Making Media

This week, we bring you two titans of the podcasting world, Tim Ferriss and our very own Colossus chairman, Patrick O’Shaughnessy. We’re biased, but I think these two are two of the best interviewers in the world, and they recorded this conversation on Invest Like the Best for the 10th anniversary of Tim’s podcast. Matt and I thought you, our precious Making Media audience, would enjoy it too, as Tim touches on so many themes that we speak with guests about on this show. Please enjoy this great conversation with Tim Ferriss and Patrick O'Shaughnessy. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes: (00:00:00) - Welcome to Invest Like the Best (on Making Media) (00:03:32) - The Evolution of Podcasting with Tim Ferriss (00:09:56) - Crafting Meaningful Conversations (00:13:26) - What Makes Tim Feel The Most Alive  (00:24:06) - Who Tim Considers To Be His Mentors (00:29:06) - The Ingredients Of A World Class Performance (00:31:06) - The Business Side of Podcasting (00:43:15) - Identifying Emerging Trends (00:50:12) - Lessons From Building a Small, Efficient Team (00:52:32) - The Power of Constraints in Personal and Professional Growth (00:53:10) - Innovating Against the Grain (Anti-Video Experiment) (00:54:54) - Navigating Fame, Money, and Power (01:02:00) - The Impact of Sharing Difficult Stories (01:06:18) - Meta-Learning: A Framework for Fast, Effective Learning (01:12:32) - Reflecting on a Decade of Podcasting & What’s In Store (01:24:41) - The Kindest Thing Anyone Has Ever Done For Tim Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is sports media veteran Mike Stricoff. Mike spent a decade producing live sports talk on national TV, first working at MLBN before moving to Fox Sports, where he helped launch Undisputed. Mike worked on that show alongside Skip Bayless, Shannon Sharpe, and others as the main line producer. In 2017, he left national TV for tech, going to work at Snap where he led their sports and gaming content. And, more recently, he has launched his own business working as an adviser to digital media companies and connecting investors & content producers. We tap into all his experience in a discussion around personality-driven media businesses and how that has evolved both at a national scale and for independent creators. Please enjoy our conversation with Mike Stricoff. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media (00:02:15) Behind the Scenes of The Launch of Undisputed (00:04:00) The Art of Personality-Driven Media (00:08:18) Catering to The Host Vs The Audience (00:13:38) Fostering Chemistry Between Co-Hosts  (00:17:51) Mike’s Experience Launching FS1 (00:21:48) Mike’s Transition to Snap & A New Frontier in Sports Content (00:31:05) The Pros and Cons of Algorithm-Driven Content (00:34:48) The Evolution of Content Creators From Traditional Media to YouTube Stars (00:39:06) Advice for Aspiring Content Creators (00:40:40) Bridging Creators with the Investment World (00:45:16) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Making Media. Our guest today is Emily Sundberg. Like many of our most creative guests, Emily has a wide-ranging background. For her day job, she writes her newsletter, Feed Me, which tracks valuable early trends in the consumer and brand space. If you want to know what's going to happen six months from now, read Emily's newsletter tomorrow.  She also writes for New York magazine and GQ, she's been featured in the New York Times, and she's published a documentary. We talk about how she's built up this incredibly valuable, long, diversified list of sources while not being a traditional journalist. And we hit on what's happening in culture and documentaries too. Please enjoy this conversation with Emily. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media (00:02:46) First Question - The Art of Trendspotting (00:08:57) The Evolution of Emily's Newsletter ‘Feed Me’ (00:14:00) Writing for A Magazine vs A Newsletter (00:17:19) The Art of Making Stories Stick (00:21:17) Understanding Her Audience (00:26:04) Daily Content Creation: Insights into the Writing Process (00:29:22) The Unique Voice of the Newsletter: Entertainment and Opinions (00:32:12) Diving Into Documentary Filmmaking (00:35:23) The Financial Realities and Creative Challenges of Documentary Making (00:38:27) Navigating the Documentary World and Future Projects (00:45:13) Diving Deep into Direct Investments and Business Models (00:45:55) The Solo Journey of Managing a Newsletter (00:56:31) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Jack Davenport. Jack is the Managing Director and Co-Founder of British-based Goalhanger Podcasts. Goalhanger is the largest independent podcast network in the U.K. and likely the world outside of the U.S. Its stable of shows do 30 million downloads a month. Goalhanger got its first big breakthrough with the excellent history podcast called “The Rest Is History,” and they've since grown into other verticals like politics, finance, football, and entertainment. It was great fun to talk all things podcasting with someone who's taking the medium by storm. Please enjoy this conversation with Jack Davenport.  