WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.580 I'm very excited. I've not met my next guest, 00:00:02.680 --> 00:00:05.280 but this is going to be an exciting chat. His 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:08.599 name is Jason Suhoi. He is the CEO and co -founder 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:12.759 of Supercast, which recently got sold to Red 00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:15.640 Seat Ventures, which is part of Fox's Atubi group. 00:00:15.740 --> 00:00:18.940 Jason, hello. How are you? Hi, Sam. Great to 00:00:18.940 --> 00:00:21.000 be chatting. Excellent. Now, congratulations. 00:00:21.179 --> 00:00:23.120 That's the first thing I should say. As a fellow 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:26.699 entrepreneur, making an exit is always a good 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:30.230 day. I want to find out lots and lots about that. 00:00:30.329 --> 00:00:33.090 But first of all, for those who don't know Supercast, 00:00:33.310 --> 00:00:38.189 what is Supercast? So Supercast is the preferred 00:00:38.189 --> 00:00:42.369 podcast subscription platform for some of the 00:00:42.369 --> 00:00:46.009 most well -monetized podcasts in the world. So 00:00:46.009 --> 00:00:49.630 in a nutshell, what we do is we've brought the 00:00:49.630 --> 00:00:53.789 idea of taking free listeners and moving them 00:00:53.789 --> 00:00:57.729 through to being paid premium subscribers in 00:00:57.729 --> 00:01:01.009 a way that is as natural as possible to the world 00:01:01.009 --> 00:01:03.770 that we know and love as podcasting. So we work 00:01:03.770 --> 00:01:07.189 with some of the biggest names in the space, 00:01:07.310 --> 00:01:10.810 the likes of Huberman Lab and This American Life. 00:01:11.030 --> 00:01:14.109 Also work with a number of independent creators 00:01:14.109 --> 00:01:17.390 as well as bigger podcast networks. And basically 00:01:17.390 --> 00:01:20.799 we work. seamlessly with the open podcast ecosystem. 00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:25.959 So in two taps, somebody could add the premium 00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:28.760 version of the podcast. So that could include 00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:31.459 bonus episodes, for example. It could include 00:01:31.459 --> 00:01:33.939 the ability to get a premium newsletter. It could 00:01:33.939 --> 00:01:36.540 also include the ability to join the community 00:01:36.540 --> 00:01:39.840 of your favorite podcast. And you can get a lot 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:41.780 of that content into the podcast player of choice 00:01:41.780 --> 00:01:44.700 with a really simple two -tap sign -up process. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:49.930 Nice. Now, I think you generated over $26 million 00:01:49.930 --> 00:01:53.890 in revenue last year. Is that correct? So it's 00:01:53.890 --> 00:01:58.590 actually $26 million just paid out to our top 00:01:58.590 --> 00:02:03.079 10 creators on Supercast. Just the top 10. That's 00:02:03.079 --> 00:02:05.640 right. And so we've narrowed in on just showing 00:02:05.640 --> 00:02:08.599 that component because that has grown very steadily 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:10.500 over time. In the beginning, after our first 00:02:10.500 --> 00:02:12.419 year, it was something like six or eight million 00:02:12.419 --> 00:02:15.460 paid to our top 10. So you can see just in and 00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:18.000 amongst a standardized cohort of our top 10 customers, 00:02:18.120 --> 00:02:21.319 that has grown as people have really got on board 00:02:21.319 --> 00:02:26.050 with podcast subscriptions. What was the embryo 00:02:26.050 --> 00:02:28.469 of the idea? Every entrepreneur has their eureka 00:02:28.469 --> 00:02:30.930 moment. When did you suddenly go, you know what, 00:02:30.969 --> 00:02:33.550 I think I need something called Supercast. I 00:02:33.550 --> 00:02:37.050 need to build it. Why? I think this was the intersection 00:02:37.050 --> 00:02:40.770 of a couple of different things. I myself, as 00:02:40.770 --> 00:02:45.159 an entrepreneur, My previous company was 99designs, 00:02:45.259 --> 00:02:47.639 where I was COO when I led the growth of that 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:49.780 business, which is in the design space and as 00:02:49.780 --> 00:02:53.300 a design marketplace for a decade prior to starting 00:02:53.300 --> 00:02:55.759 Supercast. And it was a completely different 