Every Mistake We've Made From 85 Episodes
In this episode, I sit down with producer Rashad Assir for a deep dive into the journey so far, including all the funny stories, mistakes, and insights from the last 85 episodes.
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✉️ Episode Memo
Almost 21 months ago to the day, I launched a podcast that looks nothing like the one I have today. We made about every mistake you could make along the way. Here's what they are...
None of this is rocket science but I wished someone had told me.
Keep At It
90% of podcasts don't get past episode 3. Of the remaining, 90% quit by episode 20. To be in the top 1%, you just need to create 21 episodes.
I definitely thought about quitting at the 5th episode because it wasn't growing like I expected and then at the 12th because I didn't know what the product I wanted to do was.
Entertainment and Education
In my experience, people only listen to podcasts for two reasons: entertainment and education. Most people aren't that entertaining so listeners better walk away having learned something.
I didn't realize what product I was offering so tried to be both. Ultimately, I figured out it's easier to be educational than entertaining so leaned into actionable insights around running and investing in tech companies.
Niche Down
Start with the smallest market you personally find interesting and build mastery around that. I started with what "people within tech with big followings on social media," which was a terrible starting point. You need to build a consistent set of listeners around one topic and then you can earn the right to do other topics.
Lex Fridman started as the AI podcast and now interviews Kanye West and Rick Rubin. Acquired started just focused on acquisitions and now does nearly canonical business breakdowns. Harry Stebbings started interviewing VCs and now interviews Bill Ackman and Scooter Braun.
Consistency
Consistency is a forcing function 1) to set expectations with your listeners on what they're going to get and when 2) it gives you the surface area to incrementally improve. Both are important to getting to where you're going.
I was consistent from the start on a schedule but not on a product, which led to listener churn and an inability to a/b test what was actually working.
Taking Feedback From Listeners
You're going to suck when you start. You just are.. no one is naturally good at this. I used to be defensive when people would critique the show but you can always get better and your listeners are generally right.
That said, don't overrate to appeal to the loudest people. You have to innately enjoy what you're doing.
Just a few of the countless mistakes… lot more covered in this week’s episode with show producer Rashad Assir.
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