The vision for The Podcast Network

As I've been running around over the last couple of weeks, I've had plenty of people asking me what we're trying to do with TPN. As I've explained the vision, a few have suggested I blog it for clarity and transparency. So.. here goes. This is a little scary. Although I'm the first to wax loquacious about transparency, it's pretty challenging to explain your business vision to an invisible worldwide audience. What if we fail? What if we are ridiculed? What if we're naive in our aspirations? What if others, with more experience and access to resources, swipe our vision and compete against us?

So anyway... as I said, here goes.

By the end of 2005, our goal is to have 100 shows in TPN, with an average global audience of 100,000 listeners. We are going to spend the next 12 months building a slate of great shows and making it easy as possible for people to produce, distribute and listen to great podcasts.

How will Mick and I be spending our time? We're going to need to raise some capital along the way, so we're currently writing an Investor Memorandum with the help of our third partner who has a background in raising capital and floating companies. We'll have to sign deals with media buyers and I'll probably move to NYC to build the advertising sales team. I see an opportunity for us to negotiate distribution deals with vendors of mobile devices who are looking for great content to stuff them with. Are you a telco who is selling mobile phones and wants to provide a content deal to your customers? Don't like paying $0.99 for an RIAA tune? Great. Come talk to us. We'll practically give away our content. We will even cut you in on the ad revenue. We're going to have to build or buy a front-end podcast client. We're going to write some back-end software to help us stick ads into our shows. There's a lot to do.

Want to help us? Want to host a show? Write some software? Want to help with post-production? Sell ads? Invest? If you want to help us change the world and make history by being part of the first podcasting media empire, drop me a line.

Most people spend their lives filling in time. What are they going to write on your tombstone? I'd rather try to do something worthwhile and have people accuse me of being naïve or foolish than just sit on the sidelines and dream of what could be. I'd rather go broke trying to do something important than be a cubicle drone for fear of failure. Fuck that.

McCabe and I were talking the other day about how this feels like '95 all over again. It's the beginning of a new age.

Analysts predict there will be about 50 million mp3 players out there by the end of 2005. Someone has to fill them up with content besides music. Why shouldn't it be you? Come join us while we make the world a smarter place.

Comments

[Jonathan Wrigley]

w000! We will follow you Comrade Cam to your glorious future! All salute his podcasting vision!

Seriously, sounds brilliant. If you need an Apple geek, you know where to find me (in both the net and irl senses :)

[Alan Singer]

Count me IN!! Somewhere somehow - not quite sure yet but something will un-fold - you have the combination of a crystal clear and compelling vision and an unstoppable and burning desire - the two essential ingredients (and the only two) that you will need to turn your vision into reality...Well done Cam (and Mick)- makes Biz Talk look a little boring... PS Talking about the mundane and boring... how do you get the ads to come out on your web page (I have already subscribed to Adsense - just can't see how to get them onto the page using typepad...

[Mum]

Watch the language!

[Ewan]

Yep, been fun watching you thrash it out behind the scense. Now let's get motooring and sort out the kids inheretance I'm going to spend.

[James Tauber]

That's awesome Cam! I wish you the very best with this and hope that at some point I can get involved somehow.

[Mike Seyfang]

Go guys go!
How transparent do you want to be?
- I have some great show ideas and at least 2 CIO's tentatively 'yes' for your CIOshow.

Do you want to have the conversation(s) on a blog somewhere, e/mail, phone or maybe even on the pod??

Think about it and let me know.
Mike Seyfang

[Jason]

Wow... that's a really interesting model. ;-)

Good luck with it... however, my advice is don't raise capital. You don't need money to do the business you're pitching and you'll waste a year trying to find funding, close it, etc.

In that amount of time you'll have 100 podcasts.

also, the advertisers are not going to be here for another 18-36 months in any major way... so, don't overspend... blogs are a 3-5 year project, podcasts are a 5-10 year window.

[Mick Stanic]

5-10 years??? ummm...yeah...right....it took ages for blogs to hit mainstream...it will take podcasts a fraction of that time...its a whole different media model...we may be a bit early, but not by much.. :)

[Molly]

Mick, I think us that are Techies and in the eye of the storm are blinded to what the general public are doing! I think 3-5 years is a more realistic expectations unless the "main stream media" get on board and bring people to the medium (I think this has happen a little with RSS Feeds).

Best of luck.
Molly

[Mick Stanic]

Appreciate your point Molly, but the concept of "niche audio" is a lot easier for the average person (non-geek) to understand in this age of Tivo, PVR's and Media Centers then the concept of blogs was 3-5 years ago.

We need to stop thinking about portable music devices as the only means for people accessing this type of content. What about cell phones, what about in-car audio (and i'm not talking aout an iPod with an FM transmitter), what about the hundreds of millions of desktop and laptop PC's, what about the Home Entertainment devices (TIVO, PVR's, Media Centers)???

Everyone is talking about the "millions" of portable music devices out in the wild (hi Cam)...what about the massive spread of other devices that have the ability to pull down RSS with "media enclosures" whose numbers make portable music devices look like a joke??? Just have a look how long it has taken "traditional media" like the BBC and other "multi-national media giants" to understand the podcasting idea compared to how long it took them to understand blogs???

Looking past everyones current posturing, this business is going to explode sooner than later (2-3 years not 5-10)...we know that (otherwise we wouldn't be doing this) and Jason knows this as well ;)

[Mick Stanic]

oh yeah...that was my little rant for the week...i really need to get out more :)

[Cameron]

"massive spread", Mick? Care to inform us with real numbers? How many non-portable, RSS-enclosure supported technologies are actually in the marketplace worldwide today? And how do they compare to the 50 million portable devices?

[Nicole Simon]

You mean the 50 million without 'built in' or easy installable software, not attached via high speed internet at low cost?

[Phillip Malone]

Mick, forget the whole device thing (I personally don't have a media device (although if anyone out there wants to send me one, don't hesitate (hey, the guy on the Gadget show tried why can't I!))). What I ma saying is at the moment its the geeks entertaining the other geeks (with some others in there). Yes it will expand, but slowly and I think (and this might be a market for you guys) for it really to move main stream is the tradition media markets to get on to and perhaps the Radio stations doing might be the start of the acceleration.

Just my 2 cents.
Molly
PS. Check out my PS in the Gadget show first show comment. I put a show idea for you guys.

[Cameron]

the iPod and its contemporaries seem pretty "built-in" to me Nic. I have it on good authority that most phones will be shipped with in-built mp3 players this year as well. And besides, stop fighting on Mick's side?? WHen did you start feeling sorry for him??