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:58.639 business altogether. We helped designers, over 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:00.960 1 .6 million of them all over the world, help 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:03.759 money by connecting them to businesses that need 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:06.800 logos or websites or book covers designed. And 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:08.840 I mention book covers specifically because Tim 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:12.469 Ferriss was an early customer of 99designs. he 00:03:12.469 --> 00:03:15.069 needed a book cover design for his second book, 00:03:15.189 --> 00:03:18.150 The 4 -Hour Body. And he ran a contest and got 00:03:18.150 --> 00:03:21.830 just an incredible array of choice from our design 00:03:21.830 --> 00:03:25.150 community. When he in turn started his podcast, 00:03:25.610 --> 00:03:28.409 he invited us to be a sponsor. And we, of course, 00:03:28.409 --> 00:03:30.189 jumped at the chance to be able to work with 00:03:30.189 --> 00:03:33.229 him again. And just the way he spoke to his audience 00:03:33.229 --> 00:03:36.330 about how he used 99designs and how emphatic 00:03:36.330 --> 00:03:39.430 he was about this being a new way to get design 00:03:39.430 --> 00:03:41.629 created over the internet just turned out to 00:03:41.629 --> 00:03:43.710 be the strongest acquisition channel for 99designs 00:03:43.710 --> 00:03:45.530 for many, many years to come. You know, the connection 00:03:45.530 --> 00:03:48.229 that Tim has with his audience and being able 00:03:48.229 --> 00:03:51.150 to recommend products and services like 99designs 00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:56.919 my eyes to the intimacy of podcasting and just 00:03:56.919 --> 00:04:00.060 the strength of the medium that gets formed between 00:04:00.060 --> 00:04:04.439 a host and their listeners so when i got connected 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:08.099 to andrew wilkinson my co -founder for supercast 00:04:08.099 --> 00:04:11.639 up in canada and this is going back to 2019 he 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:14.460 had just started working with sam harris and 00:04:14.460 --> 00:04:16.339 one of the projects that he worked on with sam 00:04:16.339 --> 00:04:22.129 harris was taking his existing audience and helping 00:04:22.129 --> 00:04:25.050 him build a bespoke premium subscription platform. 00:04:25.230 --> 00:04:27.410 Essentially, this was the genesis for Supercast, 00:04:27.509 --> 00:04:30.790 working with one prominent creator who at the 00:04:30.790 --> 00:04:34.829 time had his paying subscription base on Patreon. 00:04:36.360 --> 00:04:37.980 Patreon, of course, had been around for many 00:04:37.980 --> 00:04:40.759 years prior to that, but they were a horizontal 00:04:40.759 --> 00:04:42.860 kind of solution. They were a solution not only 00:04:42.860 --> 00:04:46.879 for podcasters, but for writers, for illustrators, 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:49.839 for video makers. They weren't tailor -made to 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:52.560 this idea of getting people who were listening 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:55.779 to your podcast on a free basis through to listening 00:04:55.779 --> 00:04:58.620 to the premium version also in your podcast player 00:04:58.620 --> 00:05:01.220 of choice. So as a result, Sam just felt it was 00:05:01.220 --> 00:05:04.879 clunky. it was a lot of steps it wasn't seamless 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:07.459 and he could be building both a more intimate 00:05:07.459 --> 00:05:10.139 experience but then a bigger business a higher 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:13.079 converting business if there were a tailor -made 00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:16.629 tool for that and so We built out the first version 00:05:16.629 --> 00:05:18.490 of Supercast, the Genesis version of Supercast 00:05:18.490 --> 00:05:22.009 for Sam. His business exploded. His premium audience 00:05:22.009 --> 00:05:25.550 felt much more engaged as a result. And really 00:05:25.550 --> 00:05:28.050 that was the light bulb moment for us to say, 00:05:28.110 --> 00:05:30.709 okay, well, he's not the only podcaster. Who 00:05:30.709 --> 00:05:33.269 else could we be bringing this to, to be able 00:05:33.269 --> 00:05:35.850 to generate a significant revenue stream for 00:05:35.850 --> 00:05:38.389 them that is recurring and sustainable and works. 