Hot Ones Meets HubSpot: Brian Halligan Turns Up the Heat at INBOUND 2025

When Brian Halligan walked on stage with Hot Ones host Sean Evans, he admitted he didn’t fully know what he was signing up for. But by the end of ten wings and ten questions, HubSpot’s co-founder was reflecting openly on the future of business, the lessons of music, and the vulnerability of leadership all while sweating through one of the INBOUND’s spiciest interviews ever.

The setup: Evans asked his trademark tough questions while he and Halligan tackled hot sauces ranging from “manageable diner spice” to “why did I agree to this?”

Here’s what we learned, wing by wing.

WINGS 1-3: THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Wing 1: Shaquanda’s Hot Tropic

With sweat bands in place and before the sauces got too wild, Evans threw Halligan a big one: what excites him most about HubSpot’s future?

“We’re in a major platform shift to AI. I think HubSpot is exceptionally well-positioned to take advantage of it and we've been working away behind the scenes to build some amazing new tech… it’s going to lift us up with all of our customers.”

Asked which industry problem he'd solve with a magic wand, Halligan didn't hesitate: Sonos.

"The music system drives me crazy!"

Wing 2: Just Wingin' It

The second sauce brought the conversation to Halligan’s favorite band and concert experience, The Grateful Dead. Evans asked what the greatest marketing lesson could be learned from the band.

“They were the first inbound marketers.” Halligan shared. “They let people come into their concerts, record the concerts. They said anybody could come in, record it, come back to your dorm room, make copies, give it to all of your friends. That was their marketing model… and there's a little bit of inspiration in that inside HubSpot.”

Wing 3: Pickled Garlic Sriracha

By wing three, the heat was creeping in. When Evans asked who at HubSpot doesn't get enough credit, Halligan gave a heartfelt shout-out to co-founder Dharmesh Shah.

"He’s the man. He's the glue guy. He’s the visionary. Perfect partner to start the company with… People rate him highly, but he's still underrated."

WINGS 4-6: TURNING UP THE HEAT

Wing 4: Mango Serrano Hops

As the sweat started showing, Halligan opened up about the thinkers, books, and CEOs who’ve shaped his own world view.

“In the early days of HubSpot, there's a thinker/writer named Seth Godin that really inspired us. These days we're inspired by all the AI titans,” he added, referencing OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei. “We're inspired by people who are really pushing the edge.”

Wing 5: Hook and Arrow

At the halfway point, this wing brought a spicier sauerkraut-mustard situation that had Halligan saying “Ooh, that's hot. That's hot,” while Evans asked about lessons learned from scaling content without losing the magic.

“As time has gone on, quality really matters and thoughtfulness really matters and it matters more than ever now in the age of AI because you don't want to just get found in search engines, you want to get found during conversations with ChatGPT. And so the more thoughtful you are, the better.”

Evans joked about the pressure from sales teams to drive content strategy, and Halligan quipped:

"Sales reps, no matter where you are, what company, what stage, sales reps are very consistent in one thing. They complain."

Wing 6: Tropical Amarillo

By now, things were heating up fast. Halligan admitted he really disliked this sauce, but it prompted a thoughtful exchange about feedback. He shared how Dharmesh used to compile his 360-degree reviews by surveying board members, employees, and customers, then writing a report. The first 10 pages were all Halligan's features, speaking to all of his positive leadership skills. Those were followed by 15 pages of what Halligan calls his "bugs" detailing all of the honest and critical feedback.

WINGS 7-10: INTO THE FIRE

Wing 7: Aprichot

At this point, things were getting existential. Halligan and Evans swapped origin stories, bonding over how they both ended up in unconventional careers.

They also got into Halligan's childhood cookie habit. His mom used to leave packs of Chips Ahoy and Oreos on his nightstand because she worried he was too thin. "For my whole childhood, I wolfed cookies before bed, wake up in the middle of the night, have cookies, wake up in the morning, have cookies."

Wing 8: Da Bomb Beyond Insanity

The sauce that breaks everyone and what Evans referenced as “the rock‑bottom moment of the interview,” came at Wing 8, where Halligan had to take a lap around the table on stage.

In the middle of the chaos, Evans asked about Halligan’s proudest moment as CEO.

“The IPO was a pretty good day. I cried a lot… they wrapped the whole Exchange in the HubSpot logo.”

Wing 9: Sucker Punch

Still reeling from Da Bomb, Halligan powered through another scorcher. Evans asked about early jobs that prepared him for leadership. Halligan recalled working as a dishwasher at a fancy restaurant on Cape Cod.

His advice? "Never order the French onion soup because the dishwasher, it's really tough on the dish washer."

Wing 10: The Last Dab

For the final sauce, Hot Ones tradition demands a final dab and Halligan did not back down.

And with that, Evans gave him the floor for final words: “Go try all the new sh*t HubSpot demoed this week. It’s awesome. Lean into the future!”

Between the wings, the wisdom, and the wild stories (did we mention he bought Jerry Garcia’s guitar?), Brian Halligan showed up as the kind of leader we all aspire to be: passionate, self-aware, and not afraid to sweat a little in public.