The Notorious B2B Show’s Podcast

Episode 36 | Adobe Bought SEMRush for $1.9B. Pray for the UI.

Adobe just dropped $1.9B to acquire SEMRush, and we're already bracing for impact. In Episode 36, we speculate what a big acquisition means if history has told us anything.We cover it all:
First, we need your feedback to make this show even more notorious 
Do LinkedIn’s demographic settings impact your impressions?
Cloudflare’s 4th outage of the year that took down 25% of the internet 
Cursor’s 12X jump and the real drama behind it (with OpenAI)
Why ChatGPT keeps saying yes to everything and how to make it stop 
The candidate who did 11 technical interviews and still got rejected
The new hiring practice turning applicants into unpaid contractors
If you care about B2B marketing, SEO, LinkedIn culture, and everything happening in tech right now, this one’s loaded.
 
Timestamps:
00:00 Teaser – Adobe Buys SEMRush for $1.9B + Show Intro + Sponsor
08:18 Adobe Buys SEMRush — Will Adobe Ruin It?
14:25 LinkedIn Demographics Test — Do Impressions Change?
23:09 Cloudflare Outage #4 — 25% of the Internet Down
26:38 Cursor 12× Jump — And OpenAI's Failed Acquisition
30:04 Why ChatGPT Says “Yes” to Everything (Fixing the Problem)
35:19 11 Technical Interviews…Rejected Anyway
38:48 The Hiring Trend Turning Applicants Into Free Labor
55:02 Closing Remarks
 
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 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.

Episode 35 | Fireflies’ “AI” Notetaker Was Just Two Founders Taking Notes

This week on Notorious B2B, we break down one of the wildest SaaS origin stories out there.Fireflies AI - It's in the name but there was no AI (at least in the beginning). Just the founder sitting in calls and taking notes by hand. The purest form of validation: do the work manually until you know people want it.We also get into:• Duolingo pulling the salary range on their social role and the internet noticing instantly• Umault’s B2B horror short about marketing jargon (and the strange reuse of the same video months ago)• LinkedIn’s algorithm reading posts for context and why the feed feels broken• The debate over being called “buddy” and the words people hate being called• Accent-erasing voice tech and whether it’s clarity or erasureClosed Won (Our new segment celebrating those who won the internet this week)• Renee Shaw (tl;dv) and the OpenAI C&D chaos• Kieran Flanagan on comment-gating pain• Replacement.ai’s elite parody work
 
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro + Cold Open
3:25 Duolingo Quietly Pulling the Salary Range (and LinkedIn Noticing Immediately)
9:47 Umault’s B2B Horror Short on Marketing Jargon (and the Strange Reuse Months Earlier)
18:31 LinkedIn’s Algorithm “Reading Posts” and Why the Feed Feels Broken
28:37 The Debate Over Being Called “Buddy” (and Words People Hate Being Called)
37:04 Accent-Erasing Voice Tech: Clarity or Cultural Erasure?
46:47 Fireflies AI: When “AI Notes” Were Actually Humans
51:02 Closed-Won: TLDV’s Social Team + Sam Altman Bit
55:34 LinkedIn Comment-Gating Rant
57:39 Replacement.AI – The Ultimate AI Parody Website
1:00:29 Closing Remarks + Sponsor Sign-offs
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 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, thanks to our friend Clay at SmokeLadder for being an OG supporter of the podcast. SmokeLadder is like your own researcher giving you a full brief of any brand's target persona, key competitors, differentiators, and category benchmark scores based on thousands of brands. It’ll even help you craft messaging that actually makes sense.Analyze any brand and their competitors for free right now at: SmokeLadder.com

Episode 34: Warmly’s Deanonymization Drama and How They Handled It

This week, Clark Barron, the King of B2B call outs, set his sights on Warmly, a company that helps sales teams identify anonymous website visitors.
 