00:05:39.209 --> 00:05:41.269 alongside whatever they're doing on the ad front. 00:05:41.370 --> 00:05:44.490 One of the things I've been saying to James for 00:05:44.490 --> 00:05:48.810 a couple of years now is that the premium subscription 00:05:48.810 --> 00:05:52.170 marketplace is where podcasters are going to 00:05:52.170 --> 00:05:54.689 end up in because advertising -led marketing 00:05:54.689 --> 00:05:57.870 is interruption to the actual content of the 00:05:57.870 --> 00:06:01.490 podcast. And that I always find jarring when 00:06:01.490 --> 00:06:05.019 I hear an advert. Equally, we know a lot of people 00:06:05.019 --> 00:06:06.720 just fast forward through the advert anyway, 00:06:06.819 --> 00:06:10.360 whereas the subscription based model gives you 00:06:10.360 --> 00:06:13.439 a stronger connection to your fan. They're making 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:16.000 a real monetary payment to support you, but also 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:18.860 it's then ad free as well. Now, you must have 00:06:18.860 --> 00:06:21.079 seen Patreon doing very well. I think the numbers 00:06:21.079 --> 00:06:24.759 for Patreon have been $2 billion payout. You 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:26.819 talked about a high number for yourselves at 00:06:26.819 --> 00:06:29.199 Supercast of $26 million. So there is a market 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:31.459 there. And I think your other competitors, I 00:06:31.459 --> 00:06:33.120 would say, in the market would be Memberful, 00:06:33.180 --> 00:06:35.500 maybe Substack. I don't know what you consider 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:38.399 your competitors. But with all of that going 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.110 on, did you have a... arrow of direction yes 00:06:42.110 --> 00:06:44.750 i know this is going to work or were you sort 00:06:44.750 --> 00:06:47.370 of do we try all these different things did you 00:06:47.370 --> 00:06:50.509 always just go straight for this premium marketplace 00:06:50.509 --> 00:06:52.790 and say yeah that's the features and functions 00:06:52.790 --> 00:06:54.670 we're going to add or did you try and dabble 00:06:54.670 --> 00:06:57.430 with advertising and other ways of monetizing 00:06:57.430 --> 00:07:00.170 let's say sam harris's platform we've been laser 00:07:00.170 --> 00:07:03.629 focused on subscription for the last five years 00:07:03.629 --> 00:07:07.699 and really that grew out of our experience with 00:07:07.699 --> 00:07:09.980 sam harris and then rolling that into other creators 00:07:09.980 --> 00:07:13.339 like found my fitness ronda patrick in the health 00:07:13.339 --> 00:07:17.079 space huberman lab like followed on from that 00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:19.480 obviously that's a relatively new podcast that 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:21.759 they only started in like 2020 but exploded onto 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:24.319 the scene and we were able to launch a subscription 00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:28.000 with them shortly after and then staying on that 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:29.860 track some of the creators that we work with 00:07:29.860 --> 00:07:32.720 today this american life for example You know, 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:34.459 we still have to pinch ourselves that I'm able 00:07:34.459 --> 00:07:36.819 to mention the caliber of these sorts of podcasts 00:07:36.819 --> 00:07:40.240 as people that we get to work with on a weekly 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:43.300 basis and partner with. And I think part of that 00:07:43.300 --> 00:07:46.920 does come down to our focus. We don't see ourselves 00:07:46.920 --> 00:07:50.680 as the solution for somebody that's just starting 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:54.040 out with their first 10, 20, 50 episodes. You 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:56.160 can, of course, sign up on Supercast as a self 00:07:56.160 --> 00:07:59.480 -service creator if you have a show that's just 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:02.620 starting out. But the Patreons of the world, 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:05.600 for example, that is the long tail, as we refer 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:09.100 to it, is their bread and butter. They invest 00:08:09.100 --> 00:08:12.120 a lot in marketing to have brand awareness for 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:15.660 a much larger swath of customers. Whereas with 00:08:15.660 --> 00:08:18.839 our team, which is relatively smaller, and obviously 00:08:18.839 --> 00:08:21.240 we've raised a lot less money and so on prior 00:08:21.240 --> 00:08:23.459 to the acquisition, we've just stayed focused 00:08:23.459 --> 00:08:27.540 on super serving the podcasters that have already. 