Stanford University's Entrepreneurship Corner
March 13, 2009 in 5 out of 5 stars, A podcast, Expert Advice Stanford University Well, because it’s bite-sized nuggets of inspirational goodness and expertise that we all need. I like as well how it’s broken out by topic, by speaker, or by date. Free Reviewed by Carson McComasWhat is it?
Stanford University's Entrepreneurship Corner: A collection of short, potent videos and podcasts by very well-known successful entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerburg, Larry Page and Michael Dell, as well as some less well-known, but still inspiring and successful entrepreneurs. They've been doing this for a few years, and new additions are added regularly.
Who makes it?
Why is it the killerest?
How much does it cost?
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20 Ideas for an Excellent Podcast
February 10, 2009 in A podcast, Expert AdviceI originally wrote and posted this list three years ago. I was new to podcasts then and there were far fewer of them. Since then the number of podcasts has gone up dramatically, unfortunately the quality has not (well, for the ones which aren’t produced for radio or TV, that is).
I’ve revised the list a bit based on three years of experience enjoying podcasts, and I present the updated version now. As I contemplate wading into the podcasting world myself I’m probably going to deeply regret bringing this up again, but here goes.
- Podcasts should be short. 30min is the maximum. Seriously. Unless it's just jam-packed tight with goodness, life is too short and listening requires too much attention. Keep it short. Nothing wrong with a 20 min podcast. I may fudge on that one, but honestly, unless you're interviewing Osama Bin Laden or Steve Jobs, 30min. Most hour long podcasts I listen to could very easily trim out 30min of happy-talk fluff and be much, much better for it.
- Break your podcast into chapters. This is a nice feature for your iTunes listeners. Especially if you disobey #1.
- Have fun and be real. I've noticed something about the best podcasts... they're having fun, and it shows. Bring your enthusiasm, passion and enjoyment for what you’re doing to the podcast, and let us feel it with you. But be real – go easy on the hype, hyperbole, veiled self-promotion, and other repellent over-the-topness.
- Be chunky. Make segments short, diverse and put an audio bumper between your segments. It can be music, a sound effect, or at least a voiced transition. This keeps it interesting. A single droning line of ramble can really make the eyes glaze over. You need variety, we're an MTV generation, like it or not. We like it fast, varied, pithy and fun.
- Don't ramble, be organized. This should seem obvious, but some podcasters just flip on the mic and ramble for an hour or more. Horror! If you are interviewing, prepare the questions ahead of time. Send them to your guest so they can be coherent. Don't stick to it slavishly, but let it keep you from ad-hoc preparation on my time during the podcast. If you aren't interviewing, take the time to prepare exactly what you'll be talking about. Write down an outline with talking points and notes. Move quickly and coherently through them.
- Cram, cram, cram as much good stuff as you can into the time. Our minds move quicker than your mouth, so do your best to pack your podcast full of goodness and move quickly.
- Be regular, but only if you've got quality. I'd much rather listen to an excellent quarterly podcast, than a mediocre weekly one.
- Get decent audio! Seriously, the tin-can-and-string / Houston-to-Apollo-11 sound really kills things. A little effort and investment in a decent mic, and a little work on post production not only makes you sound better, but it's not as hard on the listener. When I listen very long to a poor audio quality podcast it gives me a headache, hurts my ears and wears me out. Make a pop screen, that helps too.
- Get a buddy. If you can, get someone with whom you can riff, someone who brings another layer of experience and expertise. It helps you be chunky. Two have an easier time than one keeping things moving, plus it's just usually more interesting. Don’t add someone just because you’re too scared to do it alone or because they are your friend, however. A good rule of thumb – if they aren’t smarter than you, keep looking or do it alone.
- Have show notes on your blog. If you mention something, make a list of links to explore your topics in more depth. It also helps you move quickly through your podcast – don’t spell out web addresses and carry on at length about stuff you can just put in the show notes.
- If you're doing interviews, don't be Charlie Rose. In other words, shut your stupid face and let your guest talk. That doesn't mean sit there and let them ramble. Provide regular engaging questions and guidance to keep things moving, but don't spend time trying to be smart yourself, be a master facilitator in helping your guest share great stuff.
- Don't interview Jason Fried. And I don't mean Jason specifically of course. I'm saying come up with someone fresh to interview. Jason has been interviewed dozens of times. I love Jason and I love listening to him riff as much as the next guy, but at some point we need to be more creative. There are many topics, interview subjects and approaches that have been done to death. Give us something fresh.
- Don't be scared to throw a show away. It happens. You get a crappy guest, you do a crappy job, your audio blows, whatever. My advice is to use podcasts to put your best foot forward. Because podcasts demand so much attention, they really need to be high caliber. If you write a mediocre blog post (for example: this one) your readers can skim, skip and move on. With a podcast, they're trusting you with very precious attention for that period of time. Treat it with the utmost respect. If in doubt, toss it.
- Do some editing. Take a note from NPR or other audio documentary style programs. You don't necessarily need to give us every single utterance made during a period of time. Just like you might prune copy from a rambling blog post to tighten it up, tighten up your podcast. A little post production work goes a long way toward making an excellent podcast.
- Use music. Music really softens a podcast up. I don't want an MP3 of your favorite songs, don't waste my time. But as part of an intro, as a little background on occasion, and as transition material, music can really polish things up.
- Tighten up that intro and keep moving. Honestly, if I have to listen to one more podcast with too many participants where they all ramble and introduce themselves and plug themselves and congratulate each other my face is going to bleed. If you need to warm up, do it off-air, don’t put me through it. I’m warm, fire away.
- Go ahead and advertise. We want you to make some money for your hard work, but at least try to make it interesting, and always keep it concise. Plus make it clear if you’ve been paid to mention something. We trust you not to praise something just for money, respect us enough to be honest about it.
