E17: The Democratization of Audio | Michael Mignano, Lightspeed

Today’s episode is with Michael Mignano, co-founder of the podcasting platform Anchor, and venture capitalist at Lightspeed. Riverside.fm is a presenting sponsor of Media Empires. Go to https://creators.riverside.fm/MediaEmpires and use code MEDIAEMPIRES for 20% off individual plans. Media Empires is part of the Turpentine podcast network. To learn more: www.turpentine.co In this episode, Michael and Erik discuss the demand, personalization, analytics, and whitespace for audio content. This is the Season 1 finale for Media Empires. Stay tuned for Season 2 and check out Turpentine’s other shows, like Moment of Zen, Upstream, Turpentine VC, Econ 102, and more. - SPONSOR: Head to Beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for growth, to power your own. Connect with premium brands, scale your audience, and deliver a beautiful UX that stands out in an inbox.  🐝to https://Beehiiv.com and use code "EMPIRES" for 20% off your first three months. - We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com. -- LINKS: Lightspeed: https://www.lightspeedhq.com/ -- RECOMMENDED PODCASTS: Moment of Zen: https://link.chtbl.com/moz Upstream: https://link.chtbl.com/Upstream Turpentine VC: https://link.chtbl.com/TurpentineVC Econ 102: https://link.chtbl.com/Econ102 — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Episode Preview (02:58) Democratizing audio (06:24) Anchor’s success point (11:49) Don’t just distribute, define (16:04) The demand for audio content (20:45) Analytic limitations (28:30) Personalization (31:30) Creator funding models (37:18) All roads lead to TikTok (39:27) A.I. working for the consumer? (44:16) Making NPCs (45:16) What media businesses need to do (47:18) Mid-sized social networks (50:56) New social network for only audio? — X / Twitter: Jason: @Mignano Erik's Twitter: @eriktorenberg Media Empires: @mediaempirespod Turpentine @turpentinemedia