The Notorious B2B Show’s Podcast

Episode 47 | Clawdbot is NOT What They're Telling You - This Week in B2B

Connect with the hosts:Tim Davidson – http://linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41Tas Bober – http://linkedin.com/in/tasboberSubscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments.
We cover the reality behind the viral Clawdbot AI assistant, Hootsuite’s ICE contract backlash, Amazon’s latest corporate layoffs, and the rise of lazy LinkedIn comment-gating. For B2B marketers, SaaS teams, and AI practitioners, this episode is about spotting real signal vs. noise — where AI actually helps, where it falls short, and how bad incentives are quietly eroding trust.
Timestamps:
00:00 The reality of Clawdbot and AI autonomous assistants 
13:14 Hootsuite faces backlash over ICE surveillance contracts 
20:53 Amazon announces 16,000 corporate layoffs 
25:31 The rise of scammy LinkedIn comment-gating tactics 
32:36 Auditing a billion-view organic playbook 
41:10 Why mediocre AI video is just a glorified slide deck 
46:33 Mercedes-Benz integrates Microsoft Teams into cars
47:43 Deconstructing a viral Batman marketing skit 
50:41 Best ways to respond to LinkedIn pitch slaps
If this helped you make sense of the week, subscribe, share it, or drop a comment.
Sponsors
Special thanks to the brands supporting Notorious B2B.
Exit Five The community for B2B marketers who want real conversations, practical insights, and in-person connections.Join at https://www.exitfive.com/
Vector The B2B ad platform built around real buyer intent.Learn more at https://www.vector.co/
 

Episode 46 | MrBeast Enters B2B Marketing | Salesforce’s Super Bowl Ad & ChatGPT’s Ad Shift

Connect with the hosts:
Tim Davidson –   / tadavidson41    
Tas Bober –   / tasbober    
Subscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments.
---
OpenAI is testing ads inside ChatGPT. Salesforce may be teaming up with MrBeast for a Super Bowl ad. Attribution is back. Gated content is under fire. And one brutal PTO vs FMLA story reminds us why corporate policies still matter.
 
This episode breaks down what all of this actually means for B2B marketers, SaaS teams, and anyone trying to make smart decisions as AI, ads, and buying behavior keep changing fast.
 
Timestamps:
00:00 OpenAI testing ads in ChatGPT: what changes, who sees them, and why marketers are paying attention
07:40 What ChatGPT ads will actually look like (screenshots, formats, and early implications)
10:45 Is OpenAI degrading the product experience — and will users leave for Gemini or Claude?
17:52 MrBeast x Salesforce Super Bowl ad: what this means for B2B, creators, and speed of execution
25:15 SendSpark acquisition: niche positioning vs competing with category giants
27:10 Attribution is back: why “zero-click buyers” still convert and how mental availability works
33:55 LinkedIn attribution, impression-based influence, and why CEOs don’t buy the math
36:00 Fired on PTO vs FMLA: a brutal lesson in employee protections and corporate risk
40:25 Private jet studios and fake luxury content: why it performs and how marketers are gaming it
44:20 Gated vs ungated content experiment: what actually drove pipeline and revenue
49:15 Devil’s advocate: when gated content still works and when it absolutely doesn’t
 
---
 
If this episode made you rethink AI ads, attribution, content gating, or B2B hype cycles, share it with your team or drop a comment with your take.
---
 
Sponsors
Special thanks to the brands supporting Notorious B2B.
 
Exit Five
The community for B2B marketers who want real conversations, practical insights, and in-person connections.  
Join at https://www.exitfive.com/
Vector
The B2B ad platform built around real buyer intent.  
Learn more at https: //www.vector.co/

Episode 44 | Cvent Acquires ON24’s for $400M Shortly after Goldcast - Is B2B Events Officially Consolidating?

Cvent just acquired ON24. You're probably thinking, "Okay, another B2B acquisition, who cares?" But they bought Goldcast just 2 weeks earlier. 
In this episode, we break down:
Why Cvent is suddenly on a buying spree
OpenAI is speculated to purchase Pinterest 
LinkedIn took down another data provider, Artisan, but this one has a happy ending.
Microsoft’s AI Irony: AI writes 30% of their code, yet Windows 11 keeps breaking.
Is adding Reddit moderator to your resume a flex or nah?
McKinsey’s Creator Play: even the B2B dinosaurs are into influencers 
Reverse Psychology Ads: Why "DON’T BOOK A DEMO" is outperforming traditional CTAs.
And much, much more. 
Join us, it’s episode 44. 
 
