Metacast: Behind the scenes

In this holiday episode, we celebrate reaching over 300 paying subscribers and 1,500 monthly active users. We also discuss recent backend infrastructure optimizations, critical bug fixes, and future plans, including a new pro plan with expanded features like higher private podcast limits and custom audio uploads. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 00:47 - Business updates 04:55 - Recent projects: cost optimizations, bug fixes, CVEs 12:36 - Future plans 15:59 - Recommendations Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

New app features: listening history, continue listening, and transcript exports + navigating LLM-induced team drama. Chapters 00:00 - Welcome and business update 02:13 - Metacast v1.25 Overview 02:50 - New Feature: Listening History 08:08 - New Feature: Continue Listening 12:41 - New Feature: Exporting Transcripts 20:24 - Website outage 22:21 - The Pro Tier in v1.26 23:06 - Team conflict: LLM miscommunication 31:21 - LLM Etiquette in Teams 35:50 - Podcast & book recommendations 45:34 - P.S. We're YouTube stars (FWIW) Links Metacast v1.25 blog post Podcasts: Tech Brew Ride Home Oct 16 Scott & Mark: The AI productivity trap American Gods The Sandman Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We celebrate Metacast's one-year "survivalversary" with a special $10/year sale and share what we're working on. Chapters 00:28 - - State of the business 05:20 - - The Survaviversary 09:16 - - New creator transcript feature 16:04 - - Upcoming playlist and history features 21:25 - - Podcast recommendations Links Survaviversary blog post Creator transcripts blog post Tip Jar for supporters: Buy Me A Coffee Podcasts: The Panel Big Think Endless: A Sandman Podcast Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

What we've been up to in the second half of the summer + update on the just released Metacast v1.24. Chapters 00:00 - Summer hiatus and personal reflections 02:16 - User growth and trials 03:44 - Website traffic and SEO success 08:14 - Managing website costs and bots 12:38 - Metacast v1.24: New features 16:14 - Web app development & podcaster tools 22:50 - Data analytics and privacy 25:16 - Anniversary sale 27:44 - Upcoming app features and goals 31:50 - Recommendations: The Sandman 36:25 - Recommendations: The Birkin Bag Story Show notes Birkin: The Handbag That Costs More Than Your House on The Best Idea Yet The Sandman: Netflix, Comics, Audio Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We've GA-ed private podcasts! In this episode, we talk about the feature, the extra perks for Premium users and celebrate completion of the table stakes features. We end the episode with a banter about Claude Code and a few German phrases. Chapters 00:00 - Private Podcasts Are Now Live 02:03 - Explaining Private Podcast Limits 06:26 - Next Steps and Metacast's Vision 10:54 - Personal Recommendations and Banter Show notes Michelin Guide: The Tire Company That Accidentally Conquered Food on The Best Idea Yet Falling In Reverse - "Watch The World Burn" (live) Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We're on the finishing line to launch private podcasts in GA, but it takes a while because we've wasted a lot of time dealing with ops post-Google billing incident. Chapters 00:00 - Ops Challenges and Private Podcast Quotas 02:37 - Web App Enhancements and Scalability 04:49 - Growth Milestones and Upcoming Features Show notes Back To The Future... And Back - 40 Years of Marty, Doc, & Mayor Goldie Wilson on Talk Is Jericho Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Preparing to launch private podcasts, marketing projects, ops stuff, and a huge (with a capital "H") bill from Google Chapters 00:00 - Weekly-ish Update and Big Incident 00:50 - Addressing Major Google Cloud Bill 03:00 - App and Web Development Progress 05:11 - Marketing, Communication, and Roadmap 10:52 - Weekly Podcast Recommendations Show notes The Side Hustle King: “I’m making $8K/DAY from easy businesses” on My First Million The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance by Josh Waitzkin Flybot by Dennis E. Taylor Dennis E. Taylor, author of best-selling sci-fi series Bobiverse on Builders Gonna Build Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Every week, we meet for a standup. We summarize our progress in short weekly updates that we record right after our meetings. In this update, we discuss launching private feeds, the new podcast search feature on the web app, and making money. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction and Funding Metacast 03:31 - Launching Private Feeds Beta 06:19 - Web App Search and Website Updates 08:13 - Upcoming Work and Recommendations Show notes Bobbi Althof's The Really Good Podcast Andre Agassi on Served News in Slow Spanish The Game with Alex Hormozi Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Every week, we meet for a standup. We summarize our progress in short weekly updates that we record right after our meetings. In this update, we discuss episode summaries, chapters, and performance improvements. We also cover ongoing backend work, in-person meeting experience (!), planning for upcoming features like private feeds, and share podcast recommendations. Chapters 00:00 - Welcome and In-Person Update 00:28 - App Feature Releases and Updates 03:25 - Travel, Planning, and Backend Work 06:21 - Upcoming Releases and Recommendations Show notes Asterix and Obelix on Netflix Everything Everywhere Daily Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

In this episode we discuss why and how we built the new sharing experience (see blog post for v1.19). Chapters 00:20 - Opening 00:57 - New weekly update episodes 05:22 - New podcast sharing experience in Metacast 06:52 - Why we are working on sharing? 09:32 - The new sharing experience 14:35 - QR codes 16:51 - Optimized image loading 17:53 - Problems with the old URL sharing 23:04 - The technical solution for consistently working app links 24:43 - The complexity of the change 28:45 - Preview of the next episode about rebranding 33:26 - Recommendations Show notes New sharing experience announcement blog Latest weekly update episode: Weekly Update (May 6, 2025): New sharing experience, new logo & branding 67. Attack of LLM bots (podcast) + blog Episode with Jennie: 42. Equity compensation at a pre-revenue bootstrapped startup with Jennie Buechner Voices in my head by Falling in Reverse Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Every Tuesday, we meet for a weekly standup. We summarize our progress in short weekly updates that we record right after our meetings. Chapters 00:30 - Mobile App Update and New URLs 02:26 - Logo Update and Rebranding Details 06:39 - Mobile App Future Development Plans 09:41 - Podcast Recommendations and Show Conclusion Show notes 311: The Long Term on Under the Radar When Exactly Did the Roman Empire Fall? on Everything Everywhere Daily Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Every Tuesday, we meet for a weekly standup. We summarize our progress in short weekly updates that we record right after our meetings. Chapters 00:48 - App Upgrade Issues and Fixes 03:15 - Upcoming App Release and Features 06:14 - Podcast Recommendations and Timer Challenge Show notes Calendar Reform on Everything Everywhere Daily 10 growth tactics that never work | Elena Verna on Lenny's Podcast 317: Optimizing for Battery Life on Under the Radar Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Every Tuesday, we meet for a weekly standup. We'll summarize our progress in short weekly updates that we record right after our meetings. Chapters 01:15 - Public Roadmap and User Feedback 02:06 - Mobile App Updates and Challenges 04:21 - Web App Bot Invasion and Solutions 07:40 - Next Week's Focus and Recommendations Show notes Attack of the LLM bots (blog post) Big Takeaways From Podcast Movement Evolutions 2025 on Buzzcast Episode 2 - “Through the Valley” on HBO's The Last of Us Podcast Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

In this episode we recap our Q1: what we shipped, distribution challenges, siloing engineering workstreams + a bunch of tangential topics. Chapters 00:00 - Opening 02:09 - New feature: Chapters 05:27 - New feature: Following a.k.a. Podcast Inbox 06:17 - Feedback from Grumpy Old Geeks 08:10 - Ilya turning into full-time engineer 12:02 - We don't vibe code! 14:49 - AI summaries in the web app 16:52 - Full transcripts in the web app 18:39 - Web is the innovation platform 19:45 - Better sharing images 21:01 - New blogging framework 24:08 - Restarting marketing 26:05 - The distribution challenge 27:13 - Discoverability on App Store 28:34 - The cold start problem 30:04 - 1000 fans 30:56 - Distractions in Q1 31:15 - Spiking GCP costs 33:52 - LLM bots update 34:28 - Taxes 37:55 - Siloing 39:20 - Working in person again! 40:11 - What we're listening to 48:20 - Where people can find us **Show notes** Blog posts Metacast: Q1 2025 Retrospective Our biggest struggle — distribution Episode chapters now available in Metacast podcast app Podcast Inbox now available in Metacast podcast app LLM bots + Next.js image optimization = recipe for bankruptcy (post-mortem) DIY Delaware C-Corp taxes for a new startup with no funding, no payroll and no assets Podcasts 661: The Nightmare Before Overcast on Grumpy Old Geeks Everything Everywhere Daily Do trade deficits matter? on Planet Money Josh Waitzkin on The Joe Rogan Experience #792: Seth Godin on Playing the Right Game and Strategy as a Superpower Books The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Our website got slammed by LLM bots from Amazon and Anthropic, which could've cost us $7k in Vercel image optimization costs! Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Chapters 00:20 - Introduction and episode overview 01:31 - New features and updates 03:02 - Why do we keep applying to YC? 08:53 - The LLM bot invasion incident 21:26 - We re-allowed LLM bots to crawl the site 28:22 - Book & podcast recommendations **Show notes** Posts LLM bots + Next.js image optimization = recipe for bankruptcy (post-mortem) Books Red Rising by Pierce Brown Little Golden America by Ilya Ilf and Eugene Petrov Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

In the first episode of 2025, we discuss the lowlights of last year and sharing our high-level plans for 2025. Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Chapters 02:23 - User feedback 06:48 - Fixing the leaky bucket of the intro screen 11:00 - New feature: Episode inbox 15:11 - Investing in the web app 18:24 - The hard parts of 2024 23:25 - We have to make it work, or else... 30:38 - Why we're putting energy in SEO 33:28 - Becoming more pragmatic 35:57 - Podcast & book recommendations Show notes Podcasts Bootstrapped Web The Panel Posts What's happening with founders over 40 by Justin Jackson Books Red Rising by Pierce Brown The Pragmatic Programmer by Dave Thomas & Andrew Hunt Little Golden America by Ilya Ilf and Eugene Petrov Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

In this holiday edition episode, we discuss the past year's highlights, a recent outage, and the rapid emergence of Bluesky as a social media platform. Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Chapters 00:20 - Welcome to the holiday edition 01:24 - Year in review: launches and growth 04:06 - Challenges and user feedback 07:12 - The big outage and serendipitous solution 10:16 - Switching to a new transcription service 18:39 - App updates 21:37 - The journey of implementing timestamps 24:58 - The rise of Bluesky 37:55 - Podcast recommendations Show notes Podcasts The Joe Rogan Experience Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We've chatted with a VC-backed founder who is on the brink of closing shop. Listen to our reflections on this. Plus, a breakdown of latest Metacast features! Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Chapters 01:26 - New features in Metacast 01:42 - Sleep timer 06:21 - Speed control 12:32 - Grid view in playlists 15:37 - Goals for the next month 17:07 - Our chat with a VC-backed startup founder 28:56 - Podcast and books recommendations Show notes Podcasts Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond 7. Jason Fried on building products, calm companies and the Jeff Bezos investment - Builders Gonna Build My Dad Wrote A Porno The Big Porn Debate (3 Experts Debate): The Unseen Dangers Of Nofap, The Adult Industry Is Exploiting Our Brains, How Porn Will Change Your Brain! - The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett Books Obviously Awesome by April Dunford Other LinkedIn post about speed control in audio by Ilya Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We've launched with a price of $49.99/year, but we realized it's too high. We're lowering it to $19.99/year or $1.99/month. Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Chapters 01:14 - How we decided to lower the price for Metacast 03:03 - Initially we had three plans 04:48 - Pulling the andon cord 06:40 - One password app's reference point 08:21 - Why we're not adding ads 11:35 - Enshittification of consumer apps 14:21 - Our costs for running the app 17:52 - Rolling out the pricing change 20:05 - Podcast and book recommendations Show notes Podcasts Previous episodes with Jennie: 42. Equity compensation at a pre-revenue bootstrapped startup, 17. From Teacher to Software Engineer at Amazon Handsome The Mark Zuckerberg Interview - Acquired Meta’s Race for Your Face + Google’s Hit A.I. Notebook + HatGPT - Hard Fork #446 – Ed Barnhart: Maya, Aztec, Inca, and Lost Civilizations of South America - Lex Fridman Podcast #369 – Paul Rosolie: Amazon Jungle, Uncontacted Tribes, Anacondas, and Ayahuasca - Lex Fridman Podcast #429 – Paul Rosolie: Jungle, Apex Predators, Aliens, Uncontacted Tribes, and God - Lex Fridman Podcast Books Fast Second: How Smart Companies Bypass Radical Innovation to Enter and Dominate New Markets by Constantinos C. Markides, Paul A. Geroski Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We've launched Metacast in Apple App Store. In this episode, we talk about the process and Apple's feedback. Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Chapters 00:51 - Big milestone! 02:38 - Apple requires screenshots for older phones 05:23 - iPad screenshots 07:17 - Apple's responses 12:11 - The rejection we couldn't figure out 16:14 - Apple vs. Google review feedback 20:26 - Marketing the app 25:13 - Podcast and book recommendations Show notes Podcasts #2190 - Peter Thiel - The Joe Rogan Experience #442 – Donald Trump Interview - Lex Fridman Podcast Books Not Till We Are Lost: Bobiverse, Book 5 by Dennis E. Taylor Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

In this episode we discuss a couple of weeks when our Slack went silent, a slow grind to launch on iOS, and talk about the word we want Metacast to be known for. Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Chapters 02:12 - Confessions of a lonely founder 07:12 - iOS and Flutter woes 18:33 - The Wizard of Oz feature for OPML import 23:30 - What is the word you want to be known for? 29:38 - Podcast and book recommendations Show notes Podcasts 596: A New Foundation for Progress - Accidental Tech Podcast 300: The Aftermath - Under the Radar I like to Read My Podcasts - Comfort Zone Books The Storyteller by Dave Grohl The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al Ries & Laura Ries Night Watch: Book One by Sergei Lukyanenko Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We've launched Metacast on Android. In this episode, we talk about the feedback we received, first haters, Google Play store violations, and our launch process. We cover topics of feature toggling, version Get Metacast podcast app for Android and iOS at https://⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠.Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Chapters 02:16 - Quick update on Android launch 07:57 - Marketing and retention 11:17 - Our first one-star review on Play Store 15:39 - Feedback from the Overcast subreddit 19:37 - Our launch process 23:15 - Our first violation in the Play Store 25:13 - Feature toggling 27:48 - Versionarte 29:05 - Transitioning of existing users 32:20 - What we're listening to and reading Show notes Podcasts Networks & Audiences on Bootstrapped Web #1881 - Rick Rubin on The Joe Rogan Experience Books The Storyteller by Dave Grohl David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell Games Need For Speed: No Limits Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Big announcement - we've launched Metacast on Android in Google Play Store! In this episode, we talk about deciding the scope for v1, punting on features, and pricing. Get Metacast at ⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠. New users get 51% off Metacast Premium until end of August 2024. Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Chapters 00:22 - We've launched in Google Play Store! 02:58 - Preparation for launch 04:01 - What makes Metacast app different from other podcast apps? 13:49 - Features we punted at launch 20:45 - Pricing Metacast Premium 27:48 - Podcast and book recommendations **Show notes** Podcasts Подкасты Михаила Гребенюка Things You Thought You Knew – Planet X on the StarTalk Radio podcast Books Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