00:08:28.060 --> 00:08:30.759 built up a significant audience and want to be 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:33.039 able to work with a partner on a really close 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:37.279 -knit basis to be able to create an offering 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:40.120 for their audience that really fits that special 00:08:40.120 --> 00:08:42.139 relationship that they have you know it's not 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:45.419 the same size fits all, you know, for each one 00:08:45.419 --> 00:08:47.179 of these creators, you know, like, yes, ad free 00:08:47.179 --> 00:08:49.639 is a benefit. But then also, you know, the common 00:08:49.639 --> 00:08:52.860 questions that come up are, what should I be 00:08:52.860 --> 00:08:54.820 offering in terms of bonus content? What works 00:08:54.820 --> 00:08:57.320 for other creators? Is it extended episodes? 00:08:57.539 --> 00:09:00.139 Is it one episode a week? Is it one episode a 00:09:00.139 --> 00:09:02.759 month? Should I do AMAs? You know, AMAs is something 00:09:02.759 --> 00:09:04.860 that we kind of have built specific solutions 00:09:04.860 --> 00:09:08.659 around on Supercast so that you can give The 00:09:08.659 --> 00:09:11.340 audience, the sense that they're able to drive 00:09:11.340 --> 00:09:13.120 the conversation in areas that are interesting 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:15.960 to them and get their questions answered without 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:18.399 it being a rod for the creator's back where they 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:20.620 feel like everybody has a channel to them. And 00:09:20.620 --> 00:09:22.299 of course, when you're dealing with hundreds 00:09:22.299 --> 00:09:24.379 or thousands or even millions of listeners, you 00:09:24.379 --> 00:09:26.860 know, that's just not scalable. solution and 00:09:26.860 --> 00:09:29.179 what is your revenue stream i was just looking 00:09:29.179 --> 00:09:31.940 through it now patreon is a eight to ten percent 00:09:31.940 --> 00:09:35.799 from the subscription i think substack is a flat 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:40.039 fee what was the supercast model yeah so substack 00:09:40.039 --> 00:09:43.480 is just a ten percent fee on whatever revenue 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:46.340 you bring in so we decided to go a different 00:09:46.340 --> 00:09:52.600 way and we charge 59 cents per subscriber per 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:56.460 month So essentially the amount that we take 00:09:56.460 --> 00:10:00.639 doesn't change as the creator decides to scale 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:03.100 up their price. And so what you can do on Supercast 00:10:03.100 --> 00:10:06.700 is have multiple tiers. So you might have bronze, 00:10:06.779 --> 00:10:08.460 silver and gold, for example, and bronze might 00:10:08.460 --> 00:10:12.740 start at $6 and gold could end up at $15, for 00:10:12.740 --> 00:10:15.860 example. And so our fee for the service that 00:10:15.860 --> 00:10:19.299 we provide doesn't change if you go up. And so 00:10:19.299 --> 00:10:22.299 if you have a $10 subscription price, for example, 00:10:22.460 --> 00:10:24.480 that the likes of Cuban Lab or This American 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:28.360 Life have, that works out to like 6 % of the 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:31.419 revenue that you're bringing in. Now, given some 00:10:31.419 --> 00:10:35.200 of the changes occurring in podcasting over the 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:39.139 advent of video, the introduction of live podcasting. 