Timestamps:
03:08 Cvent's acquisition spree
07:01 OpenAI's rumored acquisition of Pinterest
15:17 LinkedIn takes down Artisan
20:11 Chris Walker's Encoded website
27:35 Microsoft's AI irony
34:03 Reddit moderator on resume
 
---
Connect with the hosts:
Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasbober
Subscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments.
---
 
Today's episode is brought to you by Exit Five. Thanks to Dave and the Exit Five team for being OG supporters of Notorious B2B.
Tim and Tas have both been members since the beginning and get a ton of value from being part of this community.
Join the top community of B2B marketers now at ExitFive.com and get access to one of the 30+ in-person events Exit Five is hosting in 2026.
Also, we heard Dave is super jacked, a millionaire, a great father, a speed reader, he’s run 300 marathons, and donates over $1M a year to very important charities.
---
 
Also, special thanks to our friends at Vector - the only ad platform brave enough to say what we’re all thinking: native targeting is a scam.
Vector lets you build audiences by name. Not “job title at tech company.” Actual people who clicked your ad, visited your site, or creeped on your pricing page. (Also, the branding has cute ghosties. What more do you want?)
Check them out at vector.co and stop paying to show ads to your uncle’s dentist’s cousin.
---
Finally, huge shoutout to Sahil, CEO of Spiralyze, the company that captures winning A/B tests from 78,000 websites. He kinda knows what works on B2B websites.
This February, he's teaming up with folks like Anthony Pierri, Jess Cook, Rob Kaminski, Alina Vandenberghe, and our very own Tas Bober, to host Above the Fold - a workshop-style event designed to help you build a better website.
No keynotes. No panels. Just hands-on, practical sessions you can actually use. 
Join us in February. Get the details at spiralyze.com/abovethefold

Episode 43 | LinkedIn Year in Review: Are Your Stats Real?

LinkedIn dropped its Year in Review - their version of Spotify’s wildly popular “Wrapped” where they give you fun statistics about your listening history on the platform. 
 
LinkedIn’s version was exciting at first but then everyone started comparing notes. And the math does not math.
So naturally, this is how we’re kicking off the New Year.
Welcome to the first episode of Notorious B2B this year. And yes, we’re starting exactly where B2B deserves it.
Then we get into everything else B2B crammed in right before the calendar flipped.
What we cover in this episode:
Goldcast acquired by Cvent and what that signals for event tech
Salesforce to acquire Qualified and why this one actually makes senseZoomInfo wins a key court ruling, allowing its patent infringement case against Apollo to move forward
Calling out ZoomInfo Chorus for an auto-renewal trap tied to a missed 60-day notice
Publicly criticizing a company offering $1,000 for a copy-paste sponsored post
Why lazy “influencer” spend deserves public side-eye
Jess Cook explains the standard marketers should hold for creative that actually stands out. Plus an intro to Vector’s latest concept
Defending working multiple SDR jobs at once
A $50 gift card challenge to prove an enrichment engine can actually pull emails from LinkedIn profiles. If the data works, prove it.
 
Timestamps:
03:13 Goldcast Acquired by Cvent
05:41 Salesforce Acquires Qualified
11:02 LinkedIn Year in Review: Data Discrepancies
25:40 ZoomInfo Sues Apollo for Patent Infringement
31:10 ZoomInfo Chorus Auto-Renewal Traps
 
---
Connect with the hosts:
Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasbober
Subscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments.
---
 
Today's episode is brought to you by Exit Five. Thanks to Dave and the Exit Five team for being OG supporters of Notorious B2B.
Tim and Tas have both been members since the beginning and get a ton of value from being part of this community.
Join the top community of B2B marketers now at ExitFive.com and get access to one of the 30+ in-person events Exit Five is hosting in 2026.
Also, we heard Dave is super jacked, a millionaire, a great father, a speed reader, he’s run 300 marathons, and donates over $1M a year to very important charities.
---
 
Also, special thanks to our friends at Vector - the only ad platform brave enough to say what we’re all thinking: native targeting is a scam.
Vector lets you build audiences by name. Not “job title at tech company.” Actual people who clicked your ad, visited your site, or creeped on your pricing page. (Also, the branding has cute ghosties. What more do you want?)
Check them out at vector.co and stop paying to show ads to your uncle’s dentist’s cousin.
---
Finally, huge shoutout to Sahil, CEO of Spiralyze, the company that captures winning A/B tests from 78,000 websites. He kinda knows what works on B2B websites.
This February, he's teaming up with folks like Anthony Pierri, Jess Cook, Rob Kaminski, Alina Vandenberghe, and our very own Tas Bober, to host Above the Fold - a workshop-style event designed to help you build a better website.
No keynotes. No panels. Just hands-on, practical sessions you can actually use. 
Join us in February. Get the details at spiralyze.com/abovethefold
 