He called them out for allegedly deanonymizing website visitors without their consent (with logs and receipts). But that’s not the core of the drama.Warmly’s CEO responds and…it’s not what you think. Watch to see how the thread unfolded.We also cover:
Clay’s marketing plays that has the internet deciding if they love or hate it
One SaaS company’s unique take on addressing competitors on their website
A controversial pricing experiment that’s against what LinkedIn preaches
Why one founder shut down his company and more should follow his lead
The new role of humans with AI
And finishing strong with Cameo’s lawsuit against OpenAI
Buckle up. This one’s part exposé, part therapy session for every marketer who’s ever said, “Wait, they can do that???”
 
 
Timestamps: 
00:00 – Intro + Host Banter
10:15 – Warmly’s Deanonymization Drama
28:26 – Clay’s Marketing Plays: Love It or Hate It?
38:06 – The SaaS Website Saying “F— Your Competitors”
55:18 – The Pricing Experiment That Breaks LinkedIn “Best Practices”
1:01:31 – One Founder Who Shut Down His Company (For the Right Reasons)
1:05:29 – The New Role of Humans in an AI-First World
1:07:49 – Cameo’s Lawsuit Against OpenAI
1:14:02 – Wrap-up, sponsor messaging, and end of episode.
 
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 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.
 
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Finally, thanks to our friend Clay at SmokeLadder for being an OG supporter of the podcast. SmokeLadder is like your own researcher giving you a full brief of any brand's target persona, key competitors, differentiators, and category benchmark scores based on thousands of brands. It’ll even help you craft messaging that actually makes sense.Analyze any brand and their competitors for free right now at: SmokeLadder.com

Episode 33 | Grammarly is now Superhuman. Smart pivot or brand suicide?

Grammarly is no longer Grammarly.
It’s now Superhuman.
A billion-dollar brand name… gone overnight.
In this episode of Notorious B2B, we dig into why a company with insane brand equity would scrap its own name — and what it says about B2B’s obsession with “category creation” and AI positioning.
We also cover:• The $500 LinkedIn influencer experiment that turned into a fake-engagement horror story• Amazon’s rumored plan to replace warehouse workers with “Cobots” while cutting 14,000 jobs• The rise of invisible AI edits — and how one “AI-enhanced” headshot crossed the line• Palmer Luckey’s GPT jailbreak prompt and new AI writing flags• Why “vibe coding” doesn’t survive real users• And the newest cursed LinkedIn feature: Open to Marry
It’s rebrands, robots, and relationship status — all in one episode.
 
Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro: From our Sponsors Exit Five
01:12 – Sponsor: Vector
05:19 – Grammarly now Superhuman (?!?)
12:18 – The $500 LinkedIn influencer experiment gone wrong
27:26 – Is LinkedIn's algorithm biased against women
30:00 – Amazon’s “Cobots” replacing warehouse workers
36:40 – The rise of invisible AI edits (and one that went too far)
42:29 – Palmer Luckey’s GPT jailbreak + new AI writing flags
48:14 – Why “vibe coding” doesn’t survive real users
53:39 – LinkedIn’s newest cursed feature: “Open to Marry”
58:40 – Closing thoughts
 
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 Connect with the hosts:Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasbober
Subscribe to Notorious B2B for smart, irreverent takes on SaaS, marketing, and the chaos of modern B2B. 
---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.

Episode 32 | Ramp Made Expenses Go Viral (With Kevin Malone from The Office)

Ramp somehow made one of the most boring SaaS products on Earth go viral. They locked Kevin Malone from The Office in a glass box for his “first day as CFO,” live from Flatiron in NYC.Receipts flying, weddings happening, TikTok stars crashing the scene, and hundreds of people gathering to watch.They made some noise and people showed up.In this episode of Notorious B2B, we break down how Ramp pulled off the most entertaining brand campaign in recent B2B history, and what your team can actually learn from it.Plus:
BirdDog’s “rage-bait” war against Clay
Why companies like C3.ai and WPP are being sued over fake forecasts
LinkedIn sued over sharing PII from video (and the growing streak of lawsuits: Reddit vs. Perplexity, People vs Microsoft and OpenAI)
The 9-9-6 workweek trend (yes, hustle porn is back)
And startup founders share some...interesting ways they garnered interest for their products.
This one’s about creativity, chaos, and the fine line between brilliant and completely unhinged, just like we like it.Posts Links: Joseph Smith ( Ramp Video ) 
 
Timestamps:
0:00 - Welcome to Notorious B2B. We roast LinkedIn drama so you don’t have to.
1:29 - BirdDog’s rage-bait war with Clay
12:40 - Ramp made expenses go viral
21:02 - The 9-9-6 workweek is back (unfortunately)
30:07 - LinkedIn sued for leaking PII from video.
35:46 - C3.ai and WPP sued over fake forecasts
39:20 - Reddit is also suing Perplexity for data scraping
40:52 - Scrappy marketing tactics
45:07 - Wrap-up Final takes
 
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 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.

