Episode 23: Perplexity’s $34B Stunt, Mailchimp Hack Fizzles & LinkedIn Crackdowns Continue

Tim and Tas are back with an absolute monster docket in Episode 23 of Notorious B2B.   First up: Perplexity offering $34.5B (cash they definitely don’t have) to “buy” Google Chrome — easily the most absurd headline of the week. Then it’s the Mailchimp hack that turned out to be less than 1GB of stolen data, LinkedIn quietly shutting down dozens of automation tools, and a circle back on the Salesloft + Clari merger with new news. Also in this episode:  • Duolingo’s stock rockets up, then crashes after a GPT-5 demo  • Builder AI’s founder’s shady history resurfaces  • The ongoing debate over whether LinkedIn follower growth is a “real” CMO goal   Timestamps: 0:00 – Welcome to Notorious B2B (aka LinkedIn TMZ) 5:44 – Perplexity’s $34.5B “buy Chrome” offer 8:55 – Mailchimp hack (under 1GB stolen) 18:33 – Circle back: Salesloft + Clari merger 31:27 – LinkedIn crackdown on automation tools 41:01 – Builder AI founder’s history resurfaces 47:41 – Duolingo stock rockets, then dips after GPT-5 demo 54:18 – Are LinkedIn followers a real CMO goal? 1:09:11 – Wrap-up -------------------------  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.