Episode 42 | Chris Walker’s Evolution in 2025

This episode is a full recap of Chris Walker’s B2B era. From the early Refine Labs days, to Dark Social, to leaving his own company, to launching Encoded and talking about “frequency.”
We cover:
How Chris Walker rose to become one of the most influential voices in B2B marketing
The Dark Social era and why it resonated so hard
Why he left Refine Labs and what he’s up to now 
Why the backlash was inevitable
If you’ve followed Chris Walker for years, this episode will connect the dots.
If you’re newer to B2B marketing, this is like the Messiah of B2B changing course. 
---
Connect with the hosts:
Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasbober
Subscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments.
---
 
Today's episode is brought to you by Exit Five. Thanks to Dave and the Exit Five team for being OG supporters of Notorious B2B.
Tim and Tas have both been members since the beginning and get a ton of value from being part of this community.
Join the top community of B2B marketers now at ExitFive.com and get access to one of the 30+ in-person events Exit Five is hosting in 2026.
Also, we heard Dave is super jacked, a millionaire, a great father, a speed reader, he’s run 300 marathons, and donates over $1M a year to very important charities.
---
 
Also, special thanks to our friends at Vector - the only ad platform brave enough to say what we’re all thinking: native targeting is a scam.
Vector lets you build audiences by name. Not “job title at tech company.” Actual people who clicked your ad, visited your site, or creeped on your pricing page. (Also, the branding has cute ghosties. What more do you want?)
Check them out at vector.co and stop paying to show ads to your uncle’s dentist’s cousin.
---
Finally, huge shoutout to Sahil, CEO of Spiralyze, the company that captures winning A/B tests from 78,000 websites. He kinda knows what works on B2B websites.
This February, he's teaming up with folks like Anthony Pierri, Jess Cook, Rob Kaminski, Alina Vandenberghe, and our very own Tas Bober, to host Above the Fold - a workshop-style event designed to help you build a better website.
No keynotes. No panels. Just hands-on, practical sessions you can actually use. 
Join us in February. Get the details at spiralyze.com/abovethefold

Episode 41 | The Astronomer.io CEO Saga Explained

In this 2025 B2B recap episode, we explain the Astronomer CEO scandal and why it became such a defining moment for the industry.
We cover:
How and what happened 
The company’s response and whether it was brilliant or not 
And what this says about leadership and accountability in B2B
 
Catch up here. 
 
---
Connect with the hosts:
Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasbober
Subscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments.
---
 
Today's episode is brought to you by Exit Five. Thanks to Dave and the Exit Five team for being OG supporters of Notorious B2B.
Tim and Tas have both been members since the beginning and get a ton of value from being part of this community.
Join the top community of B2B marketers now at ExitFive.com and get access to one of the 30+ in-person events Exit Five is hosting in 2026.
Also, we heard Dave is super jacked, a millionaire, a great father, a speed reader, he’s run 300 marathons, and donates over $1M a year to very important charities.
---
 
Also, special thanks to our friends at Vector - the only ad platform brave enough to say what we’re all thinking: native targeting is a scam.
Vector lets you build audiences by name. Not “job title at tech company.” Actual people who clicked your ad, visited your site, or creeped on your pricing page. (Also, the branding has cute ghosties. What more do you want?)
Check them out at vector.co and stop paying to show ads to your uncle’s dentist’s cousin.
---
Finally, huge shoutout to Sahil, CEO of Spiralyze, the company that captures winning A/B tests from 78,000 websites. He kinda knows what works on B2B websites.
This February, he's teaming up with folks like Anthony Pierri, Jess Cook, Rob Kaminski, Alina Vandenberghe, and our very own Tas Bober, to host Above the Fold - a workshop-style event designed to help you build a better website.
No keynotes. No panels. Just hands-on, practical sessions you can actually use. 
Join us in February. Get the details at spiralyze.com/abovethefold

Episode 40 | B2B’s Biggest Stories of 2025 Recap: Rippling, Deel, and a Tale of Corporate Espionage

Welcome back to part 2 of our miniseries where we recap the full-blown B2B SaaS James Bond tale of 2025: the Rippling vs Deel rivalry and the accusations of corporate espionage. 
 
