Topline

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.

 
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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?

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

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

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

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