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

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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

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.

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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

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.

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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

We did a comprehensive study on the state of data centers. Where is money going? Where should you be betting? Everything you need to know about data centers, all in one place.

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Chapters:

00:00 Intro and Cold Open

01:18 Quiz Pro Quo: AI Infrastructure Stats and Energy Costs

06:14 Market Volatility and the "AI Bubble"

09:42 Navigating a Brutal Executive Job Market

11:33 Why Private Market M&A Has Stalled

13:54 Is This a Crash or the Industrial Revolution?

26:30 Investing in OpenAI: Risk vs. Reward

30:23 Optimism Meter: Rating the Market Outlook

38:25 Debating AI SDRs and Outbound Efficacy

41:46 Diagnosing Failure: Product vs. Execution

47:46 Rethinking Valuations: EBITDA vs. Revenue

57:39 Hiring Trends: The "Step-Up" Candidate Advantage

01:02:35 Bold Predictions: Nuclear, Events, and Engagement Teams

The Topline team interview Ethan Smith, founder of Graphite, an San Fransico-based growth and SEO agency with clients like Notion, Webflow and Rippling. As well as Rahul Jain from Noble, a consultant who writes and speaks about AI.

Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Wednesday.

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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 Host Introductions

00:41 How Well Do You Know AI Search?

08:14 SEO vs. AI: The Changing Landscape

13:42 The Role of PR in AI Search

14:46 Get Cited By THESE Websites

18:13 SEO Strategies in the AI Era

25:07 Is SEO Actually Dead?

33:16 HubSpot's Message to The Market

34:27 SEO Evolution and Traffic Trends

34:54 The Future of Search and LLMs

36:34 Signs You Have The Wrong Product

40:01 Scaling AI Search Content

46:38 The Role of PR and AI in Marketing

01:01:42 What Have You Learned?

We ran a comprehensive model to predict how many layoffs may happen in 2026. To see our math, and try to predict what's next, tune into this full episode of Topline.

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Chapters:

00:43 Show intro & what we're covering today

01:31 Setting the stage: big layoffs & what's coming

01:54 Quiz Pro Quo: the tech ecosystem trivia segment

05:37 Why layoffs are happening in a strong market

10:07 What "AI" actually means

11:28 The Twitter/X effect & middle-management reductions

14:31 AI vs. inefficiency cuts: spectrum check

20:13 Where AI is replacing jobs today

22:13 Executive hiring vs. junior hiring shifts

26:03 Big Tech's speed, efficiency & fewer layers strategy

37:33 The new sales productivity curve

49:03 How to protect your career in an AI world

The biggest AI companies in the world have made some bold statements about their priorities, but their actions haven't always lined up.

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Chapters:

00:00 Welcome Back to Topline

00:52 How Well Do You Know The AI Bubble?

12:48 AI's Job Market Collapse?

15:19 Anthropic's Controversial Funding

30:25 Where is Funding Going?

47:38 How Should We Invest in AI?

59:39 Lessons and Reflections from 2025

Dave Kellogg, EIR at Balderton Capital, wrote an explosive piece on the reality of modern startups in 2025. Dave walks us through the winners and losers in the AI era. Read Dave's Article Here: https://topline.beehiiv.com/p/the-era-of-haves-and-have-nots

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Chapters: 00:47 Introduction & editorial setup

03:03 Defining winning: market share as goal

07:09 Marathon vs sprint; growth tradeoffs

12:02 Switching costs, returns, and herd dynamics

21:42 Disruption resets order; capital to #1

25:06 Easy-come growth vs durable ARR

28:18 Creative destruction and incentives

33:31 Winning by ownership type

36:39 Strategy over grind; #2 playbook

40:33 Labor leverage, RTO, and 9-9-6 culture

53:31 Stalled SaaS: valuations, NRR, and growth

1:01:00 Consolidation, moats, domain expertise

1:04:45 Outro & where to follow

The Topline crew, joined my Kyle Norton from the Revenue Leadership Podcast, look at the newest ChatGPT usage data. This is getting unhealthy

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Chapters:

00:00 AI's Personal Health Impact

00:37 Intro & Today's Three Topics

01:38 ChatGPT Usage Study Overview

02:34 Non-Work Usage Surges to 73%

05:05 Writing Beats Search for Work

06:00 Companionship & Personal Advice Use Cases

10:57 Switching Tools vs Staying Put

19:10 Centralizing AI Workflows & Infrastructure

21:01 Phone-First Sales Tech Stack

23:32 Reading Our Last 13 ChatGPT Chats

27:08 AI for Health: Power & Risks

32:17 Vibe Coding Traffic Slide

36:13 Vibe Coding's Audience & Use Cases

40:21 Trust Gap & Product Focus

42:51 Leading Through Momentum Slowdowns

50:11 Europe's Startup Problem

51:28 Firing Laws, Risk & Funding Gaps

We ran an analysis on some of the biggest Private Equity assets and acquisitions. Is the explosion of this space a bubble, or is there something deeper happening here? 3 CEOs debate!

Chapters:

00:00 – Private Equity's Reach

05:00 – The Broader Impact of Private Equity

10:00 – Toll Roads, Robert Moses, and Infrastructure Power

15:00 – What It's Like to Work for Private Equity

23:50 – Inside Vista and the Private Equity Playbook

27:50 – Preparing for a Private Equity Acquisition

30:50 – Founder Perspectives on Being Acquired

38:10 – The Role of AI in Private Equity

40:00 – OpenAI's Product Velocity & Sora 2

44:30 – Art, Compute, and Culture

48:00 – Technology, Purpose, and Human Play

51:20 – The Optimistic Lens

54:00 – OpenAI's Velocity and Strategic Position

56:00 – Market Reactions & Acquisitions

58:30 – Microsoft's Response

1:00:50 – Culture, Standards, and Leadership Lessons

1:04:50 – Closing Reflections

Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday

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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!