WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.680 So I'm Sari Azoud. I am the founder of Sublime 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:07.280 .app and Podcast Magic. And we make personal 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.859 knowledge management tools for knowledge workers 00:00:10.859 --> 00:00:14.060 and creative professionals. So Sari, you launched 00:00:14.060 --> 00:00:17.699 Podcast Magic, I think last week. Tell us what 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:20.100 that is, first of all. Yeah. So Podcast Magic 00:00:20.100 --> 00:00:23.699 is the easiest way to capture insights from podcasts. 00:00:24.179 --> 00:00:29.649 It comes from a... compulsive listener of podcasts 00:00:29.649 --> 00:00:32.390 that wanted to have the kindle highlighting equivalent 00:00:32.390 --> 00:00:35.609 but for podcasts anything else that i look at 00:00:35.609 --> 00:00:38.850 or see online i can bookmark but when it comes 00:00:38.850 --> 00:00:43.590 to podcasts sharing the the podcast episode doesn't 00:00:43.590 --> 00:00:46.450 feel like it captures like this one moment that 00:00:46.450 --> 00:00:50.609 really truly resonated and you know the the solutions 00:00:50.609 --> 00:00:53.780 to this stuff if you're really eager are after 00:00:53.780 --> 00:00:56.799 the run, which is when I'm normally listening 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:59.679 to podcasts, I run to my computer, I find a way 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:02.359 to get the transcript, and I copy -paste it to 00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:05.540 my app of choice. Or there are some dedicated 00:01:05.540 --> 00:01:09.519 apps, but they're not platform agnostic, so it's 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:12.459 a more cumbersome process. And so we just wanted 00:01:12.459 --> 00:01:15.280 to do the more natural thing that people already 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:18.170 do, which is take a screenshot. and then use 00:01:18.170 --> 00:01:22.650 AI to go from that screenshot to extracting the 00:01:22.650 --> 00:01:26.310 text and generating a clip. And I mean, really 00:01:26.310 --> 00:01:31.010 it solves for people the ability to retain more 00:01:31.010 --> 00:01:32.650 of what they listen to, right? If you're spending 00:01:32.650 --> 00:01:35.790 several hours a week listening to podcasts and 00:01:35.790 --> 00:01:38.689 you can't remember a lot of what you listen, 00:01:38.950 --> 00:01:41.230 then a lot of that is lost. So there's that sort 00:01:41.230 --> 00:01:44.450 of retaining of information. There's also the 00:01:44.450 --> 00:01:47.739 sharing piece. Sometimes I'm listening to a podcast 00:01:47.739 --> 00:01:50.019 and there's an incredible insight I want to share 00:01:50.019 --> 00:01:52.159 with my team. I know they're not going to listen 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:54.680 to the full two hour episode. How can I best 00:01:54.680 --> 00:01:58.400 share this one moment? So that's really kind 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:00.700 of the problem space that we're after. And we 00:02:00.700 --> 00:02:03.159 found as we put it out there that there's a sort 00:02:03.159 --> 00:02:06.859 of like separate parallel problem set for podcasters 00:02:06.859 --> 00:02:10.000 that we're excited to dive into as well. And 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:13.039 I'm happy to talk about. So in terms of how you 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:15.300 use it, you literally just take a screenshot 00:02:15.300 --> 00:02:20.319 of the podcast as it's playing and then you just 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:22.719 email it through to you. That's basically how 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:25.680 it works? Yeah. You are listening to a podcast 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:29.719 on any platform. It really works on Apple Podcasts, 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:33.939 Spotify, Overcast. And you just take a screenshot 00:02:33.939 --> 00:02:36.379 when you hear something you love. It could be 00:02:36.379 --> 00:02:39.680 from the lock screen or the podcast player page. 00:02:40.330 --> 00:02:43.370 As long as there's a visible timestamp and a 00:02:43.370 --> 00:02:47.030 partial podcast title or episode name, that's 00:02:47.030 --> 00:02:49.449 all we need. And then you just email that screenshot 00:02:49.449 --> 00:02:53.849 to podcastmagic at sublime .app. And then within 00:02:53.849 --> 00:02:57.009 30 seconds, you've got an email with the transcript 00:02:57.009 --> 00:03:01.069 of the moment and a video clip that you can share 00:03:01.069 --> 00:03:03.590 across any platform. And then, of course, the 00:03:03.590 --> 00:03:06.680 thanks to your... Sublime Library optionally, 00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:09.280 where you can smart search all of your podcast 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:12.680 clips using AI search. You could also click into 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:15.259 any podcast clip and see what related clips people 00:03:15.259 --> 00:03:17.860 are saving. So there's that downstream stuff. 00:03:18.060 --> 00:03:20.639 But the basic thing is just take a screenshot. 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:23.159 Now, we do have an iOS shortcut. So what I do 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:25.960 now is I just say, hey, Siri, podcast magic. 00:03:26.060 --> 00:03:28.979 So if I'm cooking that, when I say, hey, Siri, 00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:31.319 podcast magic, it just triggers a shortcut. It 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:34.889 takes this email then. For the power users, there's 00:03:34.889 --> 00:03:37.550 a hands -free way to do that as well. Nice. That's 00:03:37.550 --> 00:03:41.169 it. That's always a plan. Yeah. So what's the 00:03:41.169 --> 00:03:44.169 business model for this? Yeah. So it's important 00:03:44.169 --> 00:03:48.229 for us to make it super simple. And I think the 00:03:48.229 --> 00:03:51.430 reason we went with no app, meaning it's just 00:03:51.430 --> 00:03:54.250 an email, no login, meaning you don't need to 00:03:54.250 --> 00:03:56.810 remember your email or password to access these 00:03:56.810 --> 00:03:59.990 clips, and no subscription is because people 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:02.770 hate downloading new apps. And they hate subscriptions, 00:04:03.050 --> 00:04:06.909 recurring subscriptions. So it's a one -time 00:04:06.909 --> 00:04:11.150 $20 payment for unlimited moments. And the first 00:04:11.150 --> 00:04:13.729 three moments are free. So the idea is fall in 00:04:13.729 --> 00:04:15.710 love, let us prove that it works. And then if 00:04:15.710 --> 00:04:18.750 it does, pay a one -time $20 fee for unlimited 00:04:18.750 --> 00:04:22.370 moments. Now, you've been mentioning Sublime 00:04:22.370 --> 00:04:25.310 app in all of this. What's Sublime app then? 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:29.740 Yeah, so Sublime app is a way to collect and 00:04:29.740 --> 00:04:31.600 connect anything interesting you come across. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:34.180 So it goes beyond podcasts. It becomes your sort 00:04:34.180 --> 00:04:37.180 of brain with your podcast clips. It connects 00:04:37.180 --> 00:04:38.959 your Kindle highlights, your Twitter bookmarks, 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:41.199 your Instagram bookmarks. And then we have a 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:42.939 browser extension where you can save anything 00:04:42.939 --> 00:04:45.759 from anywhere. So Sublime is like a digital home 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:47.720 for your mind. All of the interesting content 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:50.819 you come across, smartly searchable, connected. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:54.680 And so you can use podcast magic without Sublime. 