Sonal a16z investing
They also want to bring in people who know an extremely technical space particularly well, something like nuclear energy, for instance. A16z already has a strong reputation for producing content via its popular podcast and company blog posts that outlines the intricacies of a nascent technology, especially those related to deep tech or coalescing out of research.
The firm is prepared to invest in this publication long-term, and they are prepared to take the time to set a baseline for success metrics, says Wennmachers. The success of the publication will be tracked on some hard and soft metrics related to engagement.
Metrics like time on page or whether people are finishing the articles or podcast episodes will take precedent. A16z will be footing the bill for the buildout and talent here. This, of course, allows more freedom to choose what kinds of metrics are a part of the success rubric. The content, overall, is aiming to be action-oriented with information that is helpful in defining legislation, charting the course of your company or bringing a good point to your next meeting, says Wennmachers.
Usability of information, basically, is a key sight line. It will ideally, Wennmachers acknowledges, also help a16z win deals in the spaces where it demonstrates interest and understanding through publishing. The firm, she says, often wins deals at the intersection of two areas where they have expertise. Partners that specialize in biotech and consumer can come together, for instance, to support firms like Levels, which have a consumer-facing biotech footprint.
Some other overall goals are to boost nascent tech communities like those around crypto and other edge tech endeavors. The audience, she says, is people who are curious, have an open mind and want to understand complex tech topics from the point of view of operators.
People in consumer tech that want to cross-pollinate their ideas with deep tech arenas, for instance. With a sub-line of information about how new companies are built and grown. The combination of full-time writers, paid contributors, entrepreneurs who probably have more ideas than days behind a pen and a wide array of external voices means that the editors have their work ahead of them.
A voice will need to coalesce, as well as a reputation for signal and domain expertise. Co-ops, DAOs or distributed contribution systems that reflected the diaspora of talent out of the silos of traditional publishers and into other framing devices like Substack. Not for now, says Wennmachers, as they want to establish Future as a thing that even exists and to make sure its voice is crisp. The MVP is launching today, and the team is willing to build in public, rather than continue to polish in private.
Given the audience, that will likely attract some of the exact people that they want reading — as well as some of the expected critics. People got a sense of excitement when they got their Wired Magazine in their inbox. And so many people have told me, not when I worked at Wired but more recently, "God, I miss that feeling I used to get. And so that to me would be the analog—not an actual media outlet, but that feeling.
Evoking that feeling that there is a place for people who are builders. And not necessarily cheerleaders for tech, but optimistic about the future and what it can do, especially if we have really smart, thoughtful pieces that can get us there. That is what I want us to be. And so between the ecosystem of Substack and the Wired of the old, and plenty of just really smart, direct pieces.
Q: You mentioned the type of voices you're looking to include in Future, what's the best way for them to contribute? So first of all, I would tell people to go to Future. These are guidelines that came with me from Wired and then I expanded for the podcast, and then I expanded even further for Future. So basically we're looking for pieces that argue for a particular worldview, like a tech trend or a mindset.
And it should be something that helps define what the future looks like. You can explain what, how and why it matters, help tease apart what's hype, what's real. Where are we now? What's coming next? Where are we going?
That's the tech trends category. We're also looking for company building type pieces, so how to build. And this includes frameworks, practical advice and how to. And it could cover talent operations, process technologies, platform shifts, anything.
So the two pillars are tech trends and company building. I would say the other thing is that in general, I find that people who start with specific points of view are the strongest versus those that try to do very general grand unified theories of everything, because those are really hard to pull off, frankly, and very few people can. So when in doubt go specific versus general.
We want to have the pitches start with why it matters. I also ask that people try to share with us, what is their unique take? You don't have to be the first person to argue something, but what's fresh or differentiated? What is that person's unique edge?
And lean into what that is. Q: My final question is a personal one—my daughter is the new editor-in-chief for her school newspaper. Any sage advice for her or other aspiring journalists?
SHIRT ETHEREUM
Interestingly, this work had always seemed like a sidebar to my main job, but ended up seeding an "expert graph" for much of the above During this time I built and managed my first online community -- over an email listserv! It included teachers, administrators, teacher union representatives, textbook manufacturers, policymakers, and education researchers all interested in a specific Japanese teacher professional development practice that had surfaced through the TIMSS international education comparison study.
The entire online and community aspect of this work felt like yet another "side project" to the primary research effort -- which involved field ethnography in physical classrooms specifically, Paterson, NJ; Japanese School of Greenwich, CT; and NYC school District 2 -- but that was what was later acquired by Pearson. In fact, the writing and reporting I did during this time is what made me realize how much I loved those activities more than even the research itself.
I did some other neat research stuff earlier too, like briefly interning at Sesame Street ; and designing, writing, and field-testing lots of learning activities for another NSF-funded study of early numeracy in preschoolers. A neat realization of late is that a lot of what I learned in developmental and cognitive psychology -- how children learn, conditioning, metacognition, perception, memory, etc. In theory at least, since I know nothing about computer science! Reading is like breathing to me; per Scout: "One does not love breathing".
I also love what's been happening in the past 5 years with YA literature and strong female characters. I'm passionate about art, design, and fashion to those citing superficiality, let me point you to Virginia Postrel's thesis in The Substance of Style. Am not even including jewelry — my passion — here! And while any kind of differentiation let alone choice is a luxury beyond survival, just remember Frederick and for that matter, Yorick, too!
Magazines during grad school was like a discovery that scratched both a non-fiction and fiction itch; sadly, once I started working on behalf of or for them I lost my joy in them. My answer: I am everyone everything whose being-in-the-world affected was affected by mine.