For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media (00:02:06) First Question - The Evolution of GoalHanger and Its Podcasts (00:04:19) The Success of 'The Rest is History'  (00:07:36) The Transition from Video to Audio (00:10:18) Revenue Streams and Business Model (00:14:45) The Importance of Hosts and Talent in Podcasting (00:18:16) Marketing Strategies and Branding (00:22:54) Partnerships with Other Media Businesses (00:25:24) The Importance of Retaining Intellectual Property (00:27:11) The Power of Cross-Promotion and Audience Growth (00:32:01) The Impact of High-Volume Podcasting (00:34:19) The Future Vision for Goalhanger (00:36:29) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Peter Kafka. If you've listened to media podcasts, you've likely listened to Peter's Recode Media. It has been a fixture in the industry for years. Peter recently announced he's going back to Business Insider, which is notable because he was the first hire way back when it was known as Silicon Valley Insider in 2007.  Given Peter has seen a few cycles, we tried to key in on what is actually new versus what is cyclical. It was a treat to pepper him with questions on media. Please enjoy this conversation with Peter Kafka. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media  (00:02:24) First Question - Perspective on Media Companies Today (00:04:02) Challenges in Local News Business Models (00:07:05) The Impact of Netflix on the Media Industry (00:10:20) The Influence of YouTube on Media Consumption (00:14:11) The Shift in Media Business Models (00:17:56) The Success of The New York Times' Subscription Model (00:21:54) The Impact of AI and VR on Media (00:27:20) The Disconnect Between Media Perception and Reality (00:30:31) The Evolution of Podcasting and Its Impact on Media (00:35:03) Reflections on Interviewing Techniques and Challenges (00:39:55) The Future of Podcasting and Media Consumption (00:42:30) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Ben Springwater. Ben is the founder of Matter, a reading app that pulls everything you want to read into one place with curation, audio, and more. There are constant frustrations with how we get served media, as there's infinite content, and it's harder and harder to separate the good from the bad. Ben is working to solve that problem.  He shares what it's like to build a product like Matter and gives insight into how Matter’s team makes decisions around the technical and human challenges that come into play.  An avid reader and content consumer himself, we then asked Ben for some of his favorite recommendations, all linked below. Please enjoy this conversation with Ben Springwater. Ben’s Recommended Content:  The Road to Self-Renewal  Basic Income, Not Basic Jobs: Against Hijaking Utopia The Weirdly Enduring Appeal of Weird Al Yankovic For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00) Welcome to Making Media (01:36) The Challenges of Building a Product Like Matter (03:41) The Power of Curation in the Digital Age (08:03) The Future of Recommendation Systems (15:26) The Challenges of Building a User-Centric Product (22:14) The Intersection of Reading and Listening in the Digital Age (25:12) The Business Model of Matter (27:04) Ben’s Recommendation #1: The Road to Self-Renewal  (33:14) Ben’s Recommendation #2: Basic Income, Not Basic Jobs: Against Hijaking Utopia (42:38) Ben’s Recommendation #2: The Weirdly Enduring Appeal of Weird Al Yankovic (51:19) The Importance of Being An Enthusiast (52:06) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is the preeminent aviation journalist, Jon Ostrower. Jon is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Air Current, which he started in 2018. It's an independent subscription media business focused on the global aerospace and aviation industries. Jon started blogging about the airline industry as a 22-year-old while working in politics, but he quickly became consumed by his passion and went on to work for Flight Global, The Wall Street Journal, and CNN before striking off to build his own media business. Throughout this conversation, he thoughtfully outlines the key decisions he's made in building The Air Current into the success it is today. Please enjoy this episode of Making Media with Jon Ostrower. Listen to the Boeing Business Breakdown with Jon. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00) Welcome to Making Media (02:35) First Question - Jon's Journey into Aviation Journalism (03:44) The Miracle of Flight and the Aerospace Industry (05:12) Jon's Early Career and the Birth of His Blog (06:39) The Evolution of The Air Current (10:24) The Importance of Quality Content and Audience Engagement (16:05) The Challenges and Triumphs of Scaling a Media Business (23:00) The Role of Passion and Expertise in Media Success (29:25) The Importance of Owning Your Platform (33:47) The Future of The Air Current and Closing Thoughts (38:16) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you make a podcast or like sports, you will enjoy this episode. Spike Eskin runs all of the programming at New York's WFAN, the original and biggest sports talk radio station, and he's only the second person ever to have that job. Now you're probably thinking, doesn't everyone just listen to podcasts now? Well, the answer to that is no, but don't worry. He's also got a podcast, a big one, and his podcast, The Rights to Ricky Sanchez, is frequently ranked at the top basketball podcast charts. It's only focused on a single team, the 76ers, but it's been big enough to get a full chapter in a book, and several audience gatherings have been featured on Sports Center highlights. So he is the coach and he is the talent. During our conversation, we go through traits Spike looks for in audio hosts, the benefits and challenges of having practitioners like athletes sitting in the hosting chair, and differences in sponsorship dynamics between radio and podcasting frameworks for good content. Please enjoy this episode and conversation with Spike. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @JoinColossus  Show Notes [00:00:00] Welcome to Making Media [00:03:09] First question - Which traits he’d use to create the ideal audio host   [00:06:55] Comparing podcasts to local radio and separating them into three categories [00:08:43] Tricks to help hosts generate and create chemistry  [00:14:48] Something that new hosts and newcomers to audio in general struggle with [00:17:00] Effective ways to measure how the fans view your shows [00:20:52] Whether you should place any weight on your most engaged listeners [00:25:01] Differences in terms of a podcast covering a topic versus a local radio  [00:30:09] The models and structure of the powerhouse that is radio advertising   [00:33:39] Repeat advertising and his own sponsorship strategy  [00:39:19] How much practitioner value comes into play about your show topic  [00:44:37] The importance of non-consensus and controversial views  [00:49:57] Whether or not official statements being made via social media is a passing trend or only the beginning  [00:53:51] Coaching hosts when it comes to asking critical questions [00:55:51] Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Adam Hansmann, co-founder of The Athletic. The Athletic launched in 2016 when the idea of paying for content was still considered contrarian and newspapers & local coverage of sports was dwindling. Yet Adam and his co-founder built something that they wanted, solving a problem they experienced in their own lives and riding this massive market expansion. Adam shares a lot of the lessons that he took away from his experience building The Athletic and there is a lot to learn here. Please enjoy this conversation with Adam Hansman. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media (00:01:45) First question - The playbook for subscription based businesses (00:05:35) User-centric development, as opposed to advertiser-centric in media (00:07:32) Adam’s reflections on the state of media and business development (00:09:24) Managing feedback in the subscription model between readers and journalists (00:12:21) The level of transparency in company meetings and how positivity affects the team  (00:15:02) Adam’s strategy when exploring alternative channels beyond Twitter to reach a broader audience (00:17:16) Long-form journalism pieces and how it affected subscription performance (00:18:42) The importance of bundling in The Athletic’s business (00:22:09) Insights revealed when transitioning from local coverage to national content (00:23:17) Adam’s key factors for fostering long-term alignment with employees  (00:25:36) How funding constraints in the early days influenced the business operations (00:28:07) The implementation of The Athletic’s pricing model and the factors that have contributed to its consistency over time (00:30:37) Balancing the app and website as an all-in destination versus leveraging other