Founder-Led Sales & Early Go-to-Market Lessons with Champify's Todd Busler
Wed Sep 17 2025
In this game-changing episode of "Founders Only," we dive deep with Todd Busler, co-founder and CEO of Champify, who's cracking the code on what it really takes to build a scalable B2B sales machine from the ground up.
From joining Heap as employee #6 (the first go-to-market hire among five engineers crammed in a studio apartment) to scaling it to $40M ARR, Todd witnessed firsthand how the sales game completely transformed. Now he's using those battle-tested insights to build Champify while scratching his own itch—solving the pipeline problem that's keeping every sales leader up at night. We explore his transition from VP of Sales to founder, the harsh lessons of building an MVP that actually matters, and why finding product-market fit is more art than science.
But here's where it gets really interesting: Todd breaks down why the old "hire 23-year-olds and blast emails" approach is dead, how AI is accelerating the noise problem (not solving it), and his contrarian take on why relationships and warm outreach will separate the winners from the wannabes. Plus, he shares the tactical playbook that's driving 30-40% of Champify's pipeline through their own product.
If you're wrestling with early-stage sales challenges, this episode will fundamentally change how you think about going to market.
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In this game-changing episode of "Founders Only," we dive deep with Todd Busler, co-founder and CEO of Champify, who's cracking the code on what it really takes to build a scalable B2B sales machine from the ground up. From joining Heap as employee #6 (the first go-to-market hire among five engineers crammed in a studio apartment) to scaling it to $40M ARR, Todd witnessed firsthand how the sales game completely transformed. Now he's using those battle-tested insights to build Champify while scratching his own itch—solving the pipeline problem that's keeping every sales leader up at night. We explore his transition from VP of Sales to founder, the harsh lessons of building an MVP that actually matters, and why finding product-market fit is more art than science. But here's where it gets really interesting: Todd breaks down why the old "hire 23-year-olds and blast emails" approach is dead, how AI is accelerating the noise problem (not solving it), and his contrarian take on why relationships and warm outreach will separate the winners from the wannabes. Plus, he shares the tactical playbook that's driving 30-40% of Champify's pipeline through their own product. If you're wrestling with early-stage sales challenges, this episode will fundamentally change how you think about going to market.