In this episode, Austin, co-founder of the sales platform Topsail, shares his startup journey. He explains how his team pivoted multiple times after realizing their customer acquisition costs were too high, eventually finding success by simplifying their product to a single button that boosts sales productivity. The conversation also dives into startup cosplay—the act of pretending to be a founder without doing the hard, uncomfortable work—and explores how AI is best used as a hidden tool to augment human connection, not replace it, making genuine conversations more valuable than ever.
Austin Buell co-founded Topsail after a pivot from BLUPRNT a digitized brand strategy workshop. A large portion of that project was algorithmic questions, but AI was responsible for competitive research, creating marketing plans, and converting the algorithm outputs from hard to read formulas into natural language; which all translated into Topsail.
Topsail simplifies a seller’s outreach motion to a single button click – transforming your team into a well-drilled, world-dominating force overnight.
Connect with Austin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinbuell/
Check out Topsail: https://topsail.app/
Support the pod: https://3reate.com, https://ko-fi.com/3reate or https://patreon.com/3reate
Chapters:
(00:00) Welcome to 3reate!
(00:55) What is Topsail?
(01:56) Go-To-Market Strategy
(03:10) The Startup Pivot
(04:49) Why They Pivoted to Topsail
(10:12) Startup Cosplay vs. Real Work
(19:59) Using AI as a Hidden Tool
(25:00) A Founder's Role & Vibe Coding
(50:37) Conversational Led Sales, the future with AI?
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.