platforms (00:32:43) Subsequent changes since being acquired by The Times (00:34:03) Add-on businesses like events and merchandise and their relevance to the overall business strategy (00:35:21) The integration of multimedia components such as podcasts and videos (00:37:15) Navigating the transition into The Times, ensuring the preservation of existing culture and fostering alignment for the next phase (00:39:51) Potential opportunities and initiatives that Adam is excited about (00:42:59) Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest this week is CBS Sports Writer Kyle Porter. Kyle writes and podcasts about golf for CBS, and he has done so since 2012. In 2021, Kyle wrote his first book, "Normal Sport," which was born out of a running joke with his audience about the absurdities of golf. He has now written and self-published three books and writes a newsletter under the same branding. Even if you’re not a golf fan, there are so many interesting areas to explore about media with Kyle – from the rise of independent publishers like our friends at No Laying Up, working within a big media business, covering live sports, and the process of creating content independently. He can talk about the full spectrum. I hope you enjoy this discussion with the great Kyle Porter. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes  (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media (00:01:36) First question - Exploring common misconceptions in sports journalism (00:06:36) Contrasting experiences in large corporations and smaller media outlets (00:11:03) The highs and lows of golf storytelling (00:14:23) Embracing the role of a golf ambassador (00:19:11) Examining how monetization influences content creation (00:26:56) The journey of writing a new book (00:30:34) The process of generating original ideas (00:32:33) Comparing live and recorded sports coverage (00:37:47) Cultivating a unique voice in journalism (00:39:59) Unveiling the distinct aspects of golf journalism (00:41:23) Chronicling stories about Tiger Woods Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We reflect on Making Media's inaugural year and 2023 as a whole for the podcasting world. From shifts in the macro podcast environment to our most memorable recordings, we round up our first year and look to the next. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page HERE. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.c om/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes (00:00:00) Welcome to Making Media (00:00:48) First Question - Examining shifts in the podcast industry in 2023 (00:05:54- Evaluating Making Media's inaugural year (00:08:44) The top 3 most popular Making Media episodes in 2023 (00:09:52) Highlighting Making Media’s most underrated episode (00:14:00) Recalling the most unforgettable recording session (00:16:14) Matt and Dom’s dream guest for 2024 (00:18:24) Discussing the most challenging conversation preparation (00:22:32) Reflecting on the best Colossus moments in 2023 (00:25:52) Different ways to format episodes, successful episodes in 2023 and potential new formats in 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is Craig Fuller, Founder and CEO of FreightWaves and CEO of FLYING Magazine. We get into some of the early observations that Craig had when he was building out FreightWaves, which is a software data business with a media empire sitting around it. He shares the challenges associated with fundraising for a media business and why the market doesn't put a value on audiences. In the second half of our conversation we get into Craig's playbook for buying up niche magazines around things like private aviation and boating. He explains why it is so important to capture the full audience base and some of the fun projects that he has been tying in around those audiences. This is a wide ranging conversation with someone who has taken a very interesting approach coming in as a practitioner, once a pilot himself, and how he's taken some of those lessons and applied them into building businesses. Please enjoy this conversation with Craig Fuller.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page HERE ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  (00:02:38) - (First question) - Craig’s initial mindset when launching FreightWaves (00:05:37) - Craig’s observations about fundraising when shifting the business into a media business (00:13:08) - How he bridged the gap between his industry expertise and the media business' need for specialized knowledge (00:17:35) - How his media business was initially funded (00:20:46) - Disparity in market valuation with audiences undervalued and some SAS businesses overvalued (00:26:14) - The motivation in pursuing the purchase of Flying magazine (00:31:02) - Lessons learned from attaching real estate to audiences compared to finance or e-commerce (00:34:15) - The strategy behind acquiring numerous media outlets (00:37:54) - Economic principles for managing acquired magazines  (00:39:33) - The correlation between the aviation and freight industries (00:40:46) - The importance of having an interest in an industry before acquiring an existing audience (00:43:47) - The elements Craig tries to enhance when revamping older magazines (00:47:39) - Shifting advertiser mentality into niche marketing and its ultimate success (00:49:46) - The early challenges of switching to a specialized, niche audience (00:51:08) - Whether this model works for all magazine or if niche marketing is only successful with expensive product content like planes (00:54:58) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Jonathan Becker, Founder of Thrive Digital. Paid growth is a complex topic and it is something that we reference quite a bit on the show, but we've never really dug in. Jonathan and his team at Thrive have deployed over $3.5 billion in paid acquisition budgets on behalf of their client base. Naturally, that makes him an ideal guest to dig deeper. In the conversation, we draw on parallels to investing, how Jon and Thrive approach campaigns & what metrics they're looking at, what the rules of thumb really are, and Jonathan's general philosophy on marketing as a whole. Please enjoy our conversation with Jonathan Becker. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes: (00:01:50) - (First question) - Examining the link between advertising and investing (00:05:14) - Identifying underserved segments in the market (00:07:07) - Exploring unconventional routes to success (00:10:32) - Determining the effectiveness of marketing strategies (00:16:44) - Shifting strategies to business to business (B2B) marketing (00:21:23) - Tailoring advertising budgets for smaller businesses (00:22:46) - Evaluating the benefits of advertising on Spotify (00:27:02) - Demonstrating advertising metrics to clients (00:34:38) - Discussing the advantages of advertising in podcasts (00:40:39) - Analyzing the fundamentals of creating effective advertisements (00:43:26) - Investigating common failure points in marketing campaigns (00:48:25) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we’re joined by Kaki Orr, the Creative Director for Branded Content at The North Face. After a career as a professional skier where she was sponsored by The North Face, Kaki joined the company and has since led the charge to create mesmerizing films of their athletes skiing, climbing, and running across many of the world’s most remote and breath-taking mountains. We’ve talked a lot on this show about content to commerce but in many ways this conversation covers the reverse; commerce to content. We talk to Kaki about creating authenticity while achieving The North Face’s goals, how these epic films come together, and how she thinks about risk throughout the process. Please enjoy this conversation with Kaki Orr. Watch Kaki's work: The North Face Presents: Lhotse ft. Hilaree Nelson and Jim Morrison The North Face Presents: Earthside For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes: (00:01:50) - Kaki’s background before joining The North Face (00:05:52) - Overview of her role today  (00:10:17) - Defining success (00:11:45) - Which stories are picked  (00:14:15) - General project timelines  (00:16:03) - The logistics of their films  (00:18:24) - Budget allocation and coordination  (00:20:13) - Building teams around an athlete  (00:22:52) - Leaving room for the unexpected  (00:26:19) - Managing talent and project risk  (00:31:20) - Finding effective distribution channels  (00:36:38) - Other brands that inspire Kaki  (00:38:10) - Fundamentals of making a great documentary  (00:40:34) - What she’d like to achieve over the coming decade (00:42:40) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part of our mission with Making Media is to highlight great content across the internet. Today, we're sharing our favorite pieces of media from the past year and to help us sift through the deluge of content, we have a special returning guest - media aficionado Web Barr. Web is a multiple-time Webby Award and Communication Arts-winning producer at National Geographic magazine, he was Head of Content at Meet Cute, and is currently building something new in the media industry called Hi Barr. He is one of the best curators of content we know. We each select one book or article, one film or TV show, and one non-Colossus podcast. Please enjoy this yearly media roundup with Web Barr and make sure to check out his newsletter and new podcast. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes: (00:00:23) - First question (00:00:33) - Discussion on Hi Barr Weekly Letter Up to 11 (00:02:02) - Web's Favorite Article of the Year (00:03:53) - Discussion on the Art Market and Gagosian's Influence (00:05:39) - Reflections on the New Yorker's Journalism (00:09:31) - Dom's Book Pick of the Year (00:11:26) - Learning from the Restaurant Business (00:14:52) - The Wager: A Book Recommendation (00:18:56) - Favorite Movie of the Year: Oppenheimer (00:22:10) - TV Show Review: All the Light We Cannot See (00:26:44) - Movie Review: The Killer (00:30:13) - Favorite Comedy Movie Discussion (00:30:49) - Webb's Favorite Podcast: Rick Rubin's Tetragrammaton (00:33:05) - The Power of Rick Rubin's Podcast (00:39:39) - Dom's Favorite Podcast: Hodinkee's Talking Watches (00:41:06) - The Uniqueness of Hodinkee's Talking Watches (00:47:51) - The Challenge of Growing Podcasts (00:49:26) - Blank Check Podcast. Wrapping Up the Year's Recommendations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Tammy Winter, the Commissioning Editor of Stripe Press. As the name suggests, Stripe Press is a division within Stripe. Founded in 2010 by two Irish brothers, John and Patrick Collison, Stripe is a payment processing business with a mission to "increase the GDP of the internet". From the surface, there doesn’t seem to be great synergies or reasons why a payments business would incubate a publishing arm – particularly one that focuses on publishing or re-publishing physical books. But, as Tammy explains, there is a lot more than meets the eye. We recorded this conversation on Tuesday morning last week before the incredibly sad news that investing icon, Charlie Munger passed away. Stripe Press republished Poor Charlie’s Almanac earlier this week and we talk about that two-year project with Tammy in our discussion. Please enjoy this conversation with Tammy Winter. Listen to Invest Like the Best: A Conversation with Charlie Munger & John Collison Order your copy of Poor Charlie’s Almanack For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes: (01:59) - (First Question) - The origin story and purpose of Stripe Press (08:07) - Choosing between tactical guide-like books and inspirational open-ended books  (15:56) - Tammy's personal story and educational background (20:54) - Intersecting with prominent people using Twitter to advance professionally  (24:00) - How they measure success at Stripe Press (30:43) - Measuring success without numbers (35:00) - Why produce physical books (36:48) - Design conception and the process behind creating the books  (40:19) - Where books like Poor Charlie’s Almanack originally come from (45:17) - Tammy's reflections on the media industry and what she’s learned in her career  (51:24) - Debrief  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are talking Marvel. It's the cinematic universe that's made over $30 billion at the box office (and that's just the Hollywood piece). Our guest today is Joanna Robinson, Podcaster and Culture Critic for The Ringer. Joanna wrote "MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios," a revealing behind-the-scenes history of the cultural phenomenon. We cover the history of Marvel from the pre-Disney days through what led to the explosion of what happened over the past 15 years and what seems like a fall from grace in recent years. She has had so many conversations with insiders and we can't recommend the book highly enough. Please enjoy this conversation on Marvel with Joanna Robinson. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  (00:02:13) - (First question) - The evolution of Joanna's relationship with Marvel (00:05:22) - Ranking the importance to the success of The Marvel Cinematic Universe (00:07:00) - The importance of technology early on with the films (00:08:27) - How Marvel thinks about the distribution of its intellectual property (00:11:18) - The lessons from Marvel's strategy to focus movies on B their grade characters (00:14:26) - Joanna's opinion on whether the success of The Avengers also might have led to Marvel's downfall (00:17:41) - Whether MCU's success was an organic result of timing or if there's a replicable formula for success today (00:23:10) - How David Maisel pulled off the Merrill Lynch financing deal (00:27:06) - Kevin Feige's long-term plan and whether the interconnected universe was always a core idea (00:30:16) - The unique ownership situation of the Hulk between Marvel and Universal (00:34:16) - Marvel's retention of autonomy key to the Disney acquisition (00:37:52) - Post Avengers Endgame and possible reasons