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:42.759 How does Supercast see itself within those, I 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:45.559 mean, going from just an audio -only model? Have 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:48.200 you embraced video? You talked about AMA, so 00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:51.179 have you embraced live as well? We have. So this 00:10:51.179 --> 00:10:53.279 is something that we've followed with a lot of 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:55.220 interest. And it's particularly relevant to us 00:10:55.220 --> 00:10:58.679 because, obviously, the people that are prepared 00:10:58.679 --> 00:11:00.139 to pay for your audience are the people that 00:11:00.139 --> 00:11:02.379 are the most engaged within your audience. And 00:11:02.379 --> 00:11:04.559 what they're paying for is not only that additional 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:07.820 content, but the access. to you as a host and 00:11:07.820 --> 00:11:09.600 somebody that is playing an important part in 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:12.980 their lives. So AMA, as you mentioned, is something 00:11:12.980 --> 00:11:15.000 that we did pretty much out of the gate with 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:17.279 Supercast in establishing that two -way connection 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:21.259 where premium listeners could not only hear an 00:11:21.259 --> 00:11:24.559 extra episode with AMA questions and the answers, 00:11:24.620 --> 00:11:27.220 but also ask their own questions. And so the 00:11:27.220 --> 00:11:30.080 way they did that was in the show notes of an 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:33.539 episode, there would be links to go in. supercast 00:11:33.539 --> 00:11:36.019 website submit your own questions upvote other 00:11:36.019 --> 00:11:39.559 people's questions and then you know play the 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:42.340 the episode you know on the website with you 00:11:42.340 --> 00:11:45.139 know timestamps and so on in addition to what 00:11:45.139 --> 00:11:48.059 you could get through the podcast player video 00:11:48.059 --> 00:11:52.080 we leaned into pretty early on as well so about 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:55.039 four years ago we started you know kind of jumping 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:58.370 in with video podcasters The first version of 00:11:58.370 --> 00:12:02.149 that was an early iteration where we were basically 00:12:02.149 --> 00:12:05.250 embedding YouTube and Vimeo videos. But about 00:12:05.250 --> 00:12:08.049 two years ago, we flipped that into native video, 00:12:08.190 --> 00:12:10.789 knowing that video was just only going to get 00:12:10.789 --> 00:12:15.129 more and more important to creators. And so right 00:12:15.129 --> 00:12:19.490 now we have a video experience. It comes through. 00:12:20.110 --> 00:12:23.509 basically the Supercast mobile -friendly web 00:12:23.509 --> 00:12:26.190 experience. And that's something that we're very 00:12:26.190 --> 00:12:29.169 much looking to invest further into. Okay. This 00:12:29.169 --> 00:12:31.529 is quite prescient. So you've got the platform, 00:12:31.769 --> 00:12:33.710 you've got the revenue model, you've got the 00:12:33.710 --> 00:12:37.539 users. Is this when you suddenly found Red Seat 00:12:37.539 --> 00:12:39.899 Ventures? When did they first come and tap you 00:12:39.899 --> 00:12:41.779 on the shoulder and say, hey, do you fancy a 00:12:41.779 --> 00:12:44.860 chat? So I've known Chris for a number of years 00:12:44.860 --> 00:12:47.620 now, just being in the industry for a while. 00:12:47.779 --> 00:12:50.480 He got introduced to me as somebody that I should 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:53.820 know. And I was also curious about his background. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:57.740 He, in the radio days, also used to operate subscription 00:12:57.740 --> 00:13:00.200 business. So I know that he was a big believer 00:13:00.200 --> 00:13:03.399 in the model. Also just someone who's done something 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:06.100 pretty amazing in terms of what he's able to 00:13:06.100 --> 00:13:08.720 build up in partnership with his creators. So 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:12.039 about a year ago, we ended up starting to work 00:13:12.039 --> 00:13:15.500 with a creator from his portfolio. That creator 00:13:15.500 --> 00:13:18.700 has built up a stream of revenue over time that 00:13:18.700 --> 00:13:21.799 has just continued to snowball. And so after 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:25.440 Chris's own acquisition by Red Seat, by Tubi 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:28.879 Media Group, a little over a year ago, I reached 