It’s been a year since we started working on Metacast. In this episode Arnab and Ilya reflect on the journey and compare working on a startup with the old corporate days. Get Metacast at ⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠. Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Chapters 05:35 - No going back to corporate 06:21 - Annual reviews 13:43 - Best year of Ilya's career 15:49 - Frustrations with corporate 20:32 - Anxiety and collaboration 26:41 - Playing a long game 27:33 - Letting go of old habits 34:13 - Getting back into coding 37:22 - What's new in the app 40:55 - Book & podcast recommendations **Show notes** Links Ilya’s LinkedIn post with reflections Podcasts Metacast Ep. 24, part 1: Leaving jobs at Google and Amazon to start a podcast tech company Metacast Ep. 24, part 2: Non-linear career paths, culture at Google vs. Amazon What Are Sperm Whales Saying? Researchers Find A Complex 'Alphabet' on the Short Wave podcast Was the 401(k) a Mistake? on The Daily podcast Google Eats Rocks + A Win for A.I. Interpretability + Safety Vibe Check on the Hard Fork podcast Adam Mosseri on the Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin podcast Books The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield Burn Book: A Tech Love Story by Kara Swisher Movies & TV Shogun TV series Revolutionary Road Ford v Ferrari Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We're discussing the dilemma of positioning Metacast as both powerful and simple, break down the recent power struggle about 5% transparency of a UI element, and share our experience with the DUNS number that developers have to get to be in Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Get Metacast at ⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠. Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Chapters 02:00 - The positioning dilemma 10:15 - Remaining features to launch the app and recent updates 13:30 - Power struggle between Arnab and Ilya 17:40 - DUNS (doh...) 23:08 - Book and podcast recommendations **Show notes** Links D-U-N-S Number Podcasts Microsoft episode on Acquired The Point of Convergence The Emerald: For the Intuitives Books Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We're back and this is a massive update on what we've been up to since our last episode! Get Metacast at ⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠. Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Chapters 00:24 - We're back 03:23 - Tangent about our names 05:00 - First full-team offsite in Florida 08:27 - We made Android cool again! 12:44 - Paid app subscriptions with RevenueCat 16:04 - Reflection on working in person vs. WFH 21:01 - Seeing alligators in the Everglades 24:08 - How we got an intern/contractor to build a website 27:33 - We've applied to YC for the third time 28:13 - Filing corporate taxes for 2023 31:41 - What we're listening, reading and watching Show notes Software Next.js Vercel Outstatic Fondo Gusto Podcasts Microsoft episode on Acquired Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin: Edward Norton, Jon Kabat-Zinn Books Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu Dune by Frank Herbert Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn Movies Three-Body Problem series on Netflix Dune, Dune 2 Star Wars Revolutionary Road Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We took a leap of faith and left our jobs at Google and Amazon to jump into the unknown. It wasn't easy and required quite a bit of planning. This is a rerun of June 2023 episode where we talk about how we did it. Get Metacast at ⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠. Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Links Show notes for part 1 and part 2 can be found on our website. Chapters 00:00 - Cold open 00:21 - Rerun intro and Metacast promo 02:11 - The original episode begins 03:07 - Ilya's last day at Google 08:34 - Career recap: Amazon, Google, and beyond 09:37 - Why leave a cushy big tech job 16:02 - The wantrepreneur dilemma 22:05 - Fear of leaving and overcoming it 22:33 - Financial preparation and runway planning 30:29 - When the stars aligned 33:42 - Bootstrapping vs. venture funding 37:00 - Preparing the family 39:05 - Spiritual retreats and clarity 47:00 - Leaving nicely and not burning bridges 52:25 - Peter's Principle and outgrowing your role 57:42 - Amazon's writing culture vs. Google 1:09:18 - Best of both worlds for a startup 1:16:05 - Biggest risk you've ever taken 1:21:34 - Goals for the first year 1:23:00 - Career as a pathless path 1:28:13 - Golden handcuffs and ego 1:31:16 - Closing thoughts Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We got asked how we were thinking about product-market-fit, potential revenue, and entering a market that already has strong players. We’re giving a full breakdown of our thought process. Get Metacast at ⁠⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠⁠. Join the ⁠⁠r/metacastapp⁠⁠ subreddit. Chapters 