why MCU has struggled (00:41:12) - The effect Disney Plus has had on MCU (00:43:23) - The difficulties Marvel faces with creating TV content (00:47:17) - Moving forward and future potential with iconic properties like the X-Men and Fantastic Four (00:51:17) - Joanna's opinion on the statement that Marvel has ruined movies (00:55:29) - Debrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest today is Amy Astley, global editorial director and editor-in-chief of the Iconic Architectural Digest. It's rare to find a brand like AD that has a hundred-year-old history and effectively balances that rich heritage while still being the pulse of the market. Amy talks about the cultural currency that exists with the AD magazine and what that represents to the people featured inside. We also dive into how the business model has shifted since Amy stepped in, the idea of being multimedia, and what it means to expand internationally and into B2B markets. Please enjoy this conversation with Amy Astley of Architectural Digest. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  (00:03:01) - (First question) Managing a design brand like Architectural Digest (00:04:47) - The essence of timeless design (00:07:41) - Architectural Digest's engagement with emerging trends (00:09:39) - Balancing creativity with business demands (00:13:08) - Comparing magazine publishing to social media content (00:18:43) - Preserving brand identity across new media platforms (00:26:27) - Expanding into the business-to-business space (00:31:39) - Ensuring quality in global market ventures (00:35:46) - Insights gained from Anna Wintour's mentorship (00:39:15) - Key figures who have shaped her career trajectory (00:41:58) - Mastering the art of declining Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In early October, Matt put together seven insights that he's learned and implemented from this show. Today, it's Dom's turn to pull out his favorite lessons that guests have shared with us and how we've put them to use in our own business, Colossus. Enjoy seven more nuggets of media wisdom. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes  (00:02:37) - (First question) - How prioritizing listeners in podcasting benefits the business in unexpected ways (00:07:10) - The long game in media: Why slow growth equates to sustainable relationships (00:13:15) - How media growth and funding models are often misaligned with business sustainability (00:14:35) - Why starting simple in content creation is vital (00:20:02) - The underestimated power of newsletters in direct audience engagement (00:24:43) - Building a unique, value-added subscription service for super fans (00:28:07) - The crucial role of internal communication in a decentralized world (00:32:40) - How passion and dedication can turn unpaid podcasting into a thriving business Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are joined today by Bryan Curtis, Editor-at-Large at The Ringer. Bryan writes excellent columns on theringer.com and hosts The Press Box, which happens to be the show with our favorite podcast episode of this past year. We gushed with Bryan over that particular podcast episode with Wright Thompson and we also hit on a wide range of media topics: writing versus podcasting, streaming versus linear, and searching for those water cooler events. We had a ton of fun during this one - please enjoy our conversation with Bryan. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Making Media is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Making Media, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ReustleMatt | @domcooke | @MakingMediaPod | @JoinColossus  Show Notes (00:02:00) - Exploring the role of Editor-at-Large (00:03:15) - The factors influencing the prioritization of writing (00:06:50) - Building chemistry with co-hosts and guests (00:08:35) - Experiences working at ESPN (00:12:00) - Predicting the future of sports media (00:13:30) - The Ringer's independence within Spotify (00:16:00) - Risks associated with cable channels transitioning to streaming (00:18:15) - The essential attributes of a successful podcaster (00:20:00) - Comparing podcasting to radio (00:22:55) - The benefits of appointment-based viewing (00:23:45) - Incorporating video into podcasting (00:27:53) - The reception towards One Perfect Story (00:34:45) - Where long-form media will be in the future (00:36:45) - Internal focus versus metrics-driven approaches (00:40:00) - Balancing media consumption while also working in the media industry (00:41:30) - Lessons learned from working with Bill Simmons (00:44:15) - Characteristics of the perfect media content Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices