

Topline
Pavilion
The #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Tune in every week to hear Sam Jacobs, AJ Bruno and Asad Zaman discuss and debate the trends, news, and developments impacting the B2B tech world. Enjoy the hot takes, strong opinions, and dry humor.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 7, 2023 • 6min
TOPLINE HOTLINE: Moving From Incentive-Based to Fixed Sales Compensation Models
Should you move to a fixed compensation model for your sales team? Will it hurt or help productivity? How will it impact your ability to recruit top talent?

Sep 4, 2023 • 46min
E21: The Return of the IPO Market, Why Early Stage Execs Should Study the Public Markets, Cultivating an Efficient Growth Mindset
The IPO market is heating up again, and AJ, Asad and Sam talk about lessons from Klaviyo, Instacart and Arm's S-1s, why so many companies are shifting from a growth posture to a profitability posture, and why early stage founders and execs should be studying the public markets.

Aug 28, 2023 • 58min
E20: Go-To-Market Alignment, the Role of the CMO, the Return of Events and Anxiety
This week on Topline the hosts talk about the importance of a unified approach to go-to-market, dig deeper into the specific challenges CMOs are facing post-pandemic, and explore why so many companies are doubling down on their investments in events this year. They also touch on the growing number of people suffering from anxiety and explore the impact that has on the workplace and the role that companies have in helping people cope with it.

Aug 21, 2023 • 1h 2min
E19: Doug Camplejohn on Building Culture and the Future of People Query Language
This week, Doug Camplejohn, CEO of Airspeed joins the hosts to discuss the difference between building products and building culture, the true definition of workplace culture, and PQL (people query language). The group also touches on the lessons from Microsoft's acquisition of LinkedIn, the rise of Slack, and how AI will integrate into our daily apps.

Aug 14, 2023 • 59min
E18: Building a Performance Driven Culture, Are SaaS Fundamentals Flawed?
This week, the hosts discuss how productivity and performance are impacted by remote work, whether companies should require their teams to return to the office, and how generational differences in attitudes towards work impact productivity and working patterns. They also check in on the state of the market, and Sam questions whether all of the fundamentals underpinning SaaS growth strategies are actually wrong.

Aug 7, 2023 • 43min
E17: Immaculate Disinflation, Surviving a Down Market, and The VC Reset
While there's a lot of buzz around the economy improving, Sam, AJ and Sad talk about the behind the scenes conversations they're having with other founders, why all signs point to another 9+ months of challenges, how they're coping with the ups and downs, and how the VC world has been impacted.

Jul 31, 2023 • 54min
E16: CEO Lessons from HubSpot, What Causes Burnout, and the State of the IPO Market
On this week's Topline, the hosts talk about a recent article HubSpot founder Brian Halligan shared about 20 lessons he learned as CEO and debate whether being a CEO is overrated, why feedback is a gift, what culture really is, and more. There's also a lively discussion around what causes burnout, and observations about upcoming IPOs and what they mean for the broader tech landscape.

Jul 24, 2023 • 57min
E15: State of the Market, Twitter v. Threads, and The Value of Taking a Pause
With inflation down and the probability of a soft landing increasing, the hosts talk about what this means for B2B tech, share their perspectives on Threads versus Twitter, and discuss the value of taking a pause and evaluating whether your life is truly in balance.

Jul 17, 2023 • 52min
E14: Kris Rudeegraap on the Journey from $0 to $100 Million
Sendoso CEO Kris Rudeegraap has lead the company through a growth journey from $0 to over $100 Million and in this episode, he shares lessons learned along the way. From using AI to summarize public company 10Q filings for the sales team, to offshoring to freelancers as a method of improving productivity and how he built a robust advisor community, Kris has leveraged a variety of strategies to stay scrappy and "do less, better" while powering the company's growth.

Jul 10, 2023 • 1h 1min
E13: Q2 Wrap Up, the State of US Politics, and the Outlook
As we wrap up Q2, Sam, AJ and Asad talk through lessons learned from a tough quarter, share their outlooks on what Q3 has in store, and dive into the contentious waters of US politics, including recent Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action and student loans, the war in Ukraine, and more.


