Making Media

Our guest today is Matthew Sherry, co-founder and CEO of Platform Media. Founded in 2021, the business is home to some of the UK's biggest podcasts and was acquired earlier this year for an eight-figure sum. The business was founded to solve the two biggest problems in podcasting: distribution and monetization. Through a savvy social strategy and bespoke partnerships, it has found unique solutions to both of those issues. We get into all the details of how they've managed to crack the code, where inspiration for the business came from, and what's next after the capital injection from their recent acquisition. Please enjoy this conversation with Matthew Sherry.  For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media (00:01:44) The Genesis of Platform Media (00:04:26) Innovative Podcast Strategies (00:05:22) Monetization and Marketing Tactics (00:06:06) The Good, The Bad, and The Rugby Success Story (00:07:24) Expanding Beyond Podcasts (00:10:33) Challenges and Future Plans (00:13:48) Social Amplification and Content Distribution (00:15:40) Revenue Models and Commercial Strategies (00:21:02) Adapting to Market Changes (00:30:52) Exploring Partner Deals and Opportunities (00:32:59) Benefits of Partnering with Big Companies (00:35:20) Engaging Talent for Successful Partnerships (00:37:43) Challenges and Success in Branded Content (00:41:09) The Big Announcement: Business Acquisition (00:45:16) Looking to the US Market for Inspiration (00:48:36) Debrief

Our guest today is Dan Shipper, the co-founder and CEO of Every. Every started at the beginning of the pandemic as a bundle of business newsletters written by different authors. While writing is still at the heart of the business, the model has shifted focus to a daily newsletter that is an essay on technology, productivity, or AI.  Dan and his team have also built adjacent business lines and even incubated a startup called Lex that they spun out last year. We talk through the evolution of Every, which really gets to the core of what's both great and challenging about media companies. He goes into detail about his entrepreneurial spirit that started way back in fifth grade, how he's become laser-focused on AI recently, launching a great podcast on the subject, and chatGPT specifically. Please enjoy this conversation with Dan Shipper. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media (00:02:10) Dan Shipper's Entrepreneurial Journey From Fifth Grade to CEO (00:06:06) Embracing Writing: A Founder's Shift in Identity (00:11:13) Major Pivots and Growth for Every (00:13:11) Challenges and Innovations in Building a Newsletter Business (00:18:10) Analyzing Puck's Business Model and Its Future (00:21:03) The Power of Incubation and Diversification in Media (00:27:59) Balancing Creative and Operational Roles in Leadership (00:30:51) The Deliberate Focus on Chat GPT (00:32:39) Challenges of Specialization in Content Creation (00:35:40) Impact of AI on Creativity and Work (00:41:22) The Unique Dynamics of Chatbots vs. Search Engines (00:45:43) Exploring Think Week and Creative Processes (00:48:28) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we bring you two titans of the podcasting world, Tim Ferriss and our very own Colossus chairman, Patrick O'Shaughnessy. We're biased, but I think these two are two of the best interviewers in the world, and they recorded this conversation on Invest Like the Best for the 10th anniversary of Tim's podcast. Matt and I thought you, our precious Making Media audience, would enjoy it too, as Tim touches on so many themes that we speak with guests about on this show. Please enjoy this great conversation with Tim Ferriss and Patrick O'Shaughnessy. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes: (00:00:00) - Welcome to Invest Like the Best (on Making Media) (00:03:32) - The Evolution of Podcasting with Tim Ferriss (00:09:56) - Crafting Meaningful Conversations (00:13:26) - What Makes Tim Feel The Most Alive  (00:24:06) - Who Tim Considers To Be His Mentors (00:29:06) - The Ingredients Of A World Class Performance (00:31:06) - The Business Side of Podcasting (00:43:15) - Identifying Emerging Trends (00:50:12) - Lessons From Building a Small, Efficient Team (00:52:32) - The Power of Constraints in Personal and Professional Growth (00:53:10) - Innovating Against the Grain (Anti-Video Experiment) (00:54:54) - Navigating Fame, Money, and Power (01:02:00) - The Impact of Sharing Difficult Stories (01:06:18) - Meta-Learning: A Framework for Fast, Effective Learning (01:12:32) - Reflecting on a Decade of Podcasting & What's In Store (01:24:41) - The Kindest Thing Anyone Has Ever Done For Tim Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is sports media veteran Mike Stricoff. Mike spent a decade producing live sports talk on national TV, first working at MLBN before moving to Fox Sports, where he helped launch Undisputed. Mike worked on that show alongside Skip Bayless, Shannon Sharpe, and others as the main line producer. In 2017, he left national TV for tech, going to work at Snap where he led their sports and gaming content. And, more recently, he has launched his own business working as an adviser to digital media companies and connecting investors & content producers. We tap into all his experience in a discussion around personality-driven media businesses and how that has evolved both at a national scale and for independent creators. Please enjoy our conversation with Mike Stricoff. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media (00:02:15) Behind the Scenes of The Launch of Undisputed (00:04:00) The Art of Personality-Driven Media (00:08:18) Catering to The Host Vs The Audience (00:13:38) Fostering Chemistry Between Co-Hosts  (00:17:51) Mike's Experience Launching FS1 (00:21:48) Mike's Transition to Snap & A New Frontier in Sports Content (00:31:05) The Pros and Cons of Algorithm-Driven Content (00:34:48) The Evolution of Content Creators From Traditional Media to YouTube Stars (00:39:06) Advice for Aspiring Content Creators (00:40:40) Bridging Creators with the Investment World (00:45:16) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Making Media. Our guest today is Emily Sundberg. Like many of our most creative guests, Emily has a wide-ranging background. For her day job, she writes her newsletter, Feed Me, which tracks valuable early trends in the consumer and brand space. If you want to know what's going to happen six months from now, read Emily's newsletter tomorrow.  She also writes for New York magazine and GQ, she's been featured in the New York Times, and she's published a documentary. We talk about how she's built up this incredibly valuable, long, diversified list of sources while not being a traditional journalist. And we hit on what's happening in culture and documentaries too. Please enjoy this conversation with Emily. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media (00:02:46) First Question - The Art of Trendspotting (00:08:57) The Evolution of Emily's Newsletter ‘Feed Me' (00:14:00) Writing for A Magazine vs A Newsletter (00:17:19) The Art of Making Stories Stick (00:21:17) Understanding Her Audience (00:26:04) Daily Content Creation: Insights into the Writing Process (00:29:22) The Unique Voice of the Newsletter: Entertainment and Opinions (00:32:12) Diving Into Documentary Filmmaking (00:35:23) The Financial Realities and Creative Challenges of Documentary Making (00:38:27) Navigating the Documentary World and Future Projects (00:45:13) Diving Deep into Direct Investments and Business Models (00:45:55) The Solo Journey of Managing a Newsletter (00:56:31) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Jack Davenport. Jack is the Managing Director and Co-Founder of British-based Goalhanger Podcasts. Goalhanger is the largest independent podcast network in the U.K. and likely the world outside of the U.S. Its stable of shows do 30 million downloads a month. Goalhanger got its first big breakthrough with the excellent history podcast called “The Rest Is History,” and they've since grown into other verticals like politics, finance, football, and entertainment. It was great fun to talk all things podcasting with someone who's taking the medium by storm. Please enjoy this conversation with Jack Davenport.  For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media (00:02:06) First Question - The Evolution of GoalHanger and Its Podcasts (00:04:19) The Success of 'The Rest is History'  (00:07:36) The Transition from Video to Audio (00:10:18) Revenue Streams and Business Model (00:14:45) The Importance of Hosts and Talent in Podcasting (00:18:16) Marketing Strategies and Branding (00:22:54) Partnerships with Other Media Businesses (00:25:24) The Importance of Retaining Intellectual Property (00:27:11) The Power of Cross-Promotion and Audience Growth (00:32:01) The Impact of High-Volume Podcasting (00:34:19) The Future Vision for Goalhanger (00:36:29) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Peter Kafka. If you've listened to media podcasts, you've likely listened to Peter's Recode Media. It has been a fixture in the industry for years. Peter recently announced he's going back to Business Insider, which is notable because he was the first hire way back when it was known as Silicon Valley Insider in 2007.  Given Peter has seen a few cycles, we tried to key in on what is actually new versus what is cyclical. It was a treat to pepper him with questions on media. Please enjoy this conversation with Peter Kafka. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media  (00:02:24) First Question - Perspective on Media Companies Today (00:04:02) Challenges in Local News Business Models (00:07:05) The Impact of Netflix on the Media Industry (00:10:20) The Influence of YouTube on Media Consumption (00:14:11) The Shift in Media Business Models (00:17:56) The Success of The New York Times' Subscription Model (00:21:54) The Impact of AI and VR on Media (00:27:20) The Disconnect Between Media Perception and Reality (00:30:31) The Evolution of Podcasting and Its Impact on Media (00:35:03) Reflections on Interviewing Techniques and Challenges (00:39:55) The Future of Podcasting and Media Consumption (00:42:30) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Ben Springwater. Ben is the founder of Matter, a reading app that pulls everything you want to read into one place with curation, audio, and more. There are constant frustrations with how we get served media, as there's infinite content, and it's harder and harder to separate the good from the bad. Ben is working to solve that problem.  He shares what it's like to build a product like Matter and gives insight into how Matter's team makes decisions around the technical and human challenges that come into play.  