Episode 31 | Virio’s $1.5M “Head of CEO Content” Stunt: Genius or Cringe?

A startup called Virio posted a $1.5M job for “Head of CEO Content.” LinkedIn lost its mind. Turns out, the job wasn’t real. 
It was a PR stunt and one of the smartest we’ve seen in B2B. 
 
Some other things we cover this episode: 
• How a “default to AI” note from a CEO backfired 
• Deloitte’s 440k report that was written by AI 
• B2B’s demo process that remains broken 
 
If you’ve ever cringed at LinkedIn “thought leadership,” this one’s therapy.
 
Timestamps:
0:00 – Welcome to Notorious B2B
1:40 – Big prompt energy: Open Door CEO told the team to default to AI and it's blowing up in his post on X.
12:52 – Deloitte’s $440K AI Report Disaster
20:47 - Let's Noodle: Can we stop outreach like this?
25:57 – Why B2B Demos Still Suck
37:51 – The Hero vs. the Buyer (Virio Story)
51:30 – Final Thoughts & B2B Confessions
 
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📲 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 30 | Chris Walker vs. Clark Barron: the “vibe grifting” debate

Episode 30 of Notorious B2B is pure B2B madness. Tas and Tim dive into the most chaotic marketing stories of the week:
Neil Patel’s email that tells you to gate everything and also nothing
Accenture laying off 11,000 people for “AI reasons” that make zero sense
Comment gating fails on LinkedIn that prove marketers have lost the plot
AI startup "Friend" has their million-dollar ads vandalized in NYC 
And Chris Walker vs Clark Barron in the “Vibe Grifting” debate no one asked for
Connect with the hosts:Tim Davidson –  linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41 Tas Bober –   linkedin.com/in/tasboberSubscribe for more weekly chaos from the B2B underworld.
Posts Links:
Circling Back
- ⁠Neil patel/Beth O'Malley's Post⁠
Big Prompt Energy
- ⁠Alex Lieberman's take⁠
-⁠ Amrita Mathur's Post⁠
Let's Noodle
- ⁠Clark Barron

Episode 29 | Zoom ChatBot Fail, Fiverr Layoffs & Viral Flan Prank on Outreach Automation

In Episode 29 of Notorious B2B, Tim and Tas made it through a really beefy docket filled with AI drama, weird Linkedin automations, and more layoffs because of “AI”.
First up: Little Post Manager’s bizarre tactic of tagging creators in AI-generated one-liners that make zero sense (including Tas “ditching lectures”). Then it’s onto Fiverr, who just laid off 30% of its workforce in the name of AI and told their internal freelancers to “find work on the platform.” Brutal.
OpenAI is also in the spotlight, with its $500B Stargate project raising questions about debt, environmental impact, and the future cost of AI. Zoom’s chatbot fails spectacularly in customer service screenshots, while a viral “flan recipe” trick exposes the cracks in cold email automation. 
 
Plus, troll marketing gone wrong, LinkedIn copycats, and the funniest HR rejection email slip-up you’ll ever see.
 
Timestamps:
0:00 – Welcome to Notorious B2B
01:55 – Little Post Manager’s Weird AI Tagging Tactic
10:54 – Fiverr’s 30% Layoffs “Because AI”
17:16 – OpenAI’s $500B Stargate Project
23:39 – Zoom’s Chatbot Fails Spectacularly & Viral Flan Prank
32:00 – Troll Marketing Gone Wrong (or Right?)
44:53 – The Funniest HR Rejection Email Slip-Up Ever
52:17 – Wrap-Up: The Week in B2B Madness
 
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Connect with the hosts:Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41 Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasbober
 Subscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments.