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:31.480 out just to really get a sense of, what that 00:13:31.480 --> 00:13:34.120 meant for him the direction that was now leading 00:13:34.120 --> 00:13:36.679 him into the opportunities that had opened up 00:13:36.679 --> 00:13:39.539 for him and at the end of that call he suggested 00:13:39.539 --> 00:13:43.120 that we go and chat to paul cheeseburger who 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:45.639 was the ceo of chuvi media group we lined up 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:48.179 another call and about 10 minutes into that i 00:13:48.179 --> 00:13:50.039 think we were all kind of in strong alignment 00:13:50.039 --> 00:13:52.500 that there was a really strong strategic fit 00:13:52.500 --> 00:13:55.580 to explore here which fast forward a little bit 00:13:55.580 --> 00:13:58.940 has obviously turned into our acquisition So 00:13:58.940 --> 00:14:01.940 now the acquisition's occurred. What does that 00:14:01.940 --> 00:14:04.080 mean for Supercast? Will you remain independent 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:06.759 with your audience or are you going to be now 00:14:06.759 --> 00:14:10.340 part of Fox and are you going to be integrated 00:14:10.340 --> 00:14:12.860 directly into their platform? How's it all going 00:14:12.860 --> 00:14:16.100 to work? What's the path forward next? So we 00:14:16.100 --> 00:14:19.559 will continue to run Supercast on an autonomous 00:14:19.559 --> 00:14:24.399 basis, exactly as it is today. So being creator 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:27.259 first has got us to where... we are today like 00:14:27.259 --> 00:14:30.440 being able to go out to the likes of This American 00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:33.100 Life and the Huberman Labs and to say to them 00:14:33.100 --> 00:14:36.200 you own your audience we want to help you convert 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:38.179 as many of those possible through to paying subscribers 00:14:38.179 --> 00:14:41.559 but ultimately you're in charge of that revenue 00:14:41.559 --> 00:14:44.200 stream it'll be your Stripe account all built 00:14:44.200 --> 00:14:48.059 under your brand was a really powerful way for 00:14:48.059 --> 00:14:50.480 us to approach the market and also build the 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:52.639 trust that you know we've been able to do you 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:55.120 know with the creators that we serve. So it was 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:57.519 really important to us that none of that changes. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:14:59.679 The team is staying the same. I'm continuing 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:02.899 to lead the business and our philosophy for the 00:15:02.899 --> 00:15:05.019 way we serve creators, none of that is changing. 00:15:05.220 --> 00:15:07.659 But what does open up in terms of possibilities 00:15:07.659 --> 00:15:10.639 is being able to run faster at the things that 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:14.159 we want to build. So obviously Red Seat Ventures 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:17.519 and with the backing of Tubi gives us the ability 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:20.799 to hire more engineers, for example, hire more, 00:15:20.860 --> 00:15:24.029 create a growth. resources, scaling our support 00:15:24.029 --> 00:15:28.289 team, and to be able to build out the product 00:15:28.289 --> 00:15:30.769 in a way that allows us to serve our creators 00:15:30.769 --> 00:15:33.870 better and also have them grow at even faster 00:15:33.870 --> 00:15:36.330 rates than they are currently. One of the areas 00:15:36.330 --> 00:15:39.289 that people are looking at is obviously AI. Have 00:15:39.289 --> 00:15:42.929 you got any plans to integrate AI into Supercast? 00:15:43.429 --> 00:15:45.629 Like everybody, I think, in the world, we're 00:15:45.629 --> 00:15:48.610 following this with interest. There are certainly 00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:52.720 areas from a product point of view where assessing 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:54.620 you know like not only what can we do from an 00:15:54.620 --> 00:15:56.620 engagement front but what also can we do from 00:15:56.620 --> 00:16:00.360 a workflow front one of the most powerful things 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:07.019 that this acquisition enables is us to be able 00:16:07.019 --> 00:16:11.740 to bring ad revenue which red seat ventures is 00:16:11.740 --> 00:16:14.799 world -class at and subscription revenue which 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:17.559 we're you know supercast is world -class at all 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:20.360 under one roof. And that hasn't been done before. 