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- 🇨🇦CA · Technology#1295K to 30K
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3.3K to 15K🎙 Daily cadence·239 episodes·Last published 6d ago - Monthly Reach
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11K to 50K🇨🇦60%🇳🇴20%🇮🇸20% - Active Followers
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From 10 epsHosts
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Recent episodes
Build The World Class Team That Anthropic Won't Steal | Craig Rosenberg, CPO @Scale Venture Partners
May 31, 2026
Unknown duration
AI Marketing Has A Disease. Can The Cure Be Bought, Taught, or Caught? | Kyle Lacy, CMO @ Docebo
May 24, 2026
Unknown duration
Playbook: AI-Era Customer Success For Hyper Growth | Sam Slevin, Global SVP CS @ AlphaSense
May 17, 2026
Unknown duration
AI Cyber Exec: Vibecoding Is A Security Time Bomb | Ryan Burke, VP Worldwide Sales @ Crogl
May 10, 2026
Unknown duration
Top Investor: AI Killed Most Moats. These 4 Still Work | Liz Christo, Partner @ Stage 2 Capital
May 3, 2026
1h 02m 22s
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| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/31/26 |  Build The World Class Team That Anthropic Won't Steal | Craig Rosenberg, CPO @Scale Venture Partners | Craig Rosenberg, Chief Platform Officer at Scale Venture Partners and co-founder of Topo, joins AJ Bruno and Asad Zaman to take on the question every founder is wrestling with: can you still build a world-class sales team when OpenAI and Anthropic are handing individual contributors $10 million equity packages? Craig argues you do not have to compete head-on, then lays out the hiring profile to chase instead, the quota-to-comp discipline that keeps packages sane, and why founder brand has become the most reliable pipeline play left as CAC keeps climbing. Topics include enterprise AE compensation, where private equity is still winning the GTM talent war, the Topo playbook for events and data-as-moat, and a bull-versus-bear debate on whether Gong goes public in the next 36 months. Plus, a Quiz Pro Quo on the real customer counts behind Salesforce, HubSpot, and ZoomInfo. Key Takeaways: - Rather than try to outbid OpenAI and Anthropic for talent, build your own farm system and develop people into the role. As Craig Rosenberg, Chief Platform Officer at Scale Venture Partners, put it: "You have to change your hiring profile to a unique profile that's unique to your business, but then you gotta coach 'em up." - A resume from a hot AI lab is not a guarantee of success at your company. As Craig Rosenberg noted, "The person that is going to do well at Anthropic may not do well at Series B," so hire for the stage and the hunger rather than the logo. - On compensation, Craig anchors the package to the role's real value: "you pay for what your wedge costs… if you feel like you have to pay $10 million, then you have a huge problem and you gotta go back to the drawing board." If the number runs away from you, the model is broken. - With CAC climbing and most channels breaking down, founder brand has become the highest-leverage pipeline play. As Craig Rosenberg said, "The value of building a founder brand, when you look at the data, it's amazing," pointing to gains in both pipeline and deal size. Connect with the Hosts & Guests: Host: AJ Bruno, CEO at QuotaPath - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajbruno3/ Host: Asad Zaman, CEO at Sales Talent Agency - https://www.linkedin.com/in/azaman1/ Guest: Craig Rosenberg, Chief Platform Officer at Scale Venture Partners - https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigrosenberg/ Topline is more than a YouTube Channel: Subscribe to Topline Newsletter: https://toplinemedia.substack.com/ Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech: https://www.joinpavilion.com/topline-podcast Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast: https://www.joinpavilion.com/topline-slack Chapters: 00:00 Introducing Craig Rosenberg 02:34 Can Anyone Out-Hire The AI Labs? 04:33 Why Craig Isn't Worried 06:52 Enterprise AE Comp Is Climbing 08:21 Founders Overpay For Star CROs 10:53 Why AI Reps Struggle At Series B 14:00 Hire The Slighted CRO 14:42 Quota-To-Comp And Attainment 18:45 Can AI Labs Sustain Growth? 22:20 Where PE Still Wins GTM Talent 27:17 Major Runs Reshape GTM 32:36 The Topo GTM Playbook 37:55 Quiz Pro Quo 47:45 Founder Brand And Rising CAC 58:42 Bulls and Bears | — | ||||||
| 5/24/26 |  AI Marketing Has A Disease. Can The Cure Be Bought, Taught, or Caught? | Kyle Lacy, CMO @ Docebo | Kyle Lacy, CMO at Docebo (previously Lessonly, Seismic, Jellyfish), joins Sam Jacobs, AJ Bruno, and Asad Zaman to push back on AI-era "efficiency" gospel in marketing. Topics include why product marketing under a sales-led organization will die, and the one-page Wall Street Journal manifesto every CMO should make their CEO write. Plus, why OpenAI and Anthropic might be lost when it comes to POV...AND the $300M Windows 95 launch with Jennifer Aniston and a Polish submarine (obviously). Key Takeaways: - Build the company manifesto first. As Kyle Lacy, CMO at Docebo, framed it: "I frame it with my CEO as... you have a direction you want to take this company. I need a one-page document that reads like a manifesto that you would publish in the Wall Street Journal tomorrow as a full-page ad. And that's our guiding light." Messaging pillars, ICPs, and personas all flow from that single document; the framework can never be the source. - Spend 80% on demand, then defend the other 20% for brand. Kyle's decade-long rule: "If you can figure out how to generate the demand you need off of 70 to 80% of your budget, then you can do whatever the hell you want, like golden llamas or hiring Jennifer Aniston to do your software training, whatever." Marketing leaders who haven't earned pipeline credibility lose the brand line item first when budget tightens. - Don't fold marketing under the CRO. "Product marketing living under a sales-led organization, it will die, will die slowly because you can't get the right people in the role that want to do it," Kyle said. He distinguishes between marketers becoming CROs (good) and marketing being absorbed structurally into the revenue org (fatal) because the executive-level tension between brand and demand is what protects both. - The Lessonly playbook wouldn't survive 2026. Kyle's honest reading: "Lessonly in this age would get eaten alive. Our software did not have a moat. It was really simple to use. You could probably vibe code it down a weekend." What does survive is the customer-first culture and the storytelling. At Docebo's recent Inspire user conference in Miami, customers organically produced more LinkedIn content about the event than the team had ever seen, with zero solicitation campaigns. Connect with the Hosts & Guests: Host: Sam Jacobs, CEO at Pavilion - https://www.linkedin.com/in/samfjacobs/ Host: AJ Bruno, CEO at QuotaPath - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajbruno3/ Host: Asad Zaman, CEO at Sales Talent Agency - https://www.linkedin.com/in/azaman1/ Guest: Kyle Lacy, CMO at Docebo - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylelacy/ Topline is more than a YouTube Channel: Subscribe to Topline Newsletter: https://toplinemedia.substack.com/ Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech: https://www.joinpavilion.com/topline-podcast Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast: https://www.joinpavilion.com/topline-slack Chapters: 00:00 Introducing Kyle Lacy 03:30 Is Brand Building Having Its Moment? 08:33 Word Is Brand: The 60/40 Mix 11:12 Surprise and Delight, Lessonly Lore 16:36 The Manifesto Framework 19:37 OpenAI and Anthropic Have No Manifesto 26:40 Brand at the Application Layer 27:35 Six Figures, No Anthropic Time 32:35 Quiz Pro Quo 39:27 SaaS-Era Marketers Under Attack 43:10 Should Marketing Report to a CRO? 54:42 Authenticity, Jellyfish, and Docebo 57:06 Bulls and Bears | — | ||||||