An avid reader and content consumer himself, we then asked Ben for some of his favorite recommendations, all linked below. Please enjoy this conversation with Ben Springwater. Ben's Recommended Content:  The Road to Self-Renewal  Basic Income, Not Basic Jobs: Against Hijaking Utopia The Weirdly Enduring Appeal of Weird Al Yankovic For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00) Welcome to Making Media (01:36) The Challenges of Building a Product Like Matter (03:41) The Power of Curation in the Digital Age (08:03) The Future of Recommendation Systems (15:26) The Challenges of Building a User-Centric Product (22:14) The Intersection of Reading and Listening in the Digital Age (25:12) The Business Model of Matter (27:04) Ben's Recommendation #1: The Road to Self-Renewal  (33:14) Ben's Recommendation #2: Basic Income, Not Basic Jobs: Against Hijaking Utopia (42:38) Ben's Recommendation #2: The Weirdly Enduring Appeal of Weird Al Yankovic (51:19) The Importance of Being An Enthusiast (52:06) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is the preeminent aviation journalist, Jon Ostrower. Jon is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Air Current, which he started in 2018. It's an independent subscription media business focused on the global aerospace and aviation industries. Jon started blogging about the airline industry as a 22-year-old while working in politics, but he quickly became consumed by his passion and went on to work for Flight Global, The Wall Street Journal, and CNN before striking off to build his own media business. Throughout this conversation, he thoughtfully outlines the key decisions he's made in building The Air Current into the success it is today. Please enjoy this episode of Making Media with Jon Ostrower. Listen to the Boeing Business Breakdown with Jon. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00) Welcome to Making Media (02:35) First Question - Jon's Journey into Aviation Journalism (03:44) The Miracle of Flight and the Aerospace Industry (05:12) Jon's Early Career and the Birth of His Blog (06:39) The Evolution of The Air Current (10:24) The Importance of Quality Content and Audience Engagement (16:05) The Challenges and Triumphs of Scaling a Media Business (23:00) The Role of Passion and Expertise in Media Success (29:25) The Importance of Owning Your Platform (33:47) The Future of The Air Current and Closing Thoughts (38:16) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you make a podcast or like sports, you will enjoy this episode. Spike Eskin runs all of the programming at New York's WFAN, the original and biggest sports talk radio station, and he's only the second person ever to have that job. Now you're probably thinking, doesn't everyone just listen to podcasts now? Well, the answer to that is no, but don't worry. He's also got a podcast, a big one, and his podcast, The Rights to Ricky Sanchez, is frequently ranked at the top basketball podcast charts. It's only focused on a single team, the 76ers, but it's been big enough to get a full chapter in a book, and several audience gatherings have been featured on Sports Center highlights. So he is the coach and he is the talent. During our conversation, we go through traits Spike looks for in audio hosts, the benefits and challenges of having practitioners like athletes sitting in the hosting chair, and differences in sponsorship dynamics between radio and podcasting frameworks for good content. Please enjoy this episode and conversation with Spike. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @JoinColossus  Show Notes [00:00:00] Welcome to Making Media [00:03:09] First question - Which traits he'd use to create the ideal audio host   [00:06:55] Comparing podcasts to local radio and separating them into three categories [00:08:43] Tricks to help hosts generate and create chemistry  [00:14:48] Something that new hosts and newcomers to audio in general struggle with [00:17:00] Effective ways to measure how the fans view your shows [00:20:52] Whether you should place any weight on your most engaged listeners [00:25:01] Differences in terms of a podcast covering a topic versus a local radio  [00:30:09] The models and structure of the powerhouse that is radio advertising   [00:33:39] Repeat advertising and his own sponsorship strategy  [00:39:19] How much practitioner value comes into play about your show topic  [00:44:37] The importance of non-consensus and controversial views  [00:49:57] Whether or not official statements being made via social media is a passing trend or only the beginning  [00:53:51] Coaching hosts when it comes to asking critical questions [00:55:51] Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Adam Hansmann, co-founder of The Athletic. The Athletic launched in 2016 when the idea of paying for content was still considered contrarian and newspapers & local coverage of sports was dwindling. Yet Adam and his co-founder built something that they wanted, solving a problem they experienced in their own lives and riding this massive market expansion. Adam shares a lot of the lessons that he took away from his experience building The Athletic and there is a lot to learn here. Please enjoy this conversation with Adam Hansman. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media (00:01:45) First question - The playbook for subscription based businesses (00:05:35) User-centric development, as opposed to advertiser-centric in media (00:07:32) Adam's reflections on the state of media and business development (00:09:24) Managing feedback in the subscription model between readers and journalists (00:12:21) The level of transparency in company meetings and how positivity affects the team  (00:15:02) Adam's strategy when exploring alternative channels beyond Twitter to reach a broader audience (00:17:16) Long-form journalism pieces and how it affected subscription performance (00:18:42) The importance of bundling in The Athletic's business (00:22:09) Insights revealed when transitioning from local coverage to national content (00:23:17) Adam's key factors for fostering long-term alignment with employees  (00:25:36) How funding constraints in the early days influenced the business operations (00:28:07) The implementation of The Athletic's pricing model and the factors that have contributed to its consistency over time (00:30:37) Balancing the app and website as an all-in destination versus leveraging other platforms (00:32:43) Subsequent changes since being acquired by The Times (00:34:03) Add-on businesses like events and merchandise and their relevance to the overall business strategy (00:35:21) The integration of multimedia components such as podcasts and videos (00:37:15) Navigating the transition into The Times, ensuring the preservation of existing culture and fostering alignment for the next phase (00:39:51) Potential opportunities and initiatives that Adam is excited about (00:42:59) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest this week is CBS Sports Writer Kyle Porter. Kyle writes and podcasts about golf for CBS, and he has done so since 2012. In 2021, Kyle wrote his first book, "Normal Sport," which was born out of a running joke with his audience about the absurdities of golf. He has now written and self-published three books and writes a newsletter under the same branding. Even if you're not a golf fan, there are so many interesting areas to explore about media with Kyle – from the rise of independent publishers like our friends at No Laying Up, working within a big media business, covering live sports, and the process of creating content independently. He can talk about the full spectrum. I hope you enjoy this discussion with the great Kyle Porter. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media (00:01:36) First question - Exploring common misconceptions in sports journalism (00:06:36) Contrasting experiences in large corporations and smaller media outlets (00:11:03) The highs and lows of golf storytelling (00:14:23) Embracing the role of a golf ambassador (00:19:11) Examining how monetization influences content creation (00:26:56) The journey of writing a new book (00:30:34) The process of generating original ideas (00:32:33) Comparing live and recorded sports coverage (00:37:47) Cultivating a unique voice in journalism (00:39:59) Unveiling the distinct aspects of golf journalism (00:41:23) Chronicling stories about Tiger Woods Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We reflect on Making Media's inaugural year and 2023 as a whole for the podcasting world. From shifts in the macro podcast environment to our most memorable recordings, we round up our first year and look to the next. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page HERE. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.c om/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media (00:00:48) First Question - Examining shifts in the podcast industry in 2023 (00:05:54- Evaluating Making Media's inaugural year (00:08:44) The top 3 most popular Making Media episodes in 2023 (00:09:52) Highlighting Making Media's most underrated episode (00:14:00) Recalling the most unforgettable recording session (00:16:14) Matt and Dom's dream guest for 2024 (00:18:24) Discussing the most challenging conversation preparation (00:22:32) Reflecting on the best Colossus moments in 2023 (00:25:52) Different ways to format episodes, successful episodes in 2023 and potential new formats in 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is Craig Fuller, Founder and CEO of FreightWaves and CEO of FLYING Magazine. We get into some of the early observations that Craig had when he was building out FreightWaves, which is a software data business with a media empire sitting around it. He shares the challenges associated with fundraising for a media business and why the market doesn't put a value on audiences. In the second half of our conversation we get into Craig's playbook for buying up niche magazines around things like private aviation and boating. He explains why it is so important to capture the full audience base and some of the fun projects that he has been tying in around those audiences. This is a wide ranging conversation with someone who has taken a very interesting approach coming in as a practitioner, once a pilot himself, and how he's taken some of those lessons and applied them into building businesses. Please enjoy this conversation with Craig Fuller.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page HERE ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  (00:02:38) - (First question) - Craig's initial mindset when launching FreightWaves (00:05:37) - Craig's observations about fundraising when shifting the business into a media business (00:13:08) - How he bridged the gap between his industry expertise and the media business' need for specialized knowledge (00:17:35) - How his media business was initially funded (00:20:46) - Disparity in market valuation with audiences undervalued and some SAS businesses overvalued (00:26:14) - The motivation in pursuing the purchase of Flying magazine (00:31:02) - Lessons learned from attaching real estate to audiences compared to finance or e-commerce (00:34:15) - The strategy behind acquiring numerous media outlets (00:37:54) - Economic principles for managing acquired magazines  (00:39:33) - The correlation between the aviation and freight industries (00:40:46) - The importance of having an interest in an industry before acquiring an existing audience (00:43:47) - The elements Craig tries to enhance when revamping older magazines (00:47:39) - Shifting advertiser mentality into niche marketing and its ultimate success (00:49:46) - The early challenges of switching to a specialized, niche audience (00:51:08) - Whether this model works for all magazine or if niche marketing is only successful with expensive product content like planes (00:54:58) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Jonathan Becker, Founder of Thrive Digital. Paid growth is a complex topic and it is something that we reference quite a bit on the show, but we've never really dug in. Jonathan and his team at Thrive have deployed over $3.5 billion in paid acquisition budgets on behalf of their client base. Naturally, that makes him an ideal guest to dig deeper. In the conversation, we draw on parallels to investing, how Jon and Thrive approach campaigns & what metrics they're looking at, what the rules of thumb really are, and Jonathan's general philosophy on marketing as a whole. Please enjoy our conversation with Jonathan Becker. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes: (00:01:50) - (First question) - Examining the link between advertising and investing (00:05:14) - Identifying underserved segments in the market (00:07:07) - Exploring unconventional routes to success (00:10:32) - Determining the effectiveness of marketing strategies (00:16:44) - Shifting strategies to business to business (B2B) marketing (00:21:23) - Tailoring advertising budgets for smaller businesses (00:22:46) - Evaluating the benefits of advertising on Spotify (00:27:02) - Demonstrating advertising metrics to clients (00:34:38) - Discussing the advantages of advertising in podcasts (00:40:39) - Analyzing the fundamentals of creating effective advertisements (00:43:26) - Investigating common failure points in marketing campaigns (00:48:25) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we're joined by Kaki Orr, the Creative Director for Branded Content at The North Face. After a career as a professional skier where she was sponsored by The North Face, Kaki joined the company and has since led the charge to create mesmerizing films of their athletes skiing, climbing, and running across many of the world's most remote and breath-taking mountains. We've talked a lot on this show about content to commerce but in many ways this conversation covers the reverse; commerce to content. We talk to Kaki about creating authenticity while achieving The North Face's goals, how these epic films come together, and how she thinks about risk throughout the process. Please enjoy this conversation with Kaki Orr. Watch Kaki's work: The North Face Presents: Lhotse ft. Hilaree Nelson and Jim Morrison The North Face Presents: Earthside For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes: (00:01:50) - Kaki's background before joining The North Face (00:05:52) - Overview of her role today  (00:10:17) - Defining success (00:11:45) - Which stories are picked  (00:14:15) - General project timelines  (00:16:03) - The logistics of their films  (00:18:24) - Budget allocation and coordination  (00:20:13) - Building teams around an athlete  (00:22:52) - Leaving room for the unexpected  (00:26:19) - Managing talent and project risk  (00:31:20) - Finding effective distribution channels  (00:36:38) - Other brands that inspire Kaki  (00:38:10) - Fundamentals of making a great documentary  (00:40:34) - What she'd like to achieve over the coming decade (00:42:40) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part of our mission with Making Media is to highlight great content across the internet. Today, we're sharing our favorite pieces of media from the past year and to help us sift through the deluge of content, we have a special returning guest - media aficionado Web Barr. Web is a multiple-time Webby Award and Communication Arts-winning producer at National Geographic magazine, he was Head of Content at Meet Cute, and is currently building something new in the media industry called Hi Barr. He is one of the best curators of content we know. We each select one book or article, one film or TV show, and one non-Colossus podcast. Please enjoy this yearly media roundup with Web Barr and make sure to check out his newsletter and new podcast. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes: (00:00:23) - First question (00:00:33) - Discussion on Hi Barr Weekly Letter Up to 11 (00:02:02) - Web's Favorite Article of the Year (00:03:53) - Discussion on the Art Market and Gagosian's Influence (00:05:39) - Reflections on the New Yorker's Journalism (00:09:31) - Dom's Book Pick of the Year (00:11:26) - Learning from the Restaurant Business (00:14:52) - The Wager: A Book Recommendation (00:18:56) - Favorite Movie of the Year: Oppenheimer (00:22:10) - TV Show Review: All the Light We Cannot See (00:26:44) - Movie Review: The Killer (00:30:13) - Favorite Comedy Movie Discussion (00:30:49) - Webb's Favorite Podcast: Rick Rubin's Tetragrammaton (00:33:05) - The Power of Rick Rubin's Podcast (00:39:39) - Dom's Favorite Podcast: Hodinkee's Talking Watches (00:41:06) - The Uniqueness of Hodinkee's Talking Watches (00:47:51) - The Challenge of Growing Podcasts (00:49:26) - Blank Check Podcast. Wrapping Up the Year's Recommendations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Tammy Winter, the Commissioning Editor of Stripe Press. As the name suggests, Stripe Press is a division within Stripe. Founded in 2010 by two Irish brothers, John and Patrick Collison, Stripe is a payment processing business with a mission to "increase the GDP of the internet". From the surface, there doesn't seem to be great synergies or reasons why a payments business would incubate a publishing arm – particularly one that focuses on publishing or re-publishing physical books. But, as Tammy explains, there is a lot more than meets the eye. We recorded this conversation on Tuesday morning last week before the incredibly sad news that investing icon, Charlie Munger passed away. Stripe Press republished Poor Charlie's Almanac earlier this week and we talk about that two-year project with Tammy in our discussion. Please enjoy this conversation with Tammy Winter. Listen to Invest Like the Best: A Conversation with Charlie Munger & John Collison Order your copy of Poor Charlie's Almanack For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes: (01:59) - (First Question) - The origin story and purpose of Stripe Press (08:07) - Choosing between tactical guide-like books and inspirational open-ended books  (15:56) - Tammy's personal story and educational background (20:54) - Intersecting with prominent people using Twitter to advance professionally  (24:00) - How they measure success at Stripe Press (30:43) - Measuring success without numbers (35:00) - Why produce physical books (36:48) - Design conception and the process behind creating the books  (40:19) - Where books like Poor Charlie's Almanack originally come from (45:17) - Tammy's reflections on the media industry and what she's learned in her career  (51:24) - Debrief  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are talking Marvel. It's the cinematic universe that's made over $30 billion at the box office (and that's just the Hollywood piece). Our guest today is Joanna Robinson, Podcaster and Culture Critic for The Ringer. Joanna wrote "MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios," a revealing behind-the-scenes history of the cultural phenomenon. We cover the history of Marvel from the pre-Disney days through what led to the explosion of what happened over the past 15 years and what seems like a fall from grace in recent years. She has had so many conversations with insiders and we can't recommend the book highly enough. Please enjoy this conversation on Marvel with Joanna Robinson. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  (00:02:13) - (First question) - The evolution of Joanna's relationship with Marvel (00:05:22) - Ranking the importance to the success of The Marvel Cinematic Universe (00:07:00) - The importance of technology early on with the films (00:08:27) - How Marvel thinks about the distribution of its intellectual property (00:11:18) - The lessons from Marvel's strategy to focus movies on B their grade characters (00:14:26) - Joanna's opinion on whether the success of The Avengers also might have led to Marvel's downfall (00:17:41) - Whether MCU's success was an organic result of timing or if there's a replicable formula for success today (00:23:10) - How David Maisel pulled off the Merrill Lynch financing deal (00:27:06) - Kevin Feige's long-term plan and whether the interconnected universe was always a core idea (00:30:16) - The unique ownership situation of the Hulk between Marvel and Universal (00:34:16) - Marvel's retention of autonomy key to the Disney acquisition (00:37:52) - Post Avengers Endgame and possible reasons why MCU has struggled (00:41:12) - The effect Disney Plus has had on MCU (00:43:23) - The difficulties Marvel faces with creating TV content (00:47:17) - Moving forward and future potential with iconic properties like the X-Men and Fantastic Four (00:51:17) - Joanna's opinion on the statement that Marvel has ruined movies (00:55:29) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Amy Astley, global editorial director and editor-in-chief of the Iconic Architectural Digest. It's rare to find a brand like AD that has a hundred-year-old history and effectively balances that rich heritage while still being the pulse of the market. Amy talks about the cultural currency that exists with the AD magazine and what that represents to the people featured inside. We also dive into how the business model has shifted since Amy stepped in, the idea of being multimedia, and what it means to expand internationally and into B2B markets. Please enjoy this conversation with Amy Astley of Architectural Digest. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  (00:03:01) - (First question) Managing a design brand like Architectural Digest (00:04:47) - The essence of timeless design (00:07:41) - Architectural Digest's engagement with emerging trends (00:09:39) - Balancing creativity with business demands (00:13:08) - Comparing magazine publishing to social media content (00:18:43) - Preserving brand identity across new media platforms (00:26:27) - Expanding into the business-to-business space (00:31:39) - Ensuring quality in global market ventures (00:35:46) - Insights gained from Anna Wintour's mentorship (00:39:15) - Key figures who have shaped her career trajectory (00:41:58) - Mastering the art of declining Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In early October, Matt put together seven insights that he's learned and implemented from this show. Today, it's Dom's turn to pull out his favorite lessons that guests have shared with us and how we've put them to use in our own business, Colossus. Enjoy seven more nuggets of media wisdom. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  (00:02:37) - (First question) - How prioritizing listeners in podcasting benefits the business in unexpected ways (00:07:10) - The long game in media: Why slow growth equates to sustainable relationships (00:13:15) - How media growth and funding models are often misaligned with business sustainability (00:14:35) - Why starting simple in content creation is vital (00:20:02) - The underestimated power of newsletters in direct audience engagement (00:24:43) - Building a unique, value-added subscription service for super fans (00:28:07) - The crucial role of internal communication in a decentralized world (00:32:40) - How passion and dedication can turn unpaid podcasting into a thriving business Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are joined today by Bryan Curtis, Editor-at-Large at The Ringer. Bryan writes excellent columns on theringer.com and hosts The Press Box, which happens to be the show with our favorite podcast episode of this past year. We gushed with Bryan over that particular podcast episode with Wright Thompson and we also hit on a wide range of media topics: writing versus podcasting, streaming versus linear, and searching for those water cooler events. We had a ton of fun during this one - please enjoy our conversation with Bryan. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:02:00) - Exploring the role of Editor-at-Large (00:03:15) - The factors influencing the prioritization of writing (00:06:50) - Building chemistry with co-hosts and guests (00:08:35) - Experiences working at ESPN (00:12:00) - Predicting the future of sports media (00:13:30) - The Ringer's independence within Spotify (00:16:00) - Risks associated with cable channels transitioning to streaming (00:18:15) - The essential attributes of a successful podcaster (00:20:00) - Comparing podcasting to radio (00:22:55) - The benefits of appointment-based viewing (00:23:45) - Incorporating video into podcasting (00:27:53) - The reception towards One Perfect Story (00:34:45) - Where long-form media will be in the future (00:36:45) - Internal focus versus metrics-driven approaches (00:40:00) - Balancing media consumption while also working in the media industry (00:41:30) - Lessons learned from working with Bill Simmons (00:44:15) - Characteristics of the perfect media content Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we welcome Lenny Rachitsky to Making Media. Lenny has built the biggest business publication on Substack, "Lenny's Newsletter," with well over 500,000 readers. It started in 2019 as an advice column and since starting the newsletter, he has built a thriving podcast, community, and job board. Lenny's world has become the destination for product and growth people at companies big and small across the world. We explore his journey, the strategy behind his products or SKUs as he calls them, and we delve into his mindset which is particularly unique for someone who has been this successful at building an audience. I hope you enjoy our conversation with Lenny Rachitsky. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  (00:01:53) - (First question) - How Lenny tackles challenges through research, delivering actionable insights (00:05:04) - Juggling weekly and long-term posts, correlating effort to engagement (00:08:01) - How his varied experiences shaped his online content journey (00:11:54) - Maintaining relevance by advising companies & addressing problems (00:13:34) - How he aims to sustain his content creation without corporatizing (00:16:53) - Quantifying podcast success monetarily and by growth (00:19:43) - Evaluating post quality and striving for non-obvious, surprising connections while maintaining brevity (00:23:37) - Emphasizing stakes to underscore a topic's relevance (00:24:39) - Maintaining simplicity by avoiding empire-building, utilizing contractors, and focusing on core offerings (00:27:28) - Starting small and curating members while maintaining quality controls for community growth (00:29:47) - Engaging active supporters and notable individuals for a self-sustaining community (00:33:16) - Utilizing the 'Jobs to be Done' framework to better serve readers (00:38:37) - Why some topics resonate more than others (00:41:17) - How Lenny's Newsletter drives engagement and distribution across platforms (00:44:26) - Appreciating Substack's simplicity and audience growth (00:48:00) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, we launched a new Colossus podcast called Art of Investing. It was our biggest and most successful launch ever so we wanted to share the tactics we put in play to help that show off to a fast start. We hope you'll find them useful and we'll be back with our normal interview episode on Thursday. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Matt Reustle and today I am joined by Jacob Donnelly. Jacob is the founder at A Media Operator and publisher from the Morning Brew. Jacob has long been involved in the media space, with a persistent interest in ideas on building a sustainable media company, leading him to launch his own. A Media Operator is a community with a high caliber of both people and conversations for those in the digital media and online publishing world. We cover events, launching new verticals, B2B media, and who Jacob is closely watching operate in the media market. Please enjoy this conversation with Jacob Donnelly Subscribe to Colossus's New Show: Art of Investing. Buy a ticket to Patrick and David Senra's live show. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:02:30) - (First question) What events mean to the media industry (00:03:30) - The economic equation for business-to-business (B2B) events (00:06:00) - What makes an event stand out from the rest (00:07:30) - The future of virtual events in the realm of business (00:10:45) - Making your event sustainable for the future (00:13:30) - Integrating event businesses into broader sectors (00:15:45) - A playbook for launching a new vertical in the event space (00:20:30) - What the timeline for a new vertical looks like at Morning Brew (00:26:00) - Handling sponsorship and exclusivity (00:31:30) - Balancing the synergy between creators and brands (00:34:45) - The best businesses to study in terms of media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on Making Media Matt shares his top 7 bits of media wisdom that he has thoughtfully curated during his efforts to build a media company. Each individual guest and episode offers a new takeaway, and Matt attempts to find the thread that goes between all of these lessons and create an actionable summary. Studying great founders, learning from the best in the investment world, studying these great businesses...well, what does it matter if you can't take that knowledge and apply it in practice? Today's episode pulls out the highlights and offers additional context as to why it's important to Colossus and how it can be more broadly important to anybody that's in the media space. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have a special guest on Making Media. There are few people who write and live like David Coggins. David has a way of maintaining his creative identity while still adopting many of today's tools. He writes books, and he writes on his Substack, The Contender. We talked to David about his process for writing, what he is or is not sacred about, how his parents normalized creative acts in his house growing up, and we get some great recommendations. Please enjoy this interview with David Coggins. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:02:00) - (First question) His experience having parents who work in creative fields (00:07:30) - Finding people who expose you to interesting things (00:10:15) - How to find an editor (00:12:33) - The transition from writing online to writing a book (00:16:00) - Conveying a theme effectively in a book (00:18:30) - Documenting emotions and experiences (00:24:00) - Balancing travel and book writing (00:28:53) - Editing a family member's work (00:30:40) - Scheduled writing versus writing in the moment (00:33:00) - Favorite types of written media (00:35:00) - Advice for aspiring young writers (00:39:30) - The impact of location on writing (00:44:40) - Defining a successful book (00:45:45) - One piece of work every creative should experience Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we cover another niche media business. Our guest, Thomas Shields, launched The Dink in late 2020 and has quickly grown it to become the media authority on the booming sport of Pickleball. Across its newsletter, podcasts, videos, blogs, and more, The Dink offers everything you could want to know about the sport. And we discuss the whole journey and business with Thomas, who started it as a side venture and now has far grander plans for it. Enjoy! For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:02:00) - (First question) - Thomas' experience with content creation prior to starting The Dink (00:03:49) - How the first ever newsletter looked and its contents (00:04:59) - When the Dink started creating new content as well as curating existing news (00:06:20) - The point when The Dink started breaking news stories (00:07:21) - Family connections with Fromuth and the inception of Fromuth Pickleball  (00:09:49) - The reason why The Dink and Fromuth needed to separate their businesses (00:11:01) - How The Dink made its first big steps as an industry leader in Pickleball news (00:12:32) - How The Dink separated themselves from competitors (00:13:11) - Thomas' influences from other sports when creating content for The Dink (00:14:00) - The evolution of the frequency of the newsletter (00:14:52) - A breakdown of The Dink's audience  (00:15:57) - Profiling the avid Pickleball fan (00:16:48) - The timeline from getting started as a side hustle to Thomas making the leap into working on The Dink full time (00:19:00) - Thomas' strategy for the business moving forward (00:23:13) - The Dink's plan for content, diversification into other sports or delving deeper into Pickleball   (00:25:59) - How Thomas plans to become more independent and less reliant on Pickleball's economy (00:27:05) - Harnessing media to grow Major League Pickleball and The Dink's relationship with the league (00:29:12) - What Thomas has learned about the value of each of The Dink's media outlets (00:31:26) - Bundling for cross media advertising (00:33:08) - The influence of celebrities involvement in Pickleball (00:35:48) - The challenge of bringing supply and demand together as Pickleball grows (00:36:59) - The differences between Platform Tennis, Padel and Pickleball (00:38:26) - Where Thomas would like to strengthen his team with investment (00:40:26) - Thomas' opinion on the biggest opportunity within the Pickleball ecosystem right now (00:43:03) - The sport that Thomas would choose were The Dink to create another newsletter (00:45:24) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we're sitting down with Brian Morrissey and getting back to the guts and glory days of the media industry. In 2021, Brian founded The Rebooting - a newsletter publication focused on the mechanics of building sustainable media businesses. Prior to The Rebooting, he spent a decade building Digiday and had a nice stint as editor at Adweek. We get into Brian's own experience launching his business and unpack his view that we're in a "more with less" era in media. Please enjoy this conversation with Brian Morrissey. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:23) - (First question) - How media is adapting to the "more with less" era amidst challenges (00:06:08) - Efficiency's impact on media brand identity and content quality (00:08:21) - The benefits of niche focus in media for building sustainable brands (00:10:25) - Media companies' failure to adapt and the impact of misaligned incentives (00:13:30) - The power law effect on media business size and advocating for lean operations (00:16:22) - Starting narrowly versus broadly in the media business (00:18:57) - Leaving Digiday to build a personal, autonomous, trust-based media brand in The Rebooting (00:22:27) - Using his year away from work to strategize personal media product creation (00:23:52) - Leveraging connections to sell ads, avoiding paywall to grow faster (00:28:12) - Understanding the essence of sales and the role belief plays in it (00:30:41) - How niche markets and personal connections can serve as media business moats (00:33:43) - Valuing passion and expertise over market trends when starting a media business (00:36:53) - Why questioning industry norms can be beneficial (00:37:52) - Creators using autonomy and audiences for better deals (00:40:57) - Pat McAfee's leverage as an entity, not just talent (00:42:56) - Analyzing the Barstool-Penn breakup and its implications for the media business (00:46:27) - Why ad agencies continue to survive despite being dysfunctional (00:50:23) - Debrief (01:01:17) - Live Event Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we speak with the Wall Street Wonder, Matt Levine. Matt's Bloomberg column, Money Stuff, has become a must read for most of the finance community. It's that rare place where you get laughter, learning, and complex topics. During the conversation, we talk with Matt about his ability to translate those complex topics, how his early legal career at Wachtell Lipton, and then his banking career at Goldman Sachs have played a role in his success, and we cover a ton of topics in terms of what's going on in the markets today - the overall regulatory structure and some very abstract questions. Please enjoy this conversation with Matt Levine. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  (00:01:51) - (First question) - Today's regulatory efficiency versus history   (00:07:26) - The area of finance he would like to investigate the most   (00:09:39) - The access he has to both public and private finance for his articles (00:10:21) - His relationship with his readers (00:11:08) - Responses from the individuals he writes his columns about  (00:12:24) - Legalization of unregulated activities making for the most interesting articles  (00:14:31) - His reason for defending finance and banks (00:17:19) - His view on whether derivatives around financial securities are a net positive  (00:18:22) - His view on himself and how he would categories what he does  (00:19:16) - What it's like being an opinion writer for Bloomberg (00:21:35) - His view on large companies owning individual writers IP's  (00:25:24) - Twitter's relevance in today's society and its continued impact on social culture   (00:26:39) - Replacements for Twitter and where journalists look for interesting writing topics  (00:27:28) - Topics he feels trapped into writing about due to their popularity (00:30:27) - His knowledge of special purpose acquisition companies or SPACs (00:31:52) - His perspective on the fallout from SPACs   (00:35:34) - His process on researching topics he finds most interesting to write about  (00:37:00) - Strategies he uses to choose topics he wants to write about   (00:37:51) - The moment he knew readers were interested in his opinions   (00:39:25) - Analytics and the importance of how his columns perform   (00:41:03) - Performance reviews he receives from Bloomberg  (00:42:02) - How writing columns has detached him from his previous financial careers (00:43:24) - His future in writing and whether he plans to change or expand his endeavors  (00:44:56) - Harnessing the power of his readers and expanding his reach with media  (00:46:33) - The transition from traditional media career paths to creator-led career paths    (00:50:28) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we're speaking to the CEO of Flightradar24, Fredrik Lindahl. Flightradar24 might not qualify as a traditional media company but it does attract millions of people to its content every day and I, for one, am a huge fan. It is the clear leader in flight tracking globally and its stats are wildly impressive. They track around 250,000 flights every day and have over 4 million daily users. Their app – which tops many charts – has been downloaded 75 million times. Perhaps the most impressive fact, though, is that they lean on their community to help track all of those planes.  All of that rolls up into a great business, which generated nearly $20 million in pre-tax profit last year. We get into the whole story and how the business has grown in this discussion. Matt joins me for a debrief at the end. Please enjoy this conversation with Fredrik Lindahl. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:52) - (First question) - Exploring FlightRadar24's global tracking network and its technical complexity (00:02:15) - FlightRadar24's growth from local to global via volunteer networks and Raspberry Pi (00:08:44) - Challenges in Africa and Cuba due to low population and bandwidth (00:09:56) - How FlightRadar24 evolved from a SEO tool to a standalone flight tracking business (00:12:57) - Why their tech-heavy team prioritizes UX/UI and data quality (00:15:15) - Setting themselves apart via a user-friendly design and quick media responsiveness (00:17:12) - Striking a balance between info depth and usability (00:18:21) - How the real-time data and sheer volume of planes make FlightRadar24 addictive (00:19:54) - Adapting from one-off payments to subscriptions was a risk that ultimately paid off (00:29:59) - Using programmatic ads due to diverse, international user base (00:25:01) - Started B2B due to inquiries, serving aviation and other industries (00:27:01) - How EasyJet integrated FlightRadar24's SDK to offer real-time flight tracking in their app (00:28:12) - FlightRadar24's content serves two goals: promoting hosting and engaging users (00:30:07) - Why covering contributors, professionals, enthusiasts, and casual users is central to their strategy (00:32:33) - Providing relevant data to media without speculation, allowing accurate reporting (00:34:45) - Engaging media and users through crowdsourcing, receiver hosts, photos, and tracked flights (00:36:07) - Looking at Weather Underground, AllTrails, and MarineTraffic for crowdsourcing and comparison (00:37:56) - Considering price comparison, but competitive OTA space requires clear user intent (00:40:04) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is David Law. David is a broadcaster and co-founder of the biggest podcast in tennis, aptly named - The Tennis Podcast. This is an exceptional conversation on what it takes to be successful as a podcaster. David and his co-presenters have recorded over 1000 episodes. They went 5 years without earning a penny from the podcast. It took over 10 years to become a full-time gig. But David and his team stuck with it. And now they have the biggest podcast in their field, a large and growing subscriber base, and count a host of famous names as listeners, including Billie Jean King and Lin-Manual Miranda. Growth, monetization, persistence, broadcasting – this episode has it all. Please enjoy our conversation with David Law. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  (00:03:07) - (First question) - David reflects on 11 years of podcasting (00:06:00) - Starting The Tennis Podcast in 2012, David and his co-founder combined their love for tennis and podcasts (00:08:45) - Focusing on audience growth and personal enjoyment (00:11:26) - How David began as a tennis commentator (00:14:10) - Conveying the feel of the match on the radio (00:19:09) - The evolution of the podcast team (00:25:33) - Deriving content from what's happening in the tennis world (00:27:02) - Podcasting success relies on innate ability, unique voices, chemistry, and honing skills (00:28:50) - How to maintain journalistic integrity (00:32:05) - How The Tennis Podcast began monetizing through Kickstarter in 2017 (00:38:13) - Sponsors hesitation due to unfamiliarity with podcast medium (00:42:04) - Podcasting creates a personal connection with listeners, unlike traditional broadcasting (00:50:28) - David's most vivid memories surrounding tennis (00:53:30) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Greg Rose, who has worked closely with Richard Branson at Virgin for nearly 15 years. As Virgin's Content and Communications Director, Greg is responsible for what you see from Richard or Virgin's companies across social media, Richard's autobiographies, and more traditional public outlets. He is the man who convinced Virgin's famous founder to take social media seriously in the early days and has built Virgin's digital image in sync with Richard's philosophy and outlook. Matt and Dom discuss all aspects of that process with him and unearth what he's learned about managing a huge personal and corporate brand. Please enjoy this conversation with Greg Rose. __ For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:06) - (First question) - Greg's backstory and how he started with The Virgin Group  (00:05:37) - Pitching his social media idea to Richard Branson and getting him involved (00:07:24) - Sharing the Virgin brand and content ideas across all companies  (00:08:31) - How Greg convinced Virgin to lean into social media (00:11:53) - Measuring success on social media  (00:12:41) - The mechanics behind the early days of Richard on social media (00:14:39) - Finding the balance between organized posts and authenticity  (00:16:25) - Insight into what Greg has learned about brand accounts   (00:18:44) - Talking in the brand's voice while trying to stay relevant and grow on social media  (00:20:21) - Brands that Greg admires  (00:22:08) - Matching a new business's brand to the masterbrand while maintaining some individuality   (00:25:06) - The importance of brand collaborations and activations  (00:26:28) - How the companies respond to negativity and public backlash online   (00:27:51) - How Richard's path to success could influence others and be emulated  (00:30:17) - Integrating Holly Branson into the brand and amplifying her voice (00:31:58) - How much of Greg's job is reactive versus proactive  (00:34:24) - Combining PR with the rest of the social media vision   (00:36:09) - The value behind advertisements that don't highlight the service provided  (00:37:37) - Greg's love for ghost writing and how it ties into his role at Virgin  (00:38:23) - Keys to becoming a good ghost writer (00:41:33) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we're answering a question we get a lot. How do you start a podcast? We'll tell you everything you need to know, from hardware to software to thoughts on content and format. Scroll down to our shownotes for a full list of the products and services discussed. Enjoy. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  Hardware (00:03:57) - (First question) - The hardware needed to start a podcast (00:05:16) - Considering different microphone options Shure MV7 | Shure SM7B | ATR2100x Software (00:06:20) - Software required to record a podcast (00:09:48) - Specific devices made for podcasting when not using an iPhone or laptop - Podtrak, RODECaster (00:10:23) - A breakdown of Descript, a transcript and audio editing program  (00:14:14) - Getting the audio file to the masses, creating an RSS feed Libsyn | Megaphone | Transistor  (00:16:33) - Uploading to the digital distributor  (00:19:57) - The costs involved with distributing your podcast to the world (00:20:58) - The statistics and a breakdown of downloads and streams Music (00:24:33) - Creating the theme music Pond5 | Epidemic Sound (00:27:22) - Sourcing narrators for the introduction voice over Content (00:29:07) - Deciding on what content to create a podcast about (00:33:54) - Focussing content to make the podcast unique (00:35:17) - Choosing a title for the podcast (00:38:46) - The key thing to get started - just do it!  Launch (00:40:59) - The launch strategy  (00:44:03) - Networking with existing podcasters in your area to create a buzz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is someone we've mentioned frequently on this podcast, Liberty RPF. It's difficult to define exactly what Liberty writes about - but that might explain why we find his work so fascinating. He is a curator of great content and acts a sherpa for his audience, pushing them to find new things that resonate with them. It's a role that feels increasingly needed as we live in a world of infinite content. During this conversation, we discuss that role, how Liberty has approached his craft, and how this led him to new opportunities like Infinite Media at O'Shaughnessy Ventures. Please enjoy this conversation with Liberty. Read Liberty's Newsletter Here. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:22) - (First question) - He expands on the idea that not every experiment has to last forever (00:05:25) - Knowing when to keep going or move on from something  (00:06:58) - How he finds his tribe by covering a wide range of interests (00:11:16) - His view on curation and how it could be taught to others (00:12:47) - The potential to dominate the market (00:15:51) - Where he places himself on the niche spectrum (00:17:28) - How he grows his audience (00:19:44) - His transition to a paid subscription newsletter  (00:23:58) - Unique characteristics and demographics about his audience  (00:25:36) - The impact your reach can have on the world (00:27:07) - His pursuit to help people find their favorite thing (00:30:08) - Brand lead interests versus trusted individual lead interests (00:33:06) - Would he change his branding to be more broad? (00:34:06) - Literature consumption and its importance  (00:37:22) - How reading books at certain times in your life can impact you  (00:40:43) - Books he found difficult but rewarding to read (00:43:16) - His preferred form of literature consumption (00:44:16) - A high-level look at Infinite Media  (00:48:32) - What he looks for in a potentially successful content creator   (00:52:26) - Where he looks to find people who aren't creating yet but have great potential (00:54:11) - How he feels about steering people to focus on their content creation (00:57:33) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's episode is a little different. Rather than bring a guest on, we're going to break down how Forbes works. As former investors now operating in the media space, a few brands particularly intrigue us. Forbes is near the top of that list, not least because its current owners are trying to sell it for $800 million. It has been around for over 100 years, is often referenced in pop culture, and is quickly building out a suite of consumer products. It might also be the antithesis of our own business, Colossus, in its strategy and approach, making it all the more interesting to explore and draw out lessons. We hope you enjoy this deep dive into Forbes. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:18) - (First question) - Forbes' European reach, a household name in UK (00:04:46) - Fun facts that stood out for Matt and Dom when researching Forbes  (00:10:46) - How Forbes is creating so much content  (00:15:36) - Various interesting factors involved in the consumer business  (00:19:02) - The level of independence when it comes to analysis of affiliate links and recommendations by Forbes (00:21:21) - An example of scaling a business too quickly; the immediate takeaway from the business (00:23:18) - Dilution of the brand and its quality (00:29:58) - Forbes' failed acquisition deals since put up for sale (00:32:30) - The lessons learned from researching the business (00:33:50) - The business' brand power amongst its target audience (00:35:41) - "Forbes list" influence on popular culture  (00:37:27) - Reality versus propaganda  (00:38:38) - Closing thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Kevin Espiritu. Kevin is the founder and CEO of the world's most followed gardening brand and online garden store – Epic Gardening. Matt and I had been following Epic and Kevin's journey for a while but when we met him in person at Capital Camp in May, we knew we had to get him on the show. Since going full time on Epic Gardening in 2013, Kevin has cracked all forms of media. The business has 3.6 million followers across social and YouTube, over 20 million podcast downloads, and some 50 million blog visits. He is the trusted voice for gardeners all across the US and while we could happily talk to Kevin all day about each of those properties, we wanted to go deep with him on something else. His acquisition of Botanical Interests, a 28-year old business that sells seed and garden products. As you'll hear, Epic's transition from content to commerce has been incredibly successful and today, it makes far more money from selling product than it generates from making content. We ask Kevin about raising money from The Chernin Group to make the acquisition, the process itself, and what second-order effects it's had on Epic as a business. I hope you enjoy learning from Kevin as much as we do. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  (00:03:15) - (First question) - His obsession with gardening and turning it into a success (00:05:02) - How he maximized opportunity with his time playing poker (00:07:31) - Events leading up to the acquisition on his many companies (00:12:08) - Key people he worked with while growing his opportunities  (00:13:01) - Raising capital to use directly as a use of proceeds for acquisitions  (00:13:50) - The difference between acquiring acquisitions with and without investors (00:16:05) - The length of time it took to complete the Botanical Interest deal (00:17:47) - Potential competitors trying to acquire the business  (00:19:55) - Possible disadvantages of going into a business deal as a video content creator (00:21:13) - The synergy behind bringing more business into stores (00:23:09) - Knowing when you should expanding into commerce as a content creator (00:25:42) - Choosing the right investors to help build your company (00:29:33) - How his mentality has changed over the years (00:32:04) - Rules of thumb for using media correctly (00:35:49) - Advice he has for bring new creators onto the team (00:37:51) - His hands free approach to founding a business and creating a business multiverse  (00:41:49) - A look into how he schedules his week (00:43:11) - The future growth potential of his business (00:45:15) - People he thinks are great to learn from (00:49:20) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Jay Clouse. Past guest Chris Hutchins told us that Jay had given him some of the best, contrarian advice on memberships. Naturally, that was enough of a hook for us so we got on the phone and asked him how to build a community around your product. Please enjoy this conversation with Jay Clouse. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:02:35) - (First question) – He tells us about is lead social experience  (00:04:14) – The difference between online versus in-person communities (00:06:18) – What he thinks makes a good online community (00:07:54) – How he incorporates his principles into The Lab (00:10:31) – The driving force behind using videos on the platform (00:11:50) – Transitioning out of a guiding role when introducing new members to the platform (00:14:12) – The potential for replication of his platform membership idea (00:16:42) – The meaning of sticky community and its measure of success (00:18:21) – How scaling membership size can affect overall monetary growth (00:20:20) – His opinions on turning his business into solely a membership platform (00:22:01) – He explains how the renewal process for members works (00:24:10) – The percentage of creators treating their content as a business (00:26:00) – Moving from a multimedia business to just a singular outlet for content (00:28:13) – The dangers of consistent content advice  (00:29:36) – Other advice to be cautious of when wanting to grow your platform (00:30:36) – The balance between giving up creative freedom for growth and staying true yourself (00:34:31) – His advice for those who are struggling to find success  (00:35:56) – Timeless strategies for content growth (00:37:24) – His feelings on taking advice from experts in the field while being one himself (00:41:28) – Who he thinks people should study in the creator space (00:43:34) – Potentially acquiring jay.com  (00:46:21) - Debrief  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Om Malik. Back in 2015, Om published an interview, or what might better be described as a conversation, with Brunello Cucinelli. It's a truly special conversation, and I know many people that find it's a life changing conversation. Brunello seems to be the rare, maybe the only, billionaire that has somehow found balance in life. He's deeply philosophical. He approaches business with empathy. He has a strong family life. And he cares deeply about the people that work under his namesake brand. Om captured all of this in a spontaneous afternoon in Italy. For those who haven't read the piece, I recommend you pause the podcast and click the link in the show notes. We wanted to speak to Om about that experience meeting Brunello. And truthfully, this conversation with Om turned into something much deeper. Please enjoy our conversation with Om Malik. Read Om's interview with Brunello Cucinelli. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  (00:02:42) - (First question) - Events leading up to his conversation with Brunello Cucinelli (00:07:50) - What he learned about the person behind the brand  (00:10:52) - Moving from casual conversation to interview  (00:11:32) - His preferred interview style  (00:13:34) - How much philosophy he knew before entering the conversation with Cucinelli  (00:15:15) - Types of books he noticed in Cucinelli's office (00:16:01) - Other moments during the interview that created a casual talking environment  (00:17:47) - Practicing the concept of finding balance within a company (00:21:11) - Whether Cucinelli's philosophy could work for other entrepreneurs  (00:22:34) - Business sense behind the brand (00:23:16) - The speed at which the meeting was put together (00:23:42) - What he took away from the interview and applied to his own life (00:25:29) - Post interview visits with Cucinelli in America (00:26:16) - Cucinelli's Italian national pride versus other countries (00:27:35) - The tech industry being America's biggest export  (00:30:16) - The reaction to this interview compared to others he's written (00:31:19) - The cultural significance of this piece  (00:36:02) - People who are similar to Cucinelli's personality (00:37:38) - The biggest lesson learned from his conversation with Cucinelli (00:39:10) - Potential impacts on the piece due to current life events  (00:40:17) - Advice he has for others in the media industry (00:42:20) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Adam Ryan, the founder of Workweek. At Colossus, we're big fans of Workweek. We've hosted the Wolf of Franchises for an excellent Business Breakdown on Orangetheory and I'm an avid reader of Adam's Perpetual newsletter. For this conversation, we discuss the ongoing shift towards individuals over institutions, how media companies might solve the business model challenge that currently plagues the industry, and where we are in the niche media cycle. Everyone seems to love B2B media, but is that really everyone? Please enjoy my conversation with Adam and then stay tuned for my debrief with Dom. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:01:08) - (First question) - Institution building allows scale and market expansion while preserving individual influence  (00:04:45) - Workweek focuses on individual brands to enhance recognition and attract talent (00:06:18) - Prioritizing fair pay, early creator partnerships, and career stability (00:11:03) - Identifying talent requires gauging industry fit, expertise, and ambition (00:15:22) - Guiding creators in audience growth and amplifying their strengths (00:19:24) - Influence and market valuation gap is due to business model issues in media (00:22:28) - Disrupting the media industry by sharing net margins with talent (00:25:14) - Expanding with talent search and franchise financial planning platforms (00:27:35) - Creating shared entities with tailored cap structures for long-term alignment (00:28:54) - Substack has simplified content creation, but their business model has flaws (00:31:12) - Incentivized growth can lead to misleading metrics and detrimental ecosystem effects (00:34:55) - Niche media is still in its early innings with high barriers to entry (00:39:34) - Rising tide lifts all boats in the content industry, not winner take all (00:42:40) - Newsletters drive intention, podcasts engage (00:43:25) - Companies that stand out to him moving forward (00:45:42) - The optionality of building complementary businesses exists for those with audience retention (00:48:10) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we speak with the founder of the UK's fastest growing radio station, Louis Timpany. Louis started Fix Radio in 2017 after realising that the power users of radio weren't being served at all. He was working on a construction site when he noticed that the biggest source of arguments, day-in-day-out, was about the radio. No-one listens to radio as much as builders. But at the time, there was no station built specifically for them. They had to suffer through repetitive music, endless ads, and segments designed for casual listeners. 