00:16:20.460 --> 00:16:22.820 If you look out across the landscape of the creator 00:16:22.820 --> 00:16:25.580 economy and the podcast industry, typically you 00:16:25.580 --> 00:16:27.440 get players that can represent you on the ad 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:29.559 side or the subscription side with the platforms, 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:32.340 but they... basically stick to their netting 00:16:32.340 --> 00:16:34.960 and as a result the creator has to stitch together 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:37.700 all of these solutions if they want to sell ads 00:16:37.700 --> 00:16:39.820 that's one partner if they want to do subscription 00:16:39.820 --> 00:16:42.059 that's supercast or another player if you want 00:16:42.059 --> 00:16:44.100 to do events you have to work with another partner 00:16:44.100 --> 00:16:46.559 again merchandise you get the idea you know email 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:50.220 you know the whole works is like it's so fragmented 00:16:50.220 --> 00:16:52.480 it's a wonder that creators have any time to 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:55.139 actually get on and record content and so your 00:16:55.139 --> 00:16:57.519 question was about ai but i think the opportunity 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:01.049 that we see is really to bring all that under 00:17:01.049 --> 00:17:04.750 that roof and to streamline a lot of the workflows 00:17:04.750 --> 00:17:07.910 it takes for the creator to be able to reach 00:17:07.910 --> 00:17:10.170 their existing audience, reach new audience, 00:17:10.390 --> 00:17:12.630 and then to be able to convert that audience 00:17:12.630 --> 00:17:15.950 as high rate as possible through to being listeners 00:17:15.950 --> 00:17:18.690 of ads, but then also premium subscribers on 00:17:18.690 --> 00:17:21.509 a subscription basis as well. So AI is certainly 00:17:21.509 --> 00:17:23.890 going to come into the picture amongst all of 00:17:23.890 --> 00:17:26.730 those tenants, but I would say really we're starting 00:17:26.730 --> 00:17:29.920 with the vision of where, We want to take things 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:33.359 for creator -owned companies and media companies. 00:17:33.900 --> 00:17:36.740 I've said to James on several occasions that 00:17:36.740 --> 00:17:39.119 back in the early 90s when the internet was first 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:42.240 born, you would hear the term portal, you know, 00:17:42.299 --> 00:17:46.140 MSN, AOL, Yahoo, Netscape, they're all portals. 00:17:46.220 --> 00:17:48.460 I'm a firm believer what we are now seeing is 00:17:48.460 --> 00:17:52.180 democratized portals where brands and creators 00:17:52.180 --> 00:17:55.579 can build their brand around a portal, which 00:17:55.579 --> 00:17:59.240 is fundamentally... Audio, video, email, newsletters, 00:17:59.240 --> 00:18:03.180 merch, live events, all sorts of other things. 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:06.380 And it's their portal and their branded portal. 00:18:06.579 --> 00:18:09.359 So I'm fully with you on the idea of one stop 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:12.619 for the brand or for the creator where they can 00:18:12.619 --> 00:18:15.220 bring their audience to it. I use the term monetizing 00:18:15.220 --> 00:18:18.200 fandom as the way of describing it, but there's 00:18:18.200 --> 00:18:21.150 many ways of saying the same thing. We see you 00:18:21.150 --> 00:18:23.349 in London at the London Podcast Show, Jason. 00:18:23.529 --> 00:18:25.809 I would love to get there. I actually haven't 00:18:25.809 --> 00:18:28.509 been to the podcast show yet, so I was actually 00:18:28.509 --> 00:18:30.829 looking at getting out there last night. Join 00:18:30.829 --> 00:18:33.730 us. It's great, I have to say. I really recommend 00:18:33.730 --> 00:18:36.029 it. I think you'll gain a lot from it, but you'll 00:18:36.029 --> 00:18:38.069 also be able to give a lot to that audience as 00:18:38.069 --> 00:18:41.190 well. And last question, with whatever monies 00:18:41.190 --> 00:18:44.890 you've acquired, have you had one? I suppose, 00:18:44.990 --> 00:18:47.250 little pleasure, something that you've always 00:18:47.250 --> 00:18:49.289 wanted to buy or something that you've always 00:18:49.289 --> 00:18:52.289 wanted to do? Have you taken that one moment 00:18:52.289 --> 00:18:54.670 to go, you know, this is what I've waited for. 00:18:54.769 --> 00:18:56.829 I'm going to go and do something with my money. 00:18:57.329 --> 00:19:00.930 You know, I honestly haven't given that an ounce 00:19:00.930 --> 00:19:03.450 of thought. Like everything in business, yes, 00:19:03.509 --> 00:19:06.470 there are these milestones that you get to, but 00:19:06.470 --> 00:19:10.339 ultimately we're all here kind of like. building 00:19:10.339 --> 00:19:12.500 things and the day after something like this 00:19:12.500 --> 00:19:15.720 is announced there is now another list of things 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:17.859 to do so to give you an example you know next 00:19:17.859 --> 00:19:19.400 week you know we've got the podcast business 00:19:19.400 --> 00:19:22.279 summit in brooklyn and then we'll be spending 00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:25.259 some time in person in new york with the red 00:19:25.259 --> 00:19:28.440 seat team on the exciting stuff there's a whole 00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:30.839 lot of work that's involved in bringing two companies 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:33.660 together both from a diligence perspective like 00:19:33.660 --> 00:19:36.490 getting something like this over the line and 00:19:36.490 --> 00:19:39.109 really this is getting to the exciting part the 00:19:39.109 --> 00:19:41.390 combined vision of what we can be building together 00:19:41.390 --> 00:19:44.529 and how that impacts the team expanding the roadmap 00:19:44.529 --> 00:19:48.589 and so on and so yeah to be honest from a personal 00:19:48.589 --> 00:19:51.789 perspective i'm sure that'll come but for right 00:19:51.789 --> 00:19:54.630 now these conversations are what i've been working 00:19:54.630 --> 00:19:57.460 hard to get to so I've just been focused on that. 00:19:57.579 --> 00:19:59.759 I think I've got one for you. Book those flights 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:02.539 to London, bring your family and have an extended 00:20:02.539 --> 00:20:04.500 holiday on the back of it. How about that? Sounds 00:20:04.500 --> 00:20:07.039 good. Jason, if anyone wants to find out more 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:09.339 about Supercast, where do they go? Supercast 00:20:09.339 --> 00:20:11.740 .com would be the first stop. They can obviously 00:20:11.740 --> 00:20:14.559 browse the site. There's the ability to book 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:18.059 a demo there with our partnerships team. Or if 00:20:18.059 --> 00:20:20.119 they want to, they can also reach out to me personally 00:20:20.119 --> 00:20:23.210 at Jason at Supercast .com. Jason, once again, 00:20:23.349 --> 00:20:25.910 massive congratulations as a fellow entrepreneur 00:20:25.910 --> 00:20:29.089 exiting or in your case, getting that investment. 00:20:29.230 --> 00:20:32.410 It's super hard to get there. So massive hat 00:20:32.410 --> 00:20:34.750 tip to you. Thank you. I appreciate it. And look, 00:20:34.869 --> 00:20:37.009 I wouldn't be able to do it without an extremely 00:20:37.009 --> 00:20:40.769 talented team and then the trust of a lot of 00:20:40.769 --> 00:20:43.430 our creators. At the end of the day, our philosophy 00:20:43.430 --> 00:20:45.990 at Supercast has always been that we succeed 00:20:45.990 --> 00:20:48.809 when our creators succeed. And a lot of the creators 00:20:48.809 --> 00:20:52.480 that we worked with, trusted us with their audience 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:54.640 relationships and their money well before we 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:57.359 deserved it. So if there's anything I would like 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:00.420 to close to, it's really gratitude for the creators 00:21:00.420 --> 00:21:03.460 that we've been able to work with. It's a pleasure 00:21:03.460 --> 00:21:06.200 to see them on a daily basis. Our team and the 00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:08.680 creator economy that is working equally as hard 00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:11.460 to build everything around us. I look forward 00:21:11.460 --> 00:21:13.440 to seeing you in London. Take care, Jason. Thank 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:13.680 you, Sam.