Episode 28 | Exit Five's Drive Event Recap, Apollo’s Surprising Growth & Zendesk’s Big Sunset

In Episode 28 of Notorious B2B, Tim and Tas are back on Zoom (boo) after Drive to debrief on all the B2B chaos (sort of) from event drama to brand growth that won’t quit.They kick things off by announcing their brand-new podcast The Marketer’s Exit, sharing why they launched it and what listeners can expect. Then it’s onto Drive highlights: the first-ever Notorious B2B live show, Harry Dry’s masterclass talk, a scavenger hunt gone sideways, and whether moving Drive to a Vermont lodge will change the vibe.Back in the news cycle, Apollo somehow keeps growing even after LinkedIn banned them, Zendesk sunsets its CRM product, and Klaviyo gets accused of copying smaller players’ features. Classic B2B.What’s inside:• Tim & Tas launch a new podcast: The Marketer’s Exit• Drive recap: live episode, best (and worst) talks, and the scavenger hunt drama• Apollo’s brand search grows after its LinkedIn ban• Zendesk retires its CRM product, HubSpot narrative follows• Klaviyo accused of copying features (but is it really new?)
 
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro: Oat Milk, Standing Desks & B2B Chaos
2:35 – The Marketer’s Exit: A New Podcast (and a Genius SEO Move)
6:09 – Exit Five Recap: Summer Camp for B2B Marketers
24:00 – The Drive Drama: QR Scandal & Green Room Divas
35:55 – Apollo vs. LinkedIn: Getting Banned Made Them Stronger?
41:17 – Zendesk’s CRM Dies
45:30 – The Klaviyo Copycat Accusation: Who’s Really Stealing Whose Ideas?
50:28 – The Wrap: B2B Is Still Just a Fancy Guessing Game
 
------------------------- Connect with the hosts: Tim Davidson – linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41 Tas Bober – linkedin.com/in/tasbober Subscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments.

Episode 27 | Neil Patel’s “No Comment,” Canva Layoffs & LinkedIn’s New Verification Rules

In Episode 27 of Notorious B2B, Tim and Tas record their first in-person episode at Drive by Exit Five thanks to Dom Odoguardi (ask him why he quit his job), and the docket’s packed with interesting takes, data breaches, and some AI-fueled controversy.
First up: Neil Patel makes headlines at Inbound by refusing to share how he’s actually using Reddit for LLM visibility, literally answering “no comment” on stage. Then, another wave of B2B data breaches hits, including Insight Partners quietly disclosing a January cyberattack, and Canva shocks LinkedIn with layoffs just weeks after making employees millionaires.
LinkedIn also rolls out new verification rules for recruiters and executives to fight fake profiles and scams, sparking debate about what’s next (education verification, anyone?). And in Big Prompt Energy, Adam Robinson claims his $6M ARR company ran better with zero employees for a week thanks to AI only to have customers publicly contradict him with unanswered support tickets.
 
What’s inside: 
• Neil Patel refuses to spill his Reddit playbook at Inbound (Or maybe he doesn’t even know)
 • Insight Partners hack exposes employee + investor data 
• Canva layoffs raise eyebrows after “overnight millionaire” headlines 
• LinkedIn adds recruiter & exec verification to stop scams
 • Adam Robinson tests running RB2B entirely on AI agents 
• Support tickets and churn show AI “smooth sailing” might be hype
Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro: Oat Milk, Standing Desks & B2B Chaos
1:52 – Neil Patel’s “No Comment” at Inbound
5:06 – Hackers for Hire? The Cybersecurity Irony
7:42 – Canva Layoffs After Millionaire Headlines
11:36 – LinkedIn’s Verification Crackdown (and Fake MBAs)
20:13 – AI Runs a SaaS Company for a Week
26:32 – Wrap-Up: B2B Is Still an Expensive Guessing Game
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📲Connect with the crew:
Tim Davidson –⁠ linkedin.com/in/tadavidson41⁠
Tas Bober –⁠ linkedin.com/in/tasbober⁠
Dom Odoguardi –⁠⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/odoguardi/
 
👉Subscribe for more no-BS breakdowns of the internet’s wildest B2B moments.