Here’s what actually went down:
 
Rippling sues Deel over alleged corporate espionage
A fake Slack “honeypot” used to catch a spy
A former Rippling employee allegedly recruited while still employed
Payments involving cash and cryptocurrency
A court order, a locked bathroom, and a wiped phone
Deel’s Head of Comms resigns
Rippling reportedly raising at a $16B valuation
Deel fires back with five serious counter-allegations
 
Including defamation, deceptive trade practices, whistleblower retaliation, and financial misconduct.
 
Live through it again with us. 
 
---
Connect with the hosts:
Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasbober
Subscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments.
---
 
Today's episode is brought to you by Exit Five. Thanks to Dave and the Exit Five team for being OG supporters of Notorious B2B.
Tim and Tas have both been members since the beginning and get a ton of value from being part of this community.
Join the top community of B2B marketers now at ExitFive.com and get access to one of the 30+ in-person events Exit Five is hosting in 2026.
Also, we heard Dave is super jacked, a millionaire, a great father, a speed reader, he’s run 300 marathons, and donates over $1M a year to very important charities.
---
 
Also, special thanks to our friends at Vector - the only ad platform brave enough to say what we’re all thinking: native targeting is a scam.
Vector lets you build audiences by name. Not “job title at tech company.” Actual people who clicked your ad, visited your site, or creeped on your pricing page. (Also, the branding has cute ghosties. What more do you want?)
Check them out at vector.co and stop paying to show ads to your uncle’s dentist’s cousin.
---
Finally, huge shoutout to Sahil, CEO of Spiralyze, the company that captures winning A/B tests from 78,000 websites. He kinda knows what works on B2B websites.
This February, he's teaming up with folks like Anthony Pierri, Jess Cook, Rob Kaminski, Alina Vandenberghe, and our very own Tas Bober, to host Above the Fold - a workshop-style event designed to help you build a better website.
No keynotes. No panels. Just hands-on, practical sessions you can actually use. 
Join us in February. Get the details at spiralyze.com/abovethefold

Episode 39 | B2B’s Biggest Stories of 2025 Recap: Apollo, Seamless, and the LinkedIn Crackdown

We are ending the year with a miniseries recapping B2B’s biggest stories in 2025 starting with one of the most talked-about B2B moments this year - LinkedIn removing company pages for major data providers like Apollo, Seamless AI, and other lesser-known rivals.
 
The move signaled something bigger:
⦁    A clear stance against tools scraping LinkedIn personal data
⦁    A warning shot to the B2B data ecosystem
⦁    And a reminder of how fragile platform-dependent distribution really is
 
What makes this story notable isn’t just the ban. It’s what happens after (and it isn’t all bad news). 
 
In this episode, we break down:
⦁    Why LinkedIn made this move in 2025
⦁    What the ban actually targeted
⦁    Why it didn’t slow buyer demand
⦁    What this means for B2B companies relying on platforms they don’t control
 
If you’ve been under a rock, this is the recap you need. 
 
---
Connect with the hosts:
Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasbober
Subscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments.
---
 
Today's episode is brought to you by Exit Five. Thanks to Dave and the Exit Five team for being OG supporters of Notorious B2B.
Tim and Tas have both been members since the beginning and get a ton of value from being part of this community.
Join the top community of B2B marketers now at ExitFive.com and get access to one of the 30+ in-person events Exit Five is hosting in 2026.
Also, we heard Dave is super jacked, a millionaire, a great father, a speed reader, he’s run 300 marathons, and donates over $1M a year to very important charities.
---
 
Also, special thanks to our friends at Vector - the only ad platform brave enough to say what we’re all thinking: native targeting is a scam.
Vector lets you build audiences by name. Not “job title at tech company.” Actual people who clicked your ad, visited your site, or creeped on your pricing page. (Also, the branding has cute ghosties. What more do you want?)
Check them out at vector.co and stop paying to show ads to your uncle’s dentist’s cousin.
---
Finally, huge shoutout to Sahil, CEO of Spiralyze, the company that captures winning A/B tests from 78,000 websites. He kinda knows what works on B2B websites.
This February, he's teaming up with folks like Anthony Pierri, Jess Cook, Rob Kaminski, Alina Vandenberghe, and our very own Tas Bober, to host Above the Fold - a workshop-style event designed to help you build a better website.
No keynotes. No panels. Just hands-on, practical sessions you can actually use. 
Join us in February. Get the details at spiralyze.com/abovethefold

Episode 38 | AI Product Placements: Why This Will Absolutely Get Abused

In this episode, we break down a viral xAI hackathon project that lets AI dynamically insert product placements into TV shows and movies.
Not ads. Not sponsorships. Actual objects inside the scene.
 
This goes for new shows AND old. 
Coffee cups in Suits replaced with Coca-Cola cans.Headphones in Friends swapped for modern brands.Clickable product placements inside Netflix-style interfaces.
Tas loved it but Tim is foreseeing absolute abuse of the tech and he explains why. In this episode, we cover:
Updated LinkedIn demographics data from Tas and why reporting on it is messier than it looks (long way of saying Tas was wrong?)
It's that time of year again - SaaS is increasing prices but is 3x acceptable? Kit faces backlash while competitors cash in on the bad PR. 
Hustle culture is now going fully off the rails
And…the possible return of the crying CEO??
B2B is messier than your family drama during holiday get-togethers. 
 
 
Timestamps:
00:00 – Cold Open: AI Dynamic Ad Placements (xAI Hackathon)
02:30 – LinkedIn Demographics Experiment: The Update
15:00 – Deep Dive: The xAI Hackathon Project (Kushar’s Ad Tech)
22:00 – Insider Trading? The Poly Market "Alpha Raccoon" Story
32:00 – SaaS Pricing Chaos (Kit & FiveTran Backlash)
42:45 – Hustle Culture Hall of Shame
49:30 – Is the Crying CEO Making a Comeback?
 
-----------------------------
 
Connect with the hosts:Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasbober Subscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments.
 

Episode 37 | What Happens When You Change Your LinkedIn Gender?

It's Tas' birthday but she has a present for you - results from a LinkedIn demographic change...and the numbers are messy.We break down the “straight white male” profile switch, the 16–18x impression spike ChatGPT claims, why Tim won’t trust a single line without a Google Sheet, and whether the lift came from demographics, better content, or one 85K-view outlier post boosted by Chris Walker.
 
Then we zoom out into the wider B2B circus:• A Reddit marketing thread showing exactly how NOT to use Reddit unless you enjoy getting shredded in the comments.• A product manager with 500+ applications and zero callbacks now filing legal data requests to every company’s ATS. • The debate on cold calling on Christmas Day and why Tim thinks you should
• Tas takes on Closed/Won by herself with a special message If you care about how LinkedIn demographic settings, platform norms, and shady tactics shape reach, trust, and revenue in B2B, this episode pulls the curtain back and shows what’s really happening.
 
 
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro + LinkedIn chaos setup
02:15 Changed My LinkedIn Demographics. Here’s What Actually Happened
17:10 Reddit Can Smell B2B Marketing From a Mile Away
21:55 500+ Job Applications and Zero Callbacks. At Some Point, It’s Not the System
35:45 Should You Cold Call on Christmas? Unfortunately… Maybe
41:20 Closed/Won: The Best and Worst of LinkedIn This Week
 
-------------------------
 Connect with the hosts:Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasbober Subscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments.---Today's episode is brought to you by Exit Five. Thanks to Dave and the Exit Five team for being OG supporters of Notorious B2B.Tim and Tas have both been members since the beginning and get a ton of value from being part of this community.Join the top community of B2B marketers now at ExitFive.com and get access to one of the 30+ in-person events Exit Five is hosting in 2026.Also, we heard Dave is super jacked, a millionaire, a great father, a speed reader, he’s run 300 marathons, and donates over $1M a year to very important charities.
 
---Also, special thanks to our friends at Vector — the only ad platform brave enough to say what we’re all thinking: native targeting is a scam.Vector lets you build audiences by name. Not “job title at tech company.” Actual people who clicked your ad, visited your site, or creeped on your pricing page. (Also, the branding has cute ghosties. What more do you want?)Check them out at vector.co and stop paying to show ads to your uncle’s dentist’s cousin.--
I’m Sahil, CEO of Spiralize, the company that captures winning A/B tests from 78,000 websites. So yeah, we’ve seen what actually works.
This February, I’m teaming up with folks like Anthony Pierri, Jess Cook, Rob Kaminski, Tas Bober, and Alina Vandenberghe to host Above the Fold - a workshop-style event designed to help you build a better website.
No keynotes. No panels. Just hands-on, practical sessions you can actually use.
And one more thing…
We’re skipping the useless conference swag.
No stress balls, no XXL shirts, no USB drives from 2008.
Instead, we’re donating that budget to charity AND giving you something better: real takeaways that don’t end up in a landfill.
Join us in February.
Get the details at spiralyze.com/abovethefold.