly, now totaling 10,000+ members, questions arose about whether the once-exclusive membership had become too open. In this special Topline Spotlight episode, Sam joins co-host /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37046325

In this episode, Sam, AJ, and Asad are joined by Guy Rubin to dive deep into the critical insights from Ebsta's latest sales benchmarking report. Their report uncovers what separates high-performing sales organizations from the rest. They take a sobering look at current quota attainmen /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37046330

When Rick Smolen stepped into the CRO role at ShipHero, he wasn’t just inheriting a sales team—he was taking on the entire customer lifecycle. From marketing to partnerships to customer success, Rick had to quickly learn how to lead teams in functions he’d never directly owned before. In this episode, he shares what that transition was really like, the mistakes he made early on, and how curiosity became his most powerful leadership tool.

You're invited! /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37046335

In this episode, we’re joined by Gaurav Agarwal, COO of ClickUp, who’s led the company’s explosive growth to over 10 million users while slashing CAC by 3X and achieving profitability. Gaurav dives into why ClickUp’s hybrid motion is crushing it and how to align both for compounding returns, how they reduced CAC by ruthlessly optimizing spend and embracing incrementality over attribution, /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37046340

Russ Mikowski, CEO of SurePeople and longtime revenue leader intech, never planned to become a CEO, until he was recruited to transform a 10-year-old company grappling with technical debt, a scattered ICP, and untapped potential. In this episode of Topline Spotlight, Russ opens up about the tough decisions he’s made since taking the helm: rebuilding instead of refactoring, saying "no" to legacy /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37046345

In this episode, Sam Jacobs and Asad Zaman are joined by Eric Wilford, a venture partner at Accel, to discuss venture investing with a focus on AI-first companies. The discussion delves into what defines an AI-first company, the implications of AI on product development and go-to-market strategies, and the influence of macroeconomic conditions on venture investments. Eric also shares his perspectives on valuation, the competitive dynamics in AI, and the role of authenticity in successful entrepreneurship /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37046350

Marcos Rivera, Founder and CEO of Pricing I/O offers an inside look into how he transformed his solo consultancy into a thriving team of SaaS pricing experts. He shares practical insights on pricing strategy, including why companies should revisit pricing regularly, how underpricing affects customer perception, and why adding more features isn't always the solution to retention problems.

Yo /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37046355

The hosts dissect Attio's AI-native CRM disrupting traditional customer management and examine the surprisingly resilient seed/Series B funding landscape despite economic headwinds. Learn how AI is fundamentally changing go-to-market playbooks, enabling tech companies to scale faster than ever before, and which AI sales tools have genuine staying power.

Thanks for tuning in! Join the free Topli /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37046360

LucidLink CEO and Co-founder Pete Thompson offers an inside look into how he rapidly scaled LucidLink, a company that transforms cloud storage into an accessible, high-performance drive. Pete discusses the critical steps and strategies that propelled the company from its inception in 2016, through struggles to find product-market fit, to achieving breakthrough success during the pandemic.

Key Moments:

(00:46) - Spotlight on Pete Thompson of LucidLink

(01:42) /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37046365

What should founders and operators prioritize when the market swings 6% in a day? In this episode, Sam, Asad and AJ break down the fallout from historic tariff whiplash, trillion-dollar market swings, and the signals that separate resilient companies from risky bets. They debate:

• Defensive moves vs. offensive plays: When to cut costs, when to lean into growth, and why “profitable efficiency” is the new mantra.
• Customer psychology in ch /episode/index/show/ed89b0ae-e358-414a-9719-bac1c505b717/id/37046370