6 years on, Fix has grown into a national station with some 300,000 listeners. Last year, it was the fastest growing radio in the country. This conversation is a wonderful illustration of how focused you have to be to build a media business and our conversation with Louis is littered with gems about marketing, commercial partnerships, and connecting with your target market. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as Matt and I did. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  (00:03:13) - (First question) - The keys to a great radio station in 2023 (00:04:33) - Choosing radio over podcasts due to tradespeople's high daily radio consumption (00:07:04) - Managing a radio station through digital scheduling and remote operations (00:08:44) - Tapping social media for talent, and transforming influencers into radio presenters (00:10:55) - Keeping music repetition low, limiting advertisement airtime (00:12:43) - Managing the cost of music royalties in radio broadcasting (00:13:55) - Navigating the challenges of building an audience (00:15:50) - Implementing unique engagement strategies and stunts to grow brand awareness (00:18:52) -The challenges associated with national expansion (00:21:35) - Generating revenue in radio broadcasting (00:25:11) - How they built national brand recognition through community engagement tactics (00:27:31) - Why live events are becoming key to bolstering Fix Radio's brand visibility (00:29:03) - How Fix Radio iterates on its brand based on audience feedback (00:30:41) - The unique appeal of tradespeople for targeted radio content (00:32:31) - Diversifying revenue streams with affiliates, promotions, and e-commerce (00:33:50) - Advice for prospective radio startups (00:35:01) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part of our mission with Making Media is to highlight great content across the internet. Earlier this year, we talked about influential business essays with one of our favorite writers, Packy McCormick. Today, Web Barr joins us to review the best of what we've seen, read, and heard so far in 2023. Web is a formidable media operator. He is a multiple-time Webby Award and Communication Arts winning producer at National Geographic magazine, was the Head of Content at Meet Cute, and is currently building something new in the media industry. He is one of the best curators of content we know. Enjoy! For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:06) - (First question) - How Web curates his media for recommendations (00:04:21) - Web's previous recommendation to read the screenplay for Get Out (00:05:58) - Web explains why he enjoys reading screenplays eg. Interstellar and Everything Everywhere All At Once    Podcasts (00:07:19) - Web: Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin. Guest: Jimmy Iovine (00:13:19) - Dom: One Perfect Story: Wright Thompson on Writing about Michael Jordan (00:17:16) - Matt: The Rewatchables: Whiplash with Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessy Books (00:22:00) - Web: The Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J.Crew (00:27:48) - Dom: Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed (00:30:18) - Matt: Your Table is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maitre D' Movies (00:34:24) - Web: BlackBerry (00:38:25) - Dom: Ed Sheeran: The Sum of it All Articles (00:44:26) - Web: How Much More Netflix Can the World Absorb (00:50:07) - Dom: I Saw the Face of God in a TSMC Factory (00:52:37) - Matt: The Return of James Cameron, Box Office King Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we speak with one of our esteemed hosts, Eric Golden, in our first in-person Making Media episode. After a career in the bond markets at Fidelity, Eric now hosts Colossus show, Web3 Breakdowns. As is customary with our Inside Colossus episodes, we go behind the mic with Eric and discuss what hosting a podcast is really like. What's changed, who does he look up to, and what would he advise others do. We hope you enjoy this peak behind the curtain. Capital Camp For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:48) - (First question) - Who has inspired him as an interviewer  (00:05:13) - How he approaches interviews now compared to when he started   (00:06:48) - Changes in the early days that were game changers for him  (00:09:06) - Comparing his preparation process now to what it was early on   (00:11:44) - Reframing common questions in a thought provoking way   (00:14:10) - Probing a guest before hitting record to get a sense of where the conversation could go  (00:16:55) - Podcast episodes he's found inspirational and what makes an episode great (00:27:20) - The art and difficulty of interrupting a guest without breaking the flow (00:30:20) - Pushing in when a guest says they want to come back to something later (00:32:36) - Managing the types of guests the Web3 and crypto space attracts  (00:36:08) - What makes an episode successful  (00:41:40) - The greatest looking things are often very well prepared  (00:44:10) - Comparing Joe Rogan to Howard Stern  (00:45:10) - Where his inspiration comes from  (00:46:55) - Pitching download data to guests as relatively scaled sports stadiums   (00:48:18) - Advice for people who want to get into podcasting  (00:50:42) - Wanting to change the name of Web3 Breakdowns  (00:52:34) - Other changes he'd like to make and his process for sourcing guests (00:54:06) - The migration from the fixed income community into crypto    (00:56:52) - A lot of hard work for a labor of love  (00:59:46) - Judging the quality of an episode after conducting the interview   (01:02:35) - Lessons learned and surprising things about exploring the media space  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today, Chris Hutchins, is a bit of a podcast whisperer and has some of the most unique ideas in podcasting and in media. Before Chris went full-time with his All the Hacks podcast, he co-founded two businesses. One he sold to Google, the other he sold to Wealthfront. He also spent time as a partner at Google Ventures before going full-time with his podcast business. For this conversation, we talked to Chris about what it's like running a podcast business versus running those previous businesses and how much differs in the podcast industry versus the tech industry. We also talked to Chris about his vision for a bigger media business, and we walk through some of the different business models that we see out there. This is an excellent conversation with somebody who's doing really creative things in media. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:38) - (First question) - The unique nature of growing a business based off podcasting  (00:07:29) - Overall podcast business mission, growth, and execution  (00:11:24) - Hacks for finding unclaimed money (00:12:18) - Content optimization versus better business practices to grow your podcast  (00:14:03) -​​ The Points Guy (00:14:57) - Adapting to an audio-based career (00:15:51) - 1000 True Fans (00:16:50) - Content to commerce inspiration (00:20:00) - What he's learned through quality content and audio creation (00:22:49) - Content quality and audio quality (00:24:55) - Inflections that have resulted in a sustainable jump in growth  (00:28:40) - Tim Ferriss Podcast Episode (00:29:42) - Insight into content creation following massive growth trends (00:31:20) - Various ways he promotes his podcast (00:31:34) - Chartable  (00:34:32) - Which analytics represent success and sustainability    (00:36:39) - Weekly distribution of tasks for a full-time podcaster  (00:38:58) - His decision to switch from primarily interview-based content to more solo content (00:40:38) - Building relationships and trust with existing sponsorships (00:42:37) - Finding sponsorships that work for him (00:44:06) - What it's like building a business alone (00:45:42) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we are going behind the scenes with a master of his craft, Morgan Housel. In the investing world that Matt and I are from, there are few – if any – who make better content than Morgan. His blog has been a personal favourite for years and his first book, The Psychology of Money, just crossed 3 million sales. So we reached out to see if he'd take us behind the scenes. Where does he write, when does he write, how much is art, how much science. To get into those details, we took a blog Morgan wrote in late 2017 called The Freakishly Strong Base and used that as a case study to explore his craft. It's one of my favourite pieces he's written and focuses on compounding in nature, business, and investing. At this point you might like to hit pause and read, or re-read, The Freakishly Strong Base on the Collab fund website. Then come back here to learn how Morgan writes magic like this. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:30) - (First question) - His writing process during The Freakishly Strong Base (00:10:09) - The strategy he uses of intertwining unrelated stories with finance (00:15:58) - The philosophy of "good enough" writing and the need to let go of a piece (00:18:28) - Why he typically begins his articles with an enticing title prior to forming the content (00:21:06) - How he blends storytelling with investing topics to engage readers (00:25:05) - The balance between making a concise point and reinforcing it through examples (00:27:06) - Why he opts for shorter pieces, exemplified by his book The Psychology of Money and its concise chapters (00:28:05) - How he combines mental organization and note-taking tools for idea management (00:31:34) - Why taking control of the writing and design process is critical for maintaining creative autonomy (00:35:34) - Embracing feedback, downplaying viewership numbers, and the role of luck (00:38:23) - The power of compounding and the slow nature of positive change (00:40:04) - The process of writing his second book - Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes  (00:41:06) - Who he finds inspiration from in his career (00:46:20) - Why personal taste and resonance define good writing (00:49:12) - How writing can evoke a range of emotions (00:51:40) - Why serving on Markel's board has been a fascinating and enjoyable experience (00:53:16) - Debrief  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are diving deep into the world of intellectual property with legendary comic book artist Todd McFarlane. IP sits at the heart of many media discussions and it's something we are very curious about. Todd revitalized Spider-Man, co-created Venom, and was the sole creator of Spawn. He also founded Image Comics just over two decades ago, and that has become the number three comic book business in the world. So while Todd's perspective comes from his world of comic book characters and the IP in that universe, it's not hard to see the linkage to all original content across any medium. Enjoy! For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:20) - (First question) - The outlook of original content versus legacy IP in