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

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.