Building in public once helped me sell my company. Today, that same transparency could destroy yours. https://share.transistor.fm/s/a04e852c That's not hyperbole. I owe my entire career as a writer, podcaster, and founder to being radically transparent about my business. I shared my Stripe-verified monthly recurring revenue numbers with the world, and that visibility attracted financial and … Continue reading The Increasing Risk of Building in Public
Category: Building in Public
The Dead Internet Theory: Are We Building Machines That Only Talk to Other Machines?
I saw something on LinkedIn the other day that stopped me mid-scroll. It was a post—clearly AI-generated, you could tell from the cadence, the slightly off phrasing, the generic inspirational tone—and underneath it were dozens of comments. Enthusiastic comments. Supportive comments. And every single one of them was also AI-generated. Bots responding to bots. A … Continue reading The Dead Internet Theory: Are We Building Machines That Only Talk to Other Machines?
When Profitability Disappears — A Podscan Reality Check
I've been talking a lot about Podscan and the positive developments—the improvements, the good things that have happened to the company and to me over the last year and a half since I started this journey. But building in public is about sharing the ups and the downs, the wild joy ride and roller coaster … Continue reading When Profitability Disappears — A Podscan Reality Check
I went to MicroConf in New Orleans
And I have a few things to say. In one of my rare directly-from-the-hotel-room-to-you episodes, I'll dive right into the many wonderful experiences of this uniquely amazing conference, and I'll share my biggest learnings with you right here. https://share.transistor.fm/s/fce0b3b0
Virality is Poisonous
I recently had a consulting call with a founder who asked me the question I've heard countless times before: "How can I write posts that go viral?" Many founders chase virality because they believe it will increase their number of customers, prospects, or collaborators. They dream of creating content that gets millions of views, hoping … Continue reading Virality is Poisonous
Arvid’s Year in Review: 2024
Looking back at 2024, it's been a year of significant transitions, learning curves, and unexpected opportunities. The biggest professional shift was the launch of Podscan, a podcast alerting and data platform that has become my main focus and quite possibly the most ambitious project I've tackled so far. https://share.transistor.fm/s/7d4b557e The genesis of Podscan is actually … Continue reading Arvid’s Year in Review: 2024
Podscan’s Dream Customer (Acquisition) Strategy
A few months ago, I started thinking about preparing data on Podscan for people who would be ideal customers for what the product currently is — a social listening tool. The easiest approach seemed straightforward: get the names of brands and influential people I'd want as customers and start tracking them. And over the last … Continue reading Podscan’s Dream Customer (Acquisition) Strategy
When Podcasts Attack: The Unexpected Challenges of External Data
As founders, we often focus on scaling our businesses in terms of customers, revenue, or team size. But what happens when the data your business relies on scales faster than anything else? That's the challenge I very recently faced with Podscan.fm, and it nearly brought the entire system to its knees. Nearly! 😉 If you're … Continue reading When Podcasts Attack: The Unexpected Challenges of External Data
Scrape or Be Scraped
With my podcast data scanning business, Podscan, I'm constantly scraping the web for terabytes of audio and metadata - but now I find myself in a wild cat-and-mouse game, trying to protect my own valuable data from aggressive AI companies doing the exact same thing. It's a bizarre tightrope walk: I need data to be … Continue reading Scrape or Be Scraped
Tipping Over
These last weeks have been a bit much. What do they say? “Take a break before the break takes you?” Well, I got quite close to that this week. https://share.transistor.fm/s/736a01c0 I've been quite active working on Podscan in many different ways, and it has been overwhelming at times. I found a way to cope with … Continue reading Tipping Over