00:04:55.129 --> 00:04:57.009 But if you don't want these podcast clips to 00:04:57.009 --> 00:05:00.149 just live in your email and they can just sync 00:05:00.149 --> 00:05:02.629 directly to Sublime and I think a lot of people 00:05:02.629 --> 00:05:06.269 are finding that handy. And just for context, 00:05:06.370 --> 00:05:10.670 the idea behind Podcast Magic came about because 00:05:10.670 --> 00:05:14.230 we were seeing people add a Spotify link to their 00:05:14.230 --> 00:05:17.310 Sublime library and then add a note saying, you 00:05:17.310 --> 00:05:20.810 know, minute 1114, James is talking about, you 00:05:20.810 --> 00:05:24.100 know, future of radio or whatever. And so we're 00:05:24.100 --> 00:05:25.959 like, people really want to capture this one 00:05:25.959 --> 00:05:29.939 moment, not just the full episode. So that's 00:05:29.939 --> 00:05:34.899 sort of where this pain point was born. And so 00:05:34.899 --> 00:05:38.639 I guess part of the plan here is to get more 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:44.139 people using the whole suite of tools as well. 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:48.980 It sounds like a bookmark system for life. Yes. 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:50.939 I mean, Podcast Magic is independent, but we 00:05:50.939 --> 00:05:53.899 do think of it as... part of the Sublime ecosystem. 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:57.660 And we're hoping that it can become an on -ramp 00:05:57.660 --> 00:06:00.959 to Sublime if people would like. But the product 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:04.459 works independently of Sublime as well. And I 00:06:04.459 --> 00:06:06.980 suspect some people will want both. Some will 00:06:06.980 --> 00:06:10.300 only want the podcast solution. What's interesting 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:12.740 about Podcast Magic is that we've partnered with 00:06:12.740 --> 00:06:15.379 a few podcasters that are sharing the tool with 00:06:15.379 --> 00:06:18.139 their listeners. And what we're finding is that 00:06:18.139 --> 00:06:21.860 for them, knowing what moments resonate is very 00:06:21.860 --> 00:06:23.990 valuable. Especially because there's a whole 00:06:23.990 --> 00:06:26.750 industry around clipping for distribution purposes 00:06:26.750 --> 00:06:29.550 and having to kind of, you know, after recording, 00:06:29.689 --> 00:06:32.889 cut it out into like bite -sized clips for sharing. 00:06:32.930 --> 00:06:35.490 And so it seems like there's an interesting way 00:06:35.490 --> 00:06:38.870 in which Podcast Magic can help identify those 00:06:38.870 --> 00:06:42.009 interesting moments. There's also one of the 00:06:42.009 --> 00:06:45.689 things we've heard is that it's very hard for 00:06:45.689 --> 00:06:50.850 podcasters to get first -party data. emails of 00:06:50.850 --> 00:06:55.170 who is listening to my podcast. And so Podcast 00:06:55.170 --> 00:06:58.430 Magic is an idea. Maybe it's still very nascent, 00:06:58.449 --> 00:07:02.810 but we're excited as we roll this out to solve 00:07:02.810 --> 00:07:05.069 pain points for podcasters so they can help us 00:07:05.069 --> 00:07:08.589 in turn distribute this tool. Yeah. So you could 00:07:08.589 --> 00:07:11.730 see a future where a podcaster can sign up to 00:07:11.730 --> 00:07:15.569 know when people are interested in what they 00:07:15.569 --> 00:07:19.759 hear. but also potentially be able to contact 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:21.959 those people directly with their permission, 00:07:22.019 --> 00:07:24.819 I'm guessing. And that would then, you know, 00:07:24.839 --> 00:07:28.180 enable all kinds of conversations to start on 00:07:28.180 --> 00:07:31.120 there as well. I mean, my sort of view is informed 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:33.639 by the fact that I've been writing a self -stack 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:35.939 newsletter for five years and I've experienced 00:07:35.939 --> 00:07:39.339 firsthand the value of an email address. And 00:07:39.339 --> 00:07:42.040 for podcasters, like they don't, they can't reach 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:44.800 those listeners directly. So I don't, you know, 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:46.480 I can't, I don't, I won't make any promises. 00:07:46.579 --> 00:07:48.899 There are some kind of privacy issues and it 00:07:48.899 --> 00:07:50.720 will evolve. But I do think it's very interesting 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:54.860 to help. I mean, I'm obsessed with the best ideas 00:07:54.860 --> 00:07:59.100 traveling, right? And, you know, ideas are what 00:07:59.100 --> 00:08:02.399 moved me in general. And so in the case of Podcast 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:05.939 Magic, that means helping podcasters identify 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:09.019 those ideas, helping listeners share those ideas 00:08:09.019 --> 00:08:11.860 more widely, return to those ideas in their life 00:08:11.860 --> 00:08:15.600 and work. And, yeah, and I think, you know, to 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:18.720 the extent that we can, we're actually already 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:22.139 doing this where we have about 2 ,000 people 00:08:22.139 --> 00:08:24.860 that have used the tool so far. It's pretty, 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:28.660 pretty new. We could see what people are clipping 00:08:28.660 --> 00:08:32.240 and we send emails to podcasters saying, hey, 00:08:32.259 --> 00:08:34.820 by the way, you know, here's like a dashboard 00:08:34.820 --> 00:08:36.440 of what people are clipping from your podcast. 00:08:37.139 --> 00:08:40.120 And we don't share the emails just yet, but I 00:08:40.120 --> 00:08:42.879 can imagine. I'm seeing enough interest from 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:45.919 podcasters in saying, wow, this is interesting. 00:08:46.059 --> 00:08:49.480 It's cool to see that somebody sent a screenshot 00:08:49.480 --> 00:08:52.460 and took time of their day to say, this was interesting. 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:56.559 Next, potentially, quite a few of those tools. 00:08:56.759 --> 00:09:00.019 Where have you come from? You're clearly a podcast 00:09:00.019 --> 00:09:03.320 listener yourself, but have you been working 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:08.039 on the Sublime app for a long, long time? What's 00:09:08.039 --> 00:09:12.490 a bit of your background? I've been sort of like 00:09:12.490 --> 00:09:16.649 in the tech, like a bit of tech, so working in 00:09:16.649 --> 00:09:20.590 startups, in venture capital, in strategy roles 00:09:20.590 --> 00:09:23.389 in a lot of tech startups. I also love writing. 00:09:23.549 --> 00:09:25.850 Like writing has been sort of like something 00:09:25.850 --> 00:09:29.049 I've done always in my career. So I've had a 00:09:29.049 --> 00:09:32.809 Substract Newsletter for many years. And yeah, 00:09:32.850 --> 00:09:35.409 I would say like Sublime was just born from this 00:09:35.409 --> 00:09:39.990 pain point I had of I... I want to have a better 00:09:39.990 --> 00:09:43.529 relationship to the internet and to the ideas 00:09:43.529 --> 00:09:46.529 I consume. It's so easy to just be a passive 00:09:46.529 --> 00:09:48.889 consumer and scroller on the internet and just 00:09:48.889 --> 00:09:52.809 everything and constantly just be consuming. 00:09:53.090 --> 00:09:56.070 And I think for me, Sublime is actually the thing 00:09:56.070 --> 00:09:59.230 that helps and inspires me to create because 00:09:59.230 --> 00:10:01.470 the more I can curate ideas, the more inspired 00:10:01.470 --> 00:10:04.389 I am to create. So yeah, I sort of like dropped 00:10:04.389 --> 00:10:06.330 everything in my life. And I said, in order to 00:10:06.330 --> 00:10:09.440 like the next leg of, my life and my journey 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:12.159 is downstream of me being able to control my 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:15.940 attention and my information diet and yeah sublime 00:10:15.940 --> 00:10:18.259 is sort of the sandbox to experiment with with 00:10:18.259 --> 00:10:21.500 those ideas so if people want to um learn more 00:10:21.500 --> 00:10:24.679 where whereabouts do they go yeah so sublime 00:10:24.679 --> 00:10:28.460 .app uh to try sublime podcast magic .app to 00:10:28.460 --> 00:10:31.639 get a refresher on the instructions and then 00:10:31.639 --> 00:10:36.429 we write a weekly newsletter um at sublimeinternet 00:10:36.429 --> 00:10:39.769 .substack .com. I shall sign up. Thank you so 00:10:39.769 --> 00:10:41.509 much for your time. I appreciate it. Thanks so 00:10:41.509 --> 00:10:43.230 much, James. Delighted to chat with you.