| 5/17/26 |  Playbook: AI-Era Customer Success For Hyper Growth | Sam Slevin, Global SVP CS @ AlphaSense | Sam Slevin, Global SVP of Customer Success at AlphaSense, joins Sam Jacobs, AJ Bruno, and Asad Zaman on the AI-era customer success playbook. Topics include why service is the differentiator over the next 2 to 3 years, the case for customer success owning a revenue number from day one, the gap between finance's productivity targets and real-life capacity. Plus, the origins of customer success, why consumption-based pricing can quickly become a trap, and a bull-versus-bear debate on whether HubSpot can get back to a $20 billion market cap. In short... big episode! Key Takeaways: - After 17 years building customer success teams, Sam Slevin doesn't entertain the "should CS own a number" debate. As Sam Slevin, Global SVP of Customer Success at AlphaSense, put it: "in my 17 years of, of customer success and leadership within customer success, that has never actually been a debate for, for me. I, I would never take a role that doesn't have revenue focused and like impact owning a number, calling your forecast from day one." His standing practice when he joins a new company: build a top-down and bottoms-up forecast on day one and validate it the same way sales does. - Slevin's central thesis is that AI raises the floor on automation while service becomes the upside lever for the next 2 to 3 years. As Slevin put it: "I don't think there could be a more exciting time to be in customer success where service feels like it could be the major differentiator over the next 2 to 3 years." The CS team that listens carefully, builds deep relationships, and meets customers where they are wins the renewal and the expansion. - The hardest tension in CS productivity is the gap between what finance models demand and what individual accounts actually support. As Slevin put it on his approach: "I definitely want to increase productivity in ARR per AM. What's interesting is I feel like there's a finance model and then there's a real life model… finance will say we need $15 million per AM." The leader's job, Slevin argues, is to find the 10% operational drag (AM-to-AE handoffs, billing friction, segmentation gaps) and remove it to close the gap. - On HubSpot's path back to $20 billion, AJ Bruno takes the bullish side based on customer behavior signals. As AJ Bruno, CEO at QuotaPath, put it: "And the fact that they've gone horizontal, um, now I know that there are like 70% of their customers are still looking for answers for HubSpot of what AI needs to look like, and they haven't let the opportunity yet pass them by, but it's getting shaky right now." Sam Jacobs took the bearish side, citing structural challenges and faster-moving AI-first competitors. Connect with the Hosts & Guests: Host: Sam Jacobs, CEO at Pavilion - https://www.linkedin.com/in/samfjacobs/ Host: AJ Bruno, CEO at QuotaPath - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajbruno3/ Host: Asad Zaman, CEO at Sales Talent Agency - https://www.linkedin.com/in/azaman1/ Guest: Sam Slevin, Global SVP Customer Success at AlphaSense - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-slevin-9b2ba21b/ Topline is more than a YouTube Channel: Subscribe to Topline Newsletter: https://toplinemedia.substack.com/ Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech: https://www.joinpavilion.com/topline-podcast Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast: https://www.joinpavilion.com/topline-slack Chapters: 00:00 Introducing Sam Slevin 03:13 Customer Success in the AI Era 04:28 Should CS Own a Number? 07:43 Gross Retention vs. Growth 11:02 The Number-Owner Premium 14:37 Service as the AI-Era Moat 22:19 Productivity Per Person 26:34 Vendor Spend and AI Voice Modes 35:12 Reimagining GTM Roles 38:51 Quiz Pro Quo 45:38 Seat to Usage-Based Pricing 50:12 Pricing AI Like a Meter 55:43 CSM vs Salesperson Comp Gap 58:43 Bulls and Bears | — | ||||||
| 5/10/26 |  AI Cyber Exec: Vibecoding Is A Security Time Bomb | Ryan Burke, VP Worldwide Sales @ Crogl | Ryan Burke, VP of Worldwide Sales at Crogl, joins Sam Jacobs, AJ Bruno, and Asad Zaman on the new economics of enterprise cyber risk. Topics include Anthropic's Mythos model, AI for the security operations center, why vibe-coded apps are far more likely to have security issues, why Claude Design tanked Figma's stock, and what the Elon Musk versus OpenAI lawsuit signals for AI governance. Key takeaways: AI has crashed the cost of running sophisticated attacks, putting nation-state-grade tooling in the hands of low-skill operators. As Ryan Burke, VP of Worldwide Sales at Crogl, put it on Anthropic's Mythos model: "Mythos has lowered the cost to like