14: Episode 14- A class on Podcasting- Creation, distribution, consumption and monetization (feat. Rahul Nair)

In Conversation with Ashwin

On the show we discuss Rahul’s early childhood and his motivation behind starting Storiyoh. How he moved from being an employee in London’s financial district to a full-time entrepreneur. From the 15th minute on, we talk about podcasting- Rahul’s love for BBC world services and how it inspired him to start Storiyoh. We talk about the business model of podcasting by breaking it into 3 topics- distribution, consumption and monetization. We talk about the typical going rates of ads on podcasts, the disparities in listenership across different geographies. I was surprised to learn that China is the biggest podcasting market in the world with it generating revenues of 7B$ in 2016. Chinese who have a reputation for being frugal are more than willing to pay for good content. We discuss advantages of free v/s paid content and how podcasters shouldn’t shy away from pricing their episodes. We talk podcasting for the mass v/s niche. We discuss the ad model versus paid model and pros and cons of each of these. We answer the question – Is good content good enough for a podcast’s success? Rahul compares podcasting and its marketing to a book/movie launch and draws relevant parallels. Finally, we get Rahul’s 2 cents on being a perpetual learner and doing deep work. With that, I leave you to listen to my wide ranging conversation with Rahul Nair, founder and CEO of Storiyoh. Please enjoy.
Show notes-
Storiyoh- https://www.storiyoh.com/
You can reach Rahul on-
Email- [e-mail]
Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100021699556849
About Rahul-
Rahul has over 13 years of experience across domains including financial services, entrepreneurship, consulting, and has experience working in the education sector in India. He started his career as a private-client and institutional stockbroker in London, selling IPOs to London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM), subsequently co-founding a business in the niche real-estate asset class of student and staff housing. He then founded and managed his own coffee retail and hospitality business for two years before advancing his professional experience with EY, Dubai and Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Dubai in accounting and IPO advisory services respectively, working across sectors including healthcare, hospitality, real-estate, construction and trading.
Rahul did his schooling in Mumbai, Shanghai, Coimbatore and Dubai before moving to the University of Liverpool from where he graduated with a BA (Hons) in Economics and International Development. He also holds an MSc in Organisational Behaviour from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). During his stockbroking days, he was an Associate of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments (CISI), and, most recently, was also an education sector chair at the Learning Innovations Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.