[jstandard]

I appreciate what Tim has done and continues to accomplish to raise the profile and acceptance of startups as a viable career choice in Japan.

I've first-hand experience with the many challenges of startups in Japan. Finding talent who understand how startups are different. Convincing larger partners you're not simply another "supplier" they can grind margin out of. Explaining to potential investors the tradeoffs of quality, speed, and confirming product fit.

Educational platforms like what Tim has built through podcasting are needed to help close these gaps.

Thanks to Tim for the insightful post on "how the sausage was made" and looking forward to seeing good things coming out of Tepco's innovation platform.

[timoth3y]

Wow. Thank you for that. I love putting the podcast together, and I enjoy it more now that I've taken the show non-commercial.

I like to think I'm having an impact on the ecosystem here, and as I mentioned in the article, four Japanese startup founders have told me that listening to the guests on Disrupting Japan is a big part of what gave them the courage to start their own companies. I kind of teared up when they told me that. I'm not sure exactly why.

These open, personal episodes are emotionally draining to publish. I'm a nervous wreck right up until the moment they go live. The feedback is almost always wonderful, so I don't know why it's still so hard to share, but it is.

I guess I'm fine with that.

Maybe part of connecting is just accepting that we are all kind of basket cases on the inside. And that's perfectly OK.

[jfengel]

Indeed, thank you very much. I listen to a lot of podcasts while commuting and exercising, and I'd wondered about how the business end worked. I receive an extraordinary amount of great content for nothing more than the price of ads (which I skip a lot of; sorry but it's true).

I have gone out of my way to purchase products that advertise on podcasts: I'm typing this as I eat a lunch flavored with hot sauce from FuegoBox.

I don't know how well most podcasters do from that. You had a wonderfully lucrative target audience; most of what I listen to has a larger market but with less money. I don't know how many Casper mattresses and MeUndies they can possibly buy. The impression I get from the IHeartRadio-branded ones hint that by the time the marketers and support get their cut, it's poverty-level wages.

Again, thanks for the look behind the scenes. That was incredibly informative and very well written.

[timoth3y]

I think the same basic strategy could work for any true niche podcast. But "niche" is different than "small."

Two guys talking about the NFL to 3,000 listeners would be very hard to monetize, but a sports podcast that focused on local HS sports teams, or one that talked about MLB from the LGBTQ perspective? Those would be pretty easy to monetize using the same basic strategy I used.

I think the biggest advantage I had was not my specific audience, but the decades I've spent selling new products and starting companies. Of course, that is also my audience, so I can't be completely sure.