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June 24, 2025

How Apollo Plans to Grow From $150M to $1B+ in ARR

Cullen Denny Cullen Denny
How Apollo Plans to Grow From $150M to $1B+ in ARR
1:28

 


Listen to Tim's episode on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. 


Apollo co-founder and CEO Tim Zheng reveals the pivot that rescued his company from a 2:1 CAC payback ratio. This episode breaks down how Apollo transformed from a struggling $10K ACV sales-led model to $150M+ ARR by reducing prices to $99/mo and going all in on PLG.

Tim dives into why over 50% of Apollo's code is now written by AI, the challenge of finding executives who can scale across multiple growth stages, and how Apollo plans to break through the billion-dollar barrier that has proven elusive for many B2B tech companies.

Key chapters:

  • (00:00) - Introduction to Topline Podcast and Guest Tim Zheng
  • (04:06) - Market Dynamics and Sales Funnel Insights
  • (09:47) - Transitioning from Sales-Led to Product-Led Growth
  • (12:34) - Re-architecting Business Models for Efficiency
  • (15:20) - Integrating Sales-Led and Product-Led Strategies
  • (17:14) - Challenges in Scaling Go-to-Market Tech
  • (20:08) - Data as a Competitive Advantage
  • (23:48) - Organizational Design and Cultural Shifts
  • (27:31) - Implementing AI in Product Development
  • (35:01) - Leveraging AI for Go-to-Market Efficiency
  • (40:16) - Understanding User Needs and Empathy in Product Development

New episodes of Topline every Sunday and Thursday on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.

 

 
 
 

Topics Covered

  • Go-to-Market
  • Topline Podcast

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