- Verbally identify your podcast at the start of your podcast. Be quick! But tell us date, issue number, topic/guest, etc. We need this meta data to give it context. Someone may listen out of sequence or even years or decades later. Take a few seconds to lay it out at the start.
- Don’t make me your third wheel. My time is precious, and I’m giving you some of it. I don’t want to listen to you laugh at each other’s jokes and carry on a jovial conversation with each other about nonsense. You may think you’re very interesting, but you’re probably wrong.
Well, I've just set the bar impossibly high for myself. Ok, let me say this: doing a good podcast is hard. It takes equipment, production, planning, and good editing. These things take time, effort, money and expertise. So let me add one final one to the mix.
20. If you have something important/valuable to say, get something out there. It may not be perfect, but if you've got great content, some omissions from the above list are tolerable.
There, I'm covered.
The gold standard for podcasts, of course, are the This American Life, and Radio Lab on-air radio shows, turned podcasts. You don’t have their resources, talent or experience, so don’t be too discouraged when you don’t reach it, but for our sake, please at least try.
Happy Links
May 1, 2007 in A podcast, Happy LinksPodcast edition:
Three inspiring podcasts with entrepreneurs who are making magic.
- Evan Williams entrepreneur-hero of Blogger fame, then Odeo, now Twitter is interviewed by Jason Calacanis. What a cool guy! Ev keeps it real. His conspicuous lack of smarm or slick is obviously a factor behind his ridiculous success.
- Dan Albritton co-founder of iminlikewithyou.com. Holy smokes this was some thought-provoking stuff about an industry you'd think was already saturated and spent (online dating). What a killer little company, and Dan's clearly a genius. Inspiring ideas for any entrepreneur.
- Leon Bambrick started a little company that makes a very simple software product (TimeSnapper). In this interview, he shares with geek-idol Scott Hanselman 25 excellent tips for launching your own Micros ISV. Great advice for aspiring MicroISV-ers out there.
Venture Voice's podcast interview with John Bogle
April 26, 2006 in 5 out of 5 stars, A podcast, An interviewVenture Voice's podcast interview with John Bogle: A podcast interview with John Bogle of The Vanguard Group. John Bogle founded The Vanguard Group and built it upon principles of honesty, simplicity and the "relentless rules of humble arithmetic." Bogle is a man determined to fight and reform the corrupt self-serving mutual fund industry by infusing it with clear, straightforward thinking and approaches. He founded the first index fund ever. Nobel Laureate economist Paul Samuelson called this "equal to the invention of the alphabet and the wheel." Gregory Galant of Venture Voice conducted the interview. I've had this podcast sitting in iTunes for some time and hadn't bothered to listen. I thought this would just be some stuffed shirt prattling on about "inside baseball" investment stuff that put me to sleep. Instead, he blew my mind. John Bogle is the real deal. His own entrepreneurial story is interesting and inspiring to be sure (started with nothing, failed several times, etc). But it's his philosophies, his motivations, his maverick ideals and idealism that absolutely rocked my world. He's obviously spent a great deal of time speaking publicly because he has a very smooth and polished delivery. The upside is that he brilliantly articulates his ideas and is riveting. Free Reviewed by Carson McComas Another John Bogle podcast interview: Books by Bogle:What is it?
Who makes it?
Why is it the killerest?
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Carson Workshops Summit Podcasts
February 22, 2006 in 5 out of 5 stars, A podcast, FreeCarson Workshops Summit Podcasts (Here's the Carson Workshops Summit page with links to the individual mp3s so you can listen on your computer, or Forty Media's Podbasket was used to construct this Podcast feed you can drop right into iTunes, or whatever you use to subscribe to podcasts.): Carson Workshops Summit is a one-day conference that was held in London on Feb 8, 2006. It's focus was "the development technology you'll be using tomorrow." Geared, really for "web 2.0" entrepreneurs. After the conference Ryan Carson generously put together an mp3 of each of the presentations, and it is excellent and inspiring must-listen-to stuff. Thanks Ryan! Ryan Carson All the brightest minds riffing about what they'd done to be successful. It really is top notch insight from people who've actually made this stuff work (not just pundits or blowhards). Here's the list of presenters: Joshua Schachter from Delicious
FREE
Reviewed by Carson McComasWhat is it?
Who makes it?
Why is it the killerest?
David Heinemeier Hansson from 37signals inventor of Ruby on Rails
Steffen Meschkat from Google
Cal Henderson from Flickr
Ryan Carson from DropSend
Tom Coates from Yahoo!
Shaun Inman creator of Mint
And a panel discussion with all of them.How much does it cost?
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Venture Voice, Entertaining Entrepreneurship
July 1, 2005 in 3 out of 5 stars, A blog , A podcastVenture Voice, Entertaining Entrepreneurship: Interesting Podcasts of interviews with high profile and successful entrepreneurs (so far). Gregory Galant and Aaron Quint Well the site is quite young, so we'll see what the future holds, but they are off to a stellar start. They landed some whales for the first 3 interviews.
What is it?
Who makes it?
Why is it the killerest?
- Dick Costolo of FeedBurner
- Philip Kaplan of F___d Company and AdBrite
- Joe Kraus of JotSpot and Bnoopy (formerly Excite)
I listened to all of them yesterday and enjoyed the inside story, ramblings and ideas put out by these guys who know their stuff. Inspiring and informational. I think Greg (a super sharp guy) is still finding his interviewers stride, which must be very hard to do over the phone. The audio quality is also tinny because it's over the phone (maybe these guys need to try Skype?). Free like kittens Reviewed by Carson McComasWhat could be improved?
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