Carta Head of Insights Peter Walker joins Topline to talk about key findings from the company's State of Startup Compensation Report for H1 2023, including what's happening with layoffs, why Q3 was the quarter with the largest number of startups dissolving or declaring bankruptcy, and how these trends are impacting employee attitudes around compensation, equity, and job mobility.
Oct 02, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 25
This week, the hosts discuss how much experience an SDR needs to be successful in the role. Hint: Traits like ambition, curiosity, and persistence matter more to the Topline crew than previous SDR experience.
Sep 28, 2023•11 min•Season 1Ep. 28
This week, Sam, AJ, and Asad talk 2024 planning, positive signs in the market, their approach to forecasting, and employee attrition trends heading into next year.
Sep 25, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 24
This week, the hosts discuss how to present to the board when you're still navigating product-market fit and the need to expand into new markets. Submit your question by using #Topline on LinkedIn or in the #function_CRO channel in Pavilion.
Sep 21, 2023•9 min•Season 1Ep. 26
This week, the hosts talk about CPI increases, the impact of retention, how to effectively run customer success, and valuations.
Sep 18, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 23
How do you acquire your first 10 B2B customers without funding? The hosts discuss reverse engineering, doing things that aren't scalable, and selling a solution.
Sep 14, 2023•8 min•Season 1Ep. 2
This week, AJ, Asad, and Sam discuss recent positive economic signals compared with the findings of Pavilion's latest Pulse survey, the seasonality of software sales, variable compensation, and aligning company objectives with incentives.
Sep 11, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 22
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 07, 2023•6 min•Season 1Ep. 22
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.
Sep 04, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 21
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 28, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 20
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 21, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 19
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 14, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 18
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.
Aug 07, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 17
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 31, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 16
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 24, 2023•57 min•Season 1Ep. 15
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 17, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 14
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.
Jul 10, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 13
This week on Topline, Sam, AJ and Asad are joined by guest Mark Roberge. Mark as the original head of sales at HubSpot, and has gone on to teach at Harvard Business School and found Stage 2 Capital. Together, they discuss the implications of AI for go-to-market teams, inflated VC valuations, and how investors think about AI investments.
Jul 03, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Insight Partners released new research this week on publicly traded PLG companies showing that sales led companies have higher valuations. The team digs into why and talks about Softbank's recent announcement that it has funds to invest and is ready for a "counter offensive," why Asad is sad the tech recession might end soon, and the biggest lessons they've learned from operating in a tight economy.
Jun 26, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 11
This week, the team talks about the state of the market and what it means for tech companies, how to drive engagement amongst employees in a tough economy, and whether burnout is really a problem and how to combat it.
Jun 20, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 10
In this week's episode, Sam, Asad and AJ reflect on Jeff Bezos' leadership style, how it has impacted Amazon's growth, and the lessons it holds for startup founders looking to foster a culture of innovation. They also check in on the state of the economy and debate whether companies should be looking to expand market share outside of tech.
Jun 13, 2023•56 min•Season 1Ep. 9
The guys talk about level setting the way we assess business performance in the current economy, why multiples for AI companies are way up, how AI is fueling new categories of careers, and the pros and cons of hiring execs that have side hustles.
Jun 05, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 8
This week, Sam, AJ and Asad reflect on recent congressional testimony about whether and to what degree AI should be regulated, and share insights around how they're working to get their teams aligned, improve communication, and make better decisions using data.
May 29, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Sam, Asad and AJ catch up on what's happening with the economy and the hiring market and talk through what the ideal profile of a seller is, what the right level of churn is, how to structure board meetings, and more.
May 22, 2023•51 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In this episode of Topline, Sam, Asad and AJ speak with special guest, Jamie Barnett, who currently serves as the Interim CEO for Writer. Jamie shares some insightful information about generative AI and how GTM (Go-To-Market) leaders can begin incorporating AI into their strategies. Jamie emphasizes the significance of generative AI in various aspects of business writing, including research and analysis, as well as repurposing and transforming content, and explains that utilizing AI can result i...
May 15, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Sam, AJ and Asad talk about the challenges that growth stage companies face when it comes to fundraising and company building. The conversation also touches on bridge rounds and the impact on common stockholders and options holders, as well as the current trends in tech, including AI and selling to non-tech sectors. The episode also covers the importance of finding a balance between being hard-driving and creating a healthy company culture, the pressure for CEOs to always be "on," and how experi...
May 08, 2023•51 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Sam, AJ and Asad are joined by Teampay CRO Andrea Kayal for a discussion about her career and the transition from CMO to CRO, the lessons she learned driving 70% QoQ growth at Electric while reducing sales and marketing costs by 90%, the impact that AI will have on revenue organizations, and the future of SDRs in an AI-powered world.
May 01, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Is tech the canary in the Cole mine of the economy? And is this a good thing in the sense that we'll recover first? Sam, AJ and Asad cover this, along with what the rate of change in AI means for how we work and what jobs will still be around in the future, the importance of staying focused as a CEO, opening new brick and mortar offices, what constitutes a great board meeting, and being deliberate about how you structure your day.
Apr 24, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Are we really headed for a recession? How should tech entrepreneurs and GTM leaders be thinking about sales quotas, compensation, and valuations? Have the events of the last few years impacted your mental health - and if so, how are you dealing with it? On the first episode of Topline, Sam Jacobs, AJ Bruno and Asad Zaman tackle these questions and more.
Apr 16, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 1