the dollar menu equivalent of...running an attack...so more people can do it." Enterprises are staring down a multi-year patching backlog that runs from now until the end of time. Non-technical teams in finance, ops, and HR are shipping internal tools using Replit and Claude, and almost none of them are securing what they build. Ryan Burke flagged the research: "vibe-coded software is almost 3 times as likely to have security issues." When the employee who built the agent quits, the agent stays behind with no owner, no documentation, and quiet access to systems it never should have had in the first place. For founders eyeing an exit, security has joined revenue, IP, and hitting your numbers as a non-negotiable diligence pillar. As Ryan Burke explained: "lack of security can kill an acquisition...a fourth pillar now is you're secure." Acquirers like JPMorgan Chase will not buy a fintech startup that turns into a vector for attackers to walk straight into their environment. The market case for NRR-fortress legacy SaaS may be weaker than the last decade made it look. As Asad Zaman, CEO of Sales Talent Agency, argued: "there was a generation of software companies that had signs that they had really good customer relationships...but their customers felt more like prisoners." If AI makes switching cheap and a new generation of software actually delights users, the moats around system-of-record incumbents start to compress fast. Connect with the hosts and guest: Host: Sam Jacobs, CEO at Pavilion - https://www.linkedin.com/in/samfjacobs/ Host: AJ Bruno, CEO at QuotaPath - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajbruno3/ Host: Asad Zaman, CEO at Sales Talent Agency - https://www.linkedin.com/in/azaman1/ Guest: Ryan Burke, VP Worldwide Sales at Crogl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-burke-bos/ Topline is more than a YouTube Channel: Subscribe to Topline Newsletter: https://toplinemedia.substack.com/ Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech: https://www.joinpavilion.com/topline-podcast Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast: https://www.joinpavilion.com/topline-slack Chapters: 00:00 Introducing Ryan Burke 03:14 Anthropic Mythos and Cyber Risk 04:20 How Attackers Use AI at Scale 07:00 Dollar Menu Attacks Explained 10:41 AI for the Security Ops Center 14:53 Why Claude Tanks Figma's Stock 18:30 Sam's Advice on Falling Stocks 20:50 Are Legacy SaaS Companies Back? 24:04 The Vibe-Coding Risk Surface 27:56 Quiz Pro: Cybersecurity Edition 33:46 Replit Apps Inside Enterprises 40:18 Security as the M&A Fourth Pillar 44:17 Personal Data and Digital Legacy 47:24 Bulls vs Bears: Elon vs OpenAI 52:03 Will ServiceNow Hit $32B? | — | ||||||
| 5/3/26 |  Top Investor: AI Killed Most Moats. These 4 Still Work | Liz Christo, Partner @ Stage 2 Capital✨ | venture capitalAI tools+4 | Liz Christo | Stage 2 Capital | — | AImoats+7 | — | 1h 02m 22s | |
| 4/26/26 |  VC Whisperer: There Will Be No Exits For... | Peter Walker, Head of Insights @ Carta✨ | venture capitalprivate equity+4 | Peter Walker | CartaSaaS | US | venture capitalprivate equity+5 | — | 1h 03m 17s | |
| 4/19/26 |  The #1 GTM Engineer In The World | Jordan Crawford, Founder @ Blueprint GTM✨ | GTM Engineeringrevenue operations+4 | Jordan Crawford | Blueprint GTMPavilion | — | GTMrevenue leaders+5 | — | 55m 34s | |
| 4/12/26 |  How Top VCs Pick Winners In 2026 | Cassie Young, General Partner @ Primary Venture Partners✨ | venture capitalAI in business+4 | Cassie Young | AI-native CRMsPrimary Venture Partners+2 | 2026 | venture capitalseed fund+5 | — | 1h 05m 54s | |
| 4/5/26 |  What World-Class AI in GTM Looks Like | Kyle Norton, CRO @ Owner.com✨ | AI in salesgo-to-market strategy+3 | Kyle Norton | Owner.com | — | AIsales+5 | — | 49m 26s | |
| 3/29/26 |  Is This The End of Sales As We Know It? (CEO @ 1mind, Amanda Kahlow)✨ | AI in salesgo to market strategy+3 | Amanda Kahlow | 1mind6sense | — | AI sales agentsbuying experience+3 | — | 1h 00m 48s | |
Want analysis for the episodes below?Free for Pro Submit a request, we'll have your selected episodes analyzed within an hour. Free, at no cost to you, for Pro users. | |||||||||
| 3/22/26 |  Why Intercom Destroyed Its Predictable SaaS Revenue✨ | SaaS revenueAI technology+4 | — | Intercom | — | IntercomSaaS+6 | — | 55m 13s | |
| 3/15/26 |  Do SaaS Teams ACTUALLY Need AI?✨ | AI adoptionchange management+4 | AJ BrunoAsad Zaman | PavilionQuotaPath+2 | — | AI adoptionSaaS teams+5 | — | 23m 35s | |
| 3/8/26 |  This is How Tech Executives Will Get Hired in 2026✨ | career transitionAI companies+5 | — | ReplitClaude+2 | — | SaaSAI+5 | — | 27m 53s | |
| 3/1/26 |  Citrini Needs to Chill (but SaaS DOES Need to Change)✨ | AI impact on jobsSaaS market changes+3 | AJ BrunoAsad Zaman | Citrini ResearchGong | — | AI agentsSaaS stocks+5 | — | 57m 55s | |
| 2/26/26 | SPOTLIGHT: Raising $55M When You're Not "AI-Native" | Nick Turner, CEO @ Dreamdata | Nick Turner, CEO of Dreamdata, joins Sam in this special episode of Topline Spotlight. They unpack a challenge many B2B leaders are facing right now: how do you raise capital in a market obsessed with AI when you're not an "AI-native" company? Nick shares his journey from CRO to CEO and what it was like stepping into the top job—only to immediately lead a $55M Series B raise in one of the toughest venture environments in recent history. After speaking with 73 investors in six weeks, he reflects on the realities of fundraising today, investor skepticism around revenue durability, and why profitable, efficient growth still wins. Nick brings nearly 20 years of commercial leadership experience scaling martech companies from Seed and Series A to $75M in revenue. Now leading Dreamdata—a Copenhagen-based B2B marketing attribution and activation platform—he's helping marketers prove what's working and take action on it. | — | ||||||
| 2/22/26 | "SaaS is Dead!" - So What Do We Do Now? | Over the course of a few days, $300 billion in market cap was wiped out from public SaaS companies. Looking at the ten most notable US publicly traded SaaS companies over the last six months, they have lost upwards of $600 billion. The public markets are signaling that the classic VC-funded SaaS model is under massive pressure to show rapid AI integration and tangible revenue growth. This episode examines the fallout of the SaaS market correction and what it means for go-to-market operators. We discuss the shift away from legacy system of record platforms toward agile, AI-native solutions that eat labor budgets. The conversation covers how to adjust your GTM strategy if you are not growing at AI rates, why cash flow is now king over growth at all costs, and how to build a resilient enterprise pipeline generation engine. Finally, we share predictions on which SaaS stocks might bounce back from the dip. Key Takeaways Companies failing to match AI-driven growth expectations are facing severe valuation resets from public markets, as AJ Bruno explains that "The argument you're hearing is AI will replace SaaS... that's the lazy argument... What AI is doing is it's compressing the time value of money." Software businesses unable to achieve hypergrowth must pivot to strict operational efficiency, with Sam Jacobs noting, "If you're generating $50 million growing 25% and you're just breaking even, I need you to either grow faster or be more profitable." Go-to-market professionals at legacy software companies have a limited opportunity to pivot their careers toward emerging technology, as Asad Zaman advises, "Right now the window is open... That window will get smaller and smaller as time grows by. So if you are not confident in your company, this is the time to make a shift and enter the new world." Connect with the Hosts & Guests: Host: Sam Jacobs Host: AJ Bruno Host: Asad Zaman Topline is more than a YouTube Channel: Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to the SaaS Collapse 07:12 Billions Wiped From SaaS Market Caps 10:44 Compressing the Time Value of Money 14:27 Why Revenue Growth Trumps All 20:56 The Threat of AI Inference Costs 25:17 Shifting Careers to the AI World 28:21 Entering the Slow Growth Movement 35:27 Building Long Term Craft Businesses 38:29 Winning the Long Brand Game 42:03 Founder Burnout and Pivot Challenges 48:24 Managing Investor Board Expectations 52:02 Reengineering for a Platform Shift 60:57 Public SaaS Stock Rebound Picks | — | ||||||
| 2/15/26 | The Business Case for Robot Overlords (Or At Least Robots That Unload Trucks) | CEO AJ Meyer | AJ Meyer, CEO of Pickle Robot, isn't betting on general-purpose humanoid robots. Instead, he's a believer in robots and Physical AI which solve specific, high-volume problems. AJ joins Sam and Asad to reveal how he recently secured a nine-figure enterprise contract and why "boring" logistics tasks are the gateway to mass adoption of robots. But with mass adoption's opportunities, so too are there new risks. AJ shares that while physical safety is an important consideration, the cybersecurity risk of a networked robot workforce is what needs the most attention right now. This and a ton more in this week's episode of Topline with Sam Jacobs (CEO @ Pavilion) and Asad Zaman (CEO @ Sales Talent Agency). Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:00 Teaser and Introduction to AJ Meyer 02:53 The Convergence of Physical and Digital AI 05:50 Safety Constraints and the "Acrobat" Robot Disaster 09:19 Mobile Manipulation vs. General Purpose Humanoids 12:47 Cybersecurity Risks in Connected Robot Networks 18:52 AI Surveillance and Authoritarian Risks 28:01 Debunking the Myth of Unskilled Labor 34:54 The Moving Goalposts of AGI 38:19 Solving the Open World Generalization Problem 42:09 Why Foundation Models Need Systems Engineering 48:23 Designing Business Models for Enterprise and Mid-Market 53:20 The Nine-Figure "ChatGPT Moment" for Robotics 58:14 Transferring SaaS Go-To-Market Skills to Hardware 01:03:45 Taste and Judgment as Career Differentiators 01:07:50 Hiring Needs and Closing Thoughts | — | ||||||
| 2/8/26 | Mark Roberge (Ex-HubSpot CRO): "AI Startups Will See the Highest Failure Rate in History" | Mark Roberge is calling it now: we are about to witness the highest failure rate for a single cohort of startups in the history of tech. As author of Science of Scaling, and co-founder of Stage 2 Capital, Mark joins the pod to dismantle the "growth at all costs" mindset that still plagues founders. He explains why the assembly-line sales model is dead and how AI will force a return to the full-cycle "rainmaker" rep. **Key moments:** The AI Bubble: Why the index fund of the last two years of AI investments is likely doomed. Fixing Your ICP: And how optimizing for CAC or inbound volume without ICP fundamentals in place is a recipe for disaster The 80% Rule: How AI moves reps from 25% selling time to 80%, and what that means for the future of SDR, AE, and CS functions LIR - What it is and Why It Matters: Why every board deck needs a a LIR slide to predict product-market fit before revenue numbers hit **Note:** Mark is donating 100% of the proceeds from his new book to mental health causes. Grab a copy of *The Science of Scaling* on Amazon! Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:00 Introduction: Mark Roberge and The Science of Scaling 03:44 Founder Turnover and Loyalty in the AI Era 06:18 Navigating Founder Burnout and Strategic Pivots 16:30 Predicting High Failure Rates for AI-Native Startups 18:57 The Origin Story Behind The Science of Scaling 24:51 Why Most Companies Define Their ICP Wrong 28:34 The Leading Indicator of Retention (LIR) Framework 32:30 Real-World Example: Shifting ICP Based on Retention 37:22 Who Should Own Product-Market Fit? 43:23 Transitioning GTM Strategies from SaaS to AI 47:29 The End of Specialization: Collapsing GTM Roles 51:12 Solving GTM Inefficiency by Increasing Selling Time 56:50 How to Pilot the Consolidated "Ninja AE" Role 01:04:29 Designing Organizations for Rainmakers vs. Average Reps 01:08:01 Mental Health, Gratitude, and Closing Thoughts | — | ||||||
| 2/1/26 | AI Talent Wars: OpenAI, Thinking Machines & Meta Fighting For Breakthroughs | The AI arms race is getting ugly. With top talent bouncing between Thinking Machines and OpenAI, the guys debate a critical question for every leader: Is loyalty dead, or has Silicon Valley just stopped pretending? Sam, Asad, and AJ discuss the ethics and dangers of the "secure the bag" mindset and what it means for building enduring companies. They also pivot to the tactical side of leadership, breaking down why most managers wait too long to fire and the hard truth that "what you allow, you encourage." Key topics: The Thinking Machines exodus: Performance issues or corporate sabotage? Do ethics actually matter when the prize is AGI? The one management mantra every GTM leader needs for a high performing team Quitting the content hamster wheel: The hosts' priorities for the next chapter. Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:00 Intro: Top Line, Pavilion Gold, and Today's Agenda 02:28 The Thinking Machines Exodus and OpenAI's Hiring Spree 08:08 Capital Incentives: Why Tech Talent Has Become Mercenary 14:03 The Core Debate: Do Values Matter in Modern Tech? 18:41 The "Get the Bag" Mentality vs. Building Forever Companies 23:00 The Risks of Accelerating into a Future Without Ethics 31:28 Impact on GTM: Shorter Tenures and Transactional Hiring 34:25 Why Swiftly Correcting Underperformance is an Act of Loyalty 45:00 Why Organizational Values Are Useless Without Defined Behaviors 01:00:38 Final Question: What Are You Under-Prioritizing for 2026? | — | ||||||
| 1/25/26 | The Job Market Just Completely Flipped (Nobody's Talking About It) | AJ and Asad talk about one of the most insane job markets we've ever seen, the rise of AI agents, and the future of AI's talent wars. Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:00 Introduction and Hosts 00:32 The Golden Age of Sales 00:55 Sales Roles and AI 12:30 Branding vs. Performance Marketing 21:05 The Role of Brand in B2B Tech 30:18 The Notion Dilemma 40:40 The Importance of Letting Go 50:39 The Golden Era of Sales 59:59 Reading Tips and Longevity Investments | — | ||||||
| 1/18/26 | These Charts Explain 2026 | Sam, Asad, and AJ are back to debate the hard numbers shaping the GTM landscape in 2026. The consensus? The freeze is thawing, but the rules have changed. Sam predicts we've entered the "Year of the Deal." Investors are exhausted, founders are tired, and the market is finally ready to clear—even if that means restructuring cap tables to take the win and move on. Asad brings the sobering data on the "Great Concentration," revealing that almost half of venture capital went to a surprisingly small number of companies, while AJ argues that without a compelling AI narrative, traditional SaaS assets will face a brutal valuation ceiling. Chapters: 00:36 Welcome to 2026: Intro and Hosts 02:30 Quiz Pro Quo 08:56 Sam's Prediction: The Year of the Deal 13:53 AI-Native vs. Traditional Investment Trends 16:42 Founder Exhaustion and the Acceptance of Lower Exits 19:40 The VC Perspective on Clearing "Vintage" Funds 24:00 Advice for Seed Founders: Shut Down or Sell? 28:22 Sam's Bearish Take on OpenAI's Financials 31:12 Testing the Stickiness of AI Models 38:03 Asad's Prediction: The Era of Capital Concentration 43:21 Why 2026 Will See Increased Layoffs 46:37 The Confusion of a High-Churn Job Market 50:19 Shoutouts and Personal Reflections | — | ||||||
| 1/11/26 | The 13 AI Agents Inside a $90 Billion Machine | MIT reports that 95% of AI initiatives are failing to show ROI. Pablo Dominguez, Operating Partner at Insight Partners, joins the show to explain how to escape that group, and be in the 5% of companies that succeed. Pablo opens the playbook on "Dylan," Insight's internal system of 13 autonomous agents that cut their due diligence process from 35 hours down to 14. Other high points: How Insight used tools like Relevance AI and Gong to build an agent swarm that handles research, analysis, and data cleaning. Why Engineers aren't necessarily who you'd want to build these workflows (and who you need instead) How the CEO of a successful SaaS company is aiming for 5x developer productivity in 2026 Plus the "why" behind some spicy 2026 predictions like: the death of the traditional CRM, Sam Altman's potential exit from OpenAI, and the coming consolidation of "vibe coding" platforms. Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:00 Introduction: Pablo Dominguez and Insight Partners 04:57 Insight's Structure and Value Creation Engine 08:12 Why Most Companies Fail to Get AI ROI 11:05 Case Study: Automating Diligence with AI Agents 15:39 Resources Required to Build Autonomous Systems 21:23 Managing Hallucinations and Accuracy in AI 31:09 Scaling AI Literacy and Organizational Fluency 37:15 Measuring Engineering Productivity and Cloud Coding 43:14 Balancing AI Automation with Human Authenticity 52:23 Market Trends: Buyer Behavior and Churn Risks 57:18 The Spectrum: From Workflows to Agentic Systems 01:01:13 Why Retention Issues Are Always Product Problems 01:04:35 Bold Industry Predictions for 2026 01:05:43 The Potential Death of the Traditional CRM | — | ||||||