the next decade (00:05:39) - Why Spawn has thrived for 30 years and the secret to its enduring success (00:08:24) - How production companies swiftly respond to new books in the industry (00:10:12) - Spawn's diverse business ventures in TV, film, video games, and toys (00:16:46) - Why the sale of rights to stories does not guarantee their production (00:20:18) - How studios differentiate and the challenges creators face in negotiations (00:27:43) - His perspective on why the Marvel movie franchises outperform DC (00:29:07) - The challenges and strategies of licensing toys in the industry (00:33:33) - How he disrupted the toy market to find success against established competitors (00:41:48) - Why TV shows and movies are the key drivers for expanding brand recognition (00:46:20) - His perspective on why only a fraction of great ideas make it to the spotlight (00:50:24) - He recalls the golden opportunity in the toy industry propelled his success (00:53:42) - Toys he would love to make if he could choose from any IP (00:54:34) - How quality and fair pricing are the driving force for McFarlane Toys' profitability (01:00:03) - The hitherto unrealized potential of AI to revolutionize the art industry (01:06:57) - His advice for the next generation of storytellers (01:12:22) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we speak to the person who keeps us up-to-date on everything media-related, Sara Fischer. Sara is a media reporter at Axios where she writes their excellent Media Trends newsletter, among many other things. She's become a trusted insider and a key figure in our industry. We explore the traits of great journalists, Axios' secret sauce, and the quirks of various business models in media. Enjoy! For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:59) - (First question) - How she established herself as an industry insider in media (00:03:50) - Identifying current and future key players in the media industry (00:09:38) - The importance of time management for journalists (00:12:24) - Breaking down the value and delivery of Axios (00:15:26) - How she optimizes work-life balance through autonomy and time management (00:17:08) - Why media companies should start experimenting with A.I. (00:20:00) - The mechanics of the Axios CMS and the process behind creating their product (00:22:29) - Verticals that are being overlooked by media companies  (00:25:08) - How she leverages the reach of her newsletter to promote niche offerings (00:30:22) - Media brands that she admires for their focus on helping professionals (00:32:32) - The unifying themes in the media industry  (00:36:20) - Lessons learned about funding new media businesses (00:38:28) - Why brand trust will be crucial in the era of A.I.-powered commerce (00:40:37) - The impact of personal brands associating with authoritative media companies (00:43:03) - How brands should navigate social media as a marketing tool (00:45:19) - Her perspective on the power of LinkedIn as a social media channel (00:46:48) - What success in the media industry looks like to her (00:48:11) - The importance of email open rates in maintaining relationships with advertisers (00:49:28) - Comparing so-called conceptual scoops and traditional scoops in journalism (00:52:19) - How major American social media platforms are enhancing their news delivery (00:55:56) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julian Treasure is an expert in communication and one of the most powerful speakers in the world. How do I know that? He has the sixth most watched TED talk ever given and all of his TED appearances combined have over 135 million views. When he speaks, people listen. And that's the crux of what he teaches. Speaking and listening are fundamental skills in our lives and careers but very few people ever practice them. We don't teach them in school or business, yet we rely on our voice and ears day-in-day out to effect changes we want to see. In our conversation, we first talk about the lost art of listening and speaking before getting tactical about how to improve both of those skills. We also discuss the long list of invisible reasons we should spend more time thinking about sound. After our conversation, I debrief Julian's lessons and insights with Matt. Please enjoy this masterclass on communication. Julian's books: How to be Heard and Sound Business For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:11) - (First question) - His thoughts on the importance of speaking and listening (00:04:18) - Reclaiming Conversation and Alone Together by Sherry Turkle (00:12:50) - How to listen well (00:17:46) - Transforming communication by realizing that everyone listens differently (00:17:55) - His TED talks: How to speak so that people will listen and 5 Ways to listen better (00:20:35) - All about his RASA exercise (Receive, Appreciate, Summarize, Ask) (00:23:07) - Why he emphasizes reflection and validation (00:24:56) - How to get difficult or impatient people to listen (00:26:17) - How to become a great speaker (00:30:44) - Techniques and tips to become a more effective speaker (00:36:25) - The invisible ways noise and sound shape our lives (00:43:20) - The cost of noise in the workplace caused by open-plan architecture (00:48:11) - Investing in quality headphones and tips to avoid hearing damage (00:57:39) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a huge week for the show, we take stock and open the mailbag of questions we've received over the past month. Our usual interview-style episode will be out tomorrow with one of the most-watched public speakers in the world. Enjoy. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:02:16) - (First question) - The No Laying Up BUMP (00:09:38) - Experiment results from paid advertising for podcast audience growth   (00:12:38) - How paid growth works in Overcast (00:16:40) - Feedback to start incorporating based on takeaways from Making Media's guests  (00:19:21) - How catering your content to different social media platforms could kill your brand   (00:22:18) - The value in being more intentional about everything  (00:23:23) - Not taking hail mary shots when experimenting with limited time and resources (00:25:02) - What the process is for adding new shows to the Colossus network and possible plans to expand the show roster  (00:27:16) - Measuring success when it comes to a podcast versus a podcast network  (00:28:34) - Whether or not Making Media would look different if they both did it full time   (00:29:48) - What we listen to outside of Colossus episodes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're joined by the co-founder of Golf's leading podcast and media business, Neil Schuster. No Laying Up has humble roots but has quickly become an influential force in the Golf world. The small team has captured the mood of golf fans through incisive analysis, conversations with the sports' stars, and original travel videos that make you want to pick your clubs up. It was a thrill to sit down with Neil and discuss their content strategy, how they've developed a large and profitable merch operation, and why their message board is the epicentre of the business. Please enjoy this discussion about one of my favourite media companies. Neil's Business Breakdown of the PGA Tour. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:50) - (First question) - Overview of No Laying Up and how its various components fit together  (00:07:03) - The differences in how they present themselves on Twitter versus Instagram (00:09:55) - What their mission is as No Laying Up (00:13:26) - Going from idea to execution and how they arrive at a group consensus  (00:16:10) - Honing in on avid golfers as their audience (00:18:15) - The No Laying Up podcast and its evolution  (00:24:05) - How cultivating characters and inside jokes builds audience loyalty  (00:29:57) - Taking a stance on things makes for more engaging content  (00:31:54) - The Trap Draw and their podcast strategy writ large (00:35:17) - The original insight that lead to bringing DJ into the fold and expanding to video  (00:38:36) - Lessons learned about storytelling with video in general  (00:43:41) - Not using YouTube as a dumping ground for discoverability (00:47:21) - Why they are choosing to grow slowly and take their time  (00:50:31) - Diversifying business risk with a membership community and how they built it (00:56:56) - The decision to bring on Kevin Van Valkenburg from ESPN (01:02:57) - Launching the NLU pro shop  (01:07:59) - What he's learned about doing merch well and profitably  (01:12:02) - Collaborating with and structuring brand partnerships  (01:17:30) - Never solving internal team communication but improving it every day  (01:24:39) - How the size of their business and audience has impacted their team  (01:30:22) - Industry relationships and NLU's role in the world of golf today  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Making Media, Matt and I speak with Bryan Barletta – the founder of Sounds Profitable. Sounds Profitable is a research group focused on the business of podcasting. They produce content, events, and research on all aspects of the podcasting industry. In our conversation, we explore podcasting's growth problem; why there aren't enough ad dollars in the industry, whether that will ever change, and how the industry will agree on seemingly simple things like what constitutes a download. We also talk from a podcaster's perspective about the best ways to monetize your show, how to implement subscriptions, and of course – I ask about marketing. Please enjoy this conversation with Bryan and stay tuned for our debrief. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Scribe. Scribe is the presenting sponsor of this episode of Making Media and the magic behind the Colossus transcripts. One of the best decisions we made at Colossus was transcribing all of our audio into a searchable transcript library. We had been using another provider up until the summer of 2022 but we were constantly having issues with accuracy if our audio was just the slightest bit impaired. Whether it's training sessions, internal Q&As, or for media purposes, the value of transcripts is huge. And we are not alone. Scribe is the transcription service that powers all of S&P Global - like CapIQ - and the client list includes our friends at Tegus. Go to joincolossus.com/scribe to unlock 150 minutes of free transcription and test their capabilities. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:03:21) - (First question) - His view of the podcast industry and the problem that Sounds Profitable is trying to solve (00:07:01) - Dealing with the mismatch between ad spend and listenership in podcasting (00:12:09) - How different platforms compare as avenues for growth (00:14:36) - Standardization, analytics, and the power of appealing to small niches (00:18:57) - How moving towards cross-platform analytics protocols could bolster the industry (00:20:04) - The complexities of download statistics and how publishers are gaming the system (00:25:23) - How market share between major podcast platforms can affect creators (00:27:48) - His thoughts on the current push towards video-based podcasting (00:32:50) - Addressing the pessimism around discoverability and barriers for marketing (00:39:31) - Reaching new listeners that don't consume podcasts habitually (00:42:01) - His thoughts on subscriptions and paywalls for podcasts (00:46:18) - Their tech stack and systems they use for their podcasting endeavors (00:47:18) - The most unmissable events in the podcast industry that creators should attend (00:50:17) - De-brief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices