Topline

• The Inevitable Rise of 72-Hour Work Weeks, Explained

  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 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: 00:47 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  

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• AI Cults? The Most Popular ChatGPT Uses Are Not What You Think.

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

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• The Most Surprising Companies Private Equity is Buying

  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 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!  

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• The Fastest Way to Make $1M in 2025 is Not What You Think

  3 millionaires explain how they would make $1M with these business models, strategies, and systems.    Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Wednesday.  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 Agenda 03:17 Bootstrapping: Who It's For and Why It Matters 09:00 Executive Search and the Craft Business Dilemma 10:06 The Venture Trap and Valuation Missteps 13:48 Smart vs. Dumb Money: Lessons Learned 15:32 NVIDIA's $100B Bet on OpenAI 17:55 Bubble Economics and Market Cycles 22:00 The Shift from Public to Private Markets 27:31 The Public Company Dilemma 31:36 Employee Liquidity and Why Founders Stay Private 36:08 Brett Taylor and the Myth of "Faster Is Better" 39:19 Go-to-Market Quality vs. Hype 45:25 Playing the Game: Why Bubbles Build Infrastructure 49:40 Staying True to Your Business Model 51:04 Strengths and Weaknesses of Founders 53:48 Wrap-Up and Community Invite    

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• If You Want $100M FAST, Copy These Startups

  The Topline crew breaks down the fastest growing startups of 2025.   Chapters: 02:20 Welcome to Top Line  02:57 Discussion on AI Company Investments  08:47 Fastest to $10 Million in Revenue  09:53 Debate on AI Market Sustainability  15:58 AI's Impact on Business Strategies 29:58 Fastest to $50 Million in Revenue  33:16 PLG vs. Sales-Led Growth  34:08 Choosing the Right Business Model 37:03 Fastest to $100 Million in Revenue  38:07 Revenue Milestones and AI Companies  42:00 Challenges with AI Accuracy  45:35 Fastest to $500 Million  50:29 Fastest to $1 Billion, $5 Billion, $10 Billion  56:37 Final Thoughts and Investment Picks   Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Wednesday.  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!

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