Tim Zheng | Source | Co-founder and CEO at Apollo.io

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Tim Zheng

Co-founder and CEO at Apollo.io and 2 other companies
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Tim Zheng is a forward-thinking technologist and serial entrepreneur who has redefined go-to-market strategies for the digital era. As the Co-founder and CEO of Apollo.io, Tim has architected an AI-powered sales platform that transforms B2B engagement, accelerating how businesses discover, engage, and convert potential customers in an increasingly complex business landscape.

A computer science graduate from MIT, he founded his first startup BrainGenie in 2011, where he recognized critical gaps in sales and marketing technologies. Frustrated by inefficient prospecting tools, he engineered an in-house platform that scaled to 1 million users before being acquired.

In 2015, Tim co-founded Apollo.io with a mission to democratize world-class go-to-market capabilities for companies of all sizes. Leveraging a product-led growth model, he has built an AI-powered sales platform that makes intelligent sales prospecting accessible to businesses globally. Under his leadership, Apollo.io has emerged as a category-defining platform valued at $1.6 billion, serving millions of users across more than 500,000 organizations with a distributed team of 700+ professionals spanning 21 countries.

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

    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. Don’t miss GTM2025 — the only B2B tech conference exclusively for GTM executives. Elevate your 2026 strategy and join us from September 23 to 25 in Washington, D.C. Use code TOPLINE for 10% off your GA ticket: https://attendgtm.com/register?promo=TOPLINE Stay ahead with the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends with Topline Newsletter by Asad Zaman. Subscribe today: https://www.joinpavilion.com/topline-newsletter...

    Podcast
  • Notorious: How Apollo.io Went From Nearly Out of Cash to $100M in ARR in 24 Months

    Notorious: the best founders, startups, strategies, metrics and community.

    Article
  • Transitioning from Sales-Led to Product-Led Growth and Scaling to $100M ARR With Apollo’s CEO Tim Zheng

    From Sales-Led to Product-Led: How Apollo.io 25x’d Revenue and Crossed $100M ARR Apollo.io, an all-in-one go-to-market platform, underwent a significant transformation in its business model t…

    Article
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