But when Sonal first started out, she was completely new to podcasting. Now, she's sharing those hard-won lessons for up-and-coming podcasters. What follows is Sonal's playbook on how to build a podcast brand, as told to us in conversation at a Fireside Chat with ODP1 earlier this year, where she unveiled years of accumulated expertise in strategizing, launching, editing, and growing a premiere podcast brand including advising countless others with their podcasts and editorial strategy.
Part 1: Coming Up With an Editorial Perspective One of the most common misconceptions Sonal has encountered with podcasters is the idea that having access to "a lot of big guests" to have on your show automatically constitutes a podcast editorial and distribution strategy.
A list of names does not a show concept make — you still need a clearly defined show concept, including what differentiates it from other podcasts out there. Otherwise, even if you do manage to get traction early on, you will almost certainly experience stalled growth a few months in. No matter the format of your show interviews, etc.
To brainstorm the signature identity that might work best for you, ask yourself questions like: "What are my unique assets — i. The goal was to bridge the gap between academia and industry papers to practice , an opportunity that was underserved by the podcast market of other shows out there. So reinforcing this was key, as well as using it in the show structure too.
Once you have a two-word concept, Sonal emphasizes, it should serve as the north star of your podcast. As you look at your editorial calendar of guest bookings, episode concepts, series concepts, and even especially the editing of episodes themselves, always return to the question of: "Does this fit into my two-word concept? To build a podcast brand, Sonal is adamant that you have to exercise tremendous discipline to focus the concept early on, only putting in things that fit, but also keeping out the things that don't.
You can always evolve from there. One approach Sonal suggests that may help figure out your two-word concept is to draw from Clayton Christensen's classic "jobs to be done" framework : what is the "job" a listener would conceivably "hire" your podcast to do? Said another way, what is the underlying need or unmet desire for a style of content or niche that your audience will turn to you and ideally only you for?
This exercise isn't about crowdsourcing ideas, it's about thinking through the pull in the market for your type of work. And of course, the push too for what point of view or worldview you want to put out there you should also know the answers to what the push and pull is. Having a two-word concept focuses this; and thinking through its implications lays the foundation for building a strong and sustainable brand. So reference your two-word concept verbally in your public-facing materials — from episode intros to show descriptions, throughlines, pitches, and more — this will help create and reinforce that world for your audience as well as new subscribers as you grow your show.
In the early days of a16z Podcast, it was meant for people who already knew a16z, and featured mostly a16z voices. Coupled with strong relationships and strong pitches, here are some strategies she used to help the show stand out beyond insiders early on. Because no expert wants to be left out of their own category — especially if they get wind that other top people in their field are participating.
The other key here is to create a sense of critical mass that then pulls other guests in; once you have key names early on that then pulls or draws everyone else. Sonal: The former follows people not shows, the latter has more cohesion, as with certain open source communities and so on. Booking Is Only Half The Equation Because big names go on many podcasts, even if they say yes to you they may not have a strong incentive to promote the appearance to their own audience which is one of the big theoretical benefits of having them on in the first place.
At best, social helps broaden the funnel of awareness for an episode or show. In order to get your guests to promote you, you need to stand out to them. That's why FOMO, creating scarcity, and having a unique, differentiated angle are so important — not only will it give your audience something unique that they can't find on every other podcast the guest has appeared on, it will also increase your chance of making an impression and episode that they want to promote themselves.
Packaging Your Show One of the most underutilized and important strategies for punching above your weight in terms of an early or unknown show seeking to stand out quickly is packaging. How might I think about the arc of the entire season or mini-themed series? How might I pitch a theme to an editorial platform for podcasts? Regarding 4 , Sonal points out that one of the most effective ways to get featured in a podcast platform like Apple is to actually pitch them they have a portal and dedicated teams.
For example, you can pitch Apple or Spotify to be featured on their podcast page on Valentine's Day if you have an episode that fits the timing or theme. This is not unlike how magazines like Wired and others work in programming special issues up front pegged to calendar or events.
Finally, Sonal encourages creators to think of each episode or piece you produce as part of a continuous body of work, not just as one-off, fragmented episodes. Part 3: How to Craft a Narrative In this era of exploding digital media and especially audio, Sonal points out that there are a lot of things cutting into the very long tail of podcasting.
There are three aspects of differentiating episodes that Sonal identifies: Have a really unique topic or host Have a fresh way of approaching the topic with that guest Have a specific structure But no matter what, it all comes together with crafting a compelling narrative. This an area every podcaster can improve on, even for seemingly informal conversational shows — and Sonal has a lot of tips for how to do so. The importance of pre-production The first way to ensure each show has a compelling narrative is the work you do BEFORE the podcast itself.
It's a verbal op-ed. So the first thing to ask yourself is: What can you do up front to maximize the interestingness or freshness of this topic and angle? Booking a great guest and a great topic is the low-hanging fruit. It's important to go a step further by answering questions like: What is the argument or point of view the episode is going to take? Is this THE expert for the topic or theme of the episode? Sonal strongly values first- person expertise undiluted by reporting — earned expertise , not credentials per se — and therefore focuses on getting the very best, or next best, not just any expert… there are plenty of shows with random commenters already so this is a great place to differentiate.
What is their particular angle or slice into this topic? What is your unique take as a show and how does this fit that identity? What is another dimension to introduce to this topic so it doesn't become a "one-note narrative" — that is, minutes of people saying the exact same thing over and over in 10 different ways?
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