The Parallels: Podcasts & Product

You might be wondering what the relationship between these two pictures is or why these two pictures were put together in the first place is.

As I began my career in Product Management and “have also” officially launched my joint digital media venture with A-Game Media last January. Our initial type of content we launched was in podcast form before expanding into some written and audio content.

Throughout this journey, I have realized that there are quite a few parallels between Product Management and creating a Podcast.

#1. They both require determining the appropriate “Market Fit.”

A product or a podcast starts “off” with an idea or concept that an individual may have to solve a pain-point or add additional value to the end-user or listener. In other words, there needs to be external validation to determine if there’s a sizable market of possible users or listeners. From Industry analyst reports to researching social media trends, it is imperative to understand externally what possible audience/customer demand exists.

For A-Game in particular, we identified that our fit in the podcast landscape was for folks in the millennial age group with similar interests in Sports/Business/Tech.

The network that Ahira and I have developed thus far is primarily composed of folks we have met through school/work who were similar ages to us.

Reflecting on our first year, our immediate network was the primary beta/early adopters of our content due to the relationships developed over the years.

Our intention in the first year was to determine if we would be able to get traction based on the topics we talked about.

This is similar to the beta release of a product, with the intention of identifying if it makes sense to continue developing/improving the product based on user/market feedback.

#2. Constant Iterations/ Improvement

“Once a product or podcast is out, while it may be available for consumption for the public, it is just simply the tip of the iceberg for what needs to be done.”

The only guarantee is that there is something that can always be improved as we do not live in a perfect world.

There are also constant trade-offs that need to be made to meet deadlines and goals.

These trade-offs can vary from a nice to have feature to meet a product release deadline or cutting down a couple of interview questions from a podcast to stay within the allotted time frame.

We were very hesitant to drop our first episode until we did because we were scared that it wasn’t “perfect” or that the “sound quality” wasn’t good enough along with various other minor details.

However, we knew that we needed to start with our MVP so we took the leap of faith and launched on January 1st, 2020.

Once we launched our first episode and built initial momentum, we were able to get feedback on our content based on what we put out.

Without launching, we would have never been able to learn about what types of content attract more listeners and more about our target market.

In addition to the feedback, there’s the constant pursuit of solidifying/shaping the brand & what it stands for.

#3. Vision & Intention

Both a product and a podcast ultimately need to have a short term & long term vision for what’s next.

It is a balance of anticipating what customers want and adapting to the environment and the market needs.

Every company has a clear vision/direction for what they stand for and in some capacity, each product is aligned with it.

Here at our A-Game, our mission is to capture authentic stories that represent the Universal Language of Excellence.

With each piece of content, we put out, it’s an absolute necessity that our mission is captured in some capacity.

Each decision needs to be intentional with the desired outcome in mind.

#4. Collaboration

To release a product or a podcast, you need to work with various stakeholders or even wear multiple hats to bring it all together.

Whether its team members in Marketing, Editing, Engineering, Sales, or Strategy, everyone has to play their part to be successful.

A critical part of working together with various teams is being able to align multiple people to a common goal/vision by conveying the message that is appealing to all parties involved.

Without this, it will be extremely difficult to accomplish things in a timely manner.

In Conclusion, while it may not seem like it on the surface there are a couple of parallels between running a podcast and product management.

From determining a target market, constant iterations, having a vision, and ultimately working through collaboration that apply to both crafts.

For me being able to do both has shown me the similarities while also improving my skills on both sides to become the best I can be.

These are just some of my thoughts, and it would be great to hear what others have to say as well!