| 1/4/26 | He Built a SaaS Monster with $1 Million (And Refused to Raise More) | Wade Foster (CEO) built Zapier into a profitable powerhouse without traditional VC funding—just $1M post-YC, then profitable ever since. On this episode, the co-founder and CEO shares how that capital discipline shaped their ability to pivot hard when AI hit. Wade also dishes on: The GPT-4 moment that shifted Zapier's roadmap A tested formula for AI agents that actually work How to incentivize internal AI adoption Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:00 Introduction: Wade Foster and the Age of Agents 02:38 Zapier's Origin: Solving the SaaS Integration Problem 04:14 From Zaps to Agents: The Evolution of Automation 05:07 How GPT-4 Changed Zapier's Internal Strategy 06:43 Unstructured Data and the Rise of Vibe Building 09:56 Why Long-Term Product Roadmaps Are Now Obsolete 13:00 Transitioning from PLG to Enterprise Amidst Competition 17:58 What Actually Works: Defining Successful Agentic Workflows 20:59 Building an AI-Literate Company Culture 26:18 Future Outlook: AI Bubbles vs. Product Reality 27:38 Navigating Board Expectations During Technology Shifts 30:23 Zapier's Capital Efficiency and Fundraising History 33:58 Founder Advice: Prioritizing Long-Term Thinking | — | ||||||
| 12/21/25 | $50k vs $500K vs $50M Sales People - How to WIN In Modern Sales | We are multi-million-dollar CEOs specializing in sales and go to market teams in tech. We've met more millionaire sales people than you can count. This is exactly how to explode your income in our favorite career path. We are multi-million-dollar CEOs specializing in sales and go to market teams in tech. We've met more millionaire sales people than you can count. This is exactly how to explode your income in our favorite career path. Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 01:46 Sales Market Trivia: Headcounts and Income Statistics 07:14 CRO Compensation Realities and OTE Attainment 11:36 Can You Make $100k in Your First Year? 15:53 Essential Personality Traits for Top Sales Performance 21:25 The Timeline to Earning $200k and $300k 30:23 Strategies for Earning $1 Million in Sales 33:10 Executive Equity and Valuation Multiples in AI 38:10 Debate: Is OpenAI Too Big to Fail? 44:06 Kyle Poyar Joins: The State of AI Growth 45:17 Why AI Implementations Are Missing Expectations 50:32 Product Market Fit and AI-Driven Disillusionment 01:05:10 The Decline of Seat-Based Pricing Models 01:09:44 Emerging Pricing Models: Credits and Pass-Through Costs 01:17:48 The $500 Billion OpenAI Investment Question | — | ||||||
| 12/14/25 | How AI Killed the Ivy League Advantage | In this episode of Top Line, Sam Jacobs, Asad Zaman, and A.J. Bruno dive into the economic and mental health crises facing young professionals, analyzing data on why entry-level opportunities are shrinking in the age of AI. Shifting to business strategy, the group also examines the nuances of pricing power, warning companies against raising rates without delivering commensurate value to the customer. Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview 00:35 Quiz Pro: Testing Knowledge with Fun Questions 02:40 Discussion on Young Professionals' Challenges 13:44 Advice for Young Professionals Entering the Workforce 15:43 Mental Health and Employment Challenges 20:50 The Impact of Technology and Inequality 32:57 Navigating Career Choices for Young Professionals 33:22 The Importance of Cultural and Historical Awareness 34:57 Balancing STEM and Humanities in Education 35:21 Building Community and Identity 36:35 Practical Advice for Job Seekers 38:56 The Challenge of Pricing in Today's Market 45:16 The Impact of Private Equity on Industries 51:57 The Role of Strategy in Business Success 58:49 Personal Reflections and Inspirations | — | ||||||
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3 placements across 3 markets.
Chart Positions
3 placements across 3 markets.