01:35 - Ilya's “fun” interview with Google (tangent) 05:52 - How we chose the market to go after 21:42 - Our financial model approach 27:06 - Thinking about the company size early on 31:09 - How much money do we personally want to make 35:33 - Non-financial motivation 38:51 - The value of an MBA 41:03 - Books, podcasts and movies recommendations Links Metacast ⁠Get Metacast for iOS and Android⁠ ⁠r/metacastapp subreddit⁠ ⁠The Pragmatic Podcaster⁠ book by Ilya Podcasts Earned Secrets on the a16z podcast (August 4, 2018) 21 Brutally Honest Lessons About Life - Alex Hormozi on Chris Williamson’s podcast Controversial Truths You Need To Hear - Pt.1 (on the Modern Wisdom Podcast) | Ep 673 on the The Game w/ Alex Hormozi podcast Books The Science of Interstellar by Kip Thorne Dune by Frank Herbert Children of Dune by Frank Herbert Bone by Jeff Smith Movies Interstellar Harry Potter Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We broke Metacast just before launching it in open beta. Ouch. On this episode, we talk about the launch, how it went, and what we’ve learned. Get Metacast at ⁠⁠metacast.app⁠⁠. Join the ⁠r/metacastapp⁠ subreddit. Chapters 02:13 - Get The Pragmatic Podcaster book for free 03:33 - We broke Metacast just before launch 08:39 - How we fixed the problem 14:04 - The other way we broke the app 16:27 - Publishing to Apple and Google 20:04 - Marketing for open beta 24:10 - Business metrics 30:38 - This is just the beginning 34:20 - Podcast and book recommendations Links Metacast Get Metacast for iOS and Android r/metacastapp subreddit The Pragmatic Podcaster book by Ilya Open beta launch content and mentions Reddit post LinkedIn post Pod News mention Tools Tramline - CI/CD for mobile apps Podcasts Metacast Ep. 40 - Automating mobile app releases with Tramline founders Builders Gonna Build Podcast Marketing Trends Explained We Tried the Apple Vision Pro + Can Congress Protect Kids Online? + Cruise’s Crash on the Hard Fork podcast The Vision Pro Reviews Are Here on the Techmeme Ride Home podcast Zuckerberg on the Vision Pro vs. Quest (video) How the Acquired podcast grew, and why they switched to Transistor on the Build Your SaaS podcast NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang on the Acquired podcast Charlie Munger on the Acquired podcast Books Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Children of Dune by Frank Herbert Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We had our first existential crisis when Apple announced that they're adding transcripts to Apple Podcasts. We panicked for a few minutes, regrouped, and decided to ship Metacast in open beta ASAP. On the episode, Arnab, Ilya and Jennie discuss the whole ordeal as it was happening. Get Metacast at ⁠metacast.app⁠. Join the r/metacastapp subreddit. Chapters 01:09 - Launch stages at Google and Amazon 07:21 - Our secret sauce 13:00 - Why we decided to start talking about the app openly 17:22 - Our first existential crisis 31:07 - Re-evaluation of priorities 34:35 - Building a community on Reddit 38:03 - Books and podcasts recommendations Links Metacast Get Metacast for iOS and Android r/metacastapp subreddit Podcasts Interview with Christian Selig on Builders Gonna Build Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness The Game w/ Alex Hormozi Books Broken Code: Inside Facebook and the Fight to Expose Its Harmful Secrets by Jeff Horwitz The Wanderer by Sharon Creech The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. & E. B. White Learn Spanish with Paul Noble for Beginners by Paul Noble Next Steps in Spanish with Paul Noble for Intermediate Learners by Paul Noble Bone by Jeff Smith Sandman by Neil Gaiman Dog Man by Dav Pilkey We Are Legion (We Are Bob): Bobiverse, Book 1 by Dennis E. Taylor Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell Shows Queer Eye on Netflix Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We took a break from the startup for the holiday season and were welcomed back to work by a warm embrace of guilt. Should we feel guilt when building a startup? Today we also discuss the launch of our new podcast Builders Gonna Build and how we made the decision to start it. We talk about writing a doc, just like in the good ol’ days at Amazon. Listen to Builders Gonna Build - Apple Podcasts - Spotify - YouTube - Substack Chapters 02:57 - Snowmaggedon in Vancouver 09:04 - Post-vacation guilt 21:32 - Not building a unicorn 24:30 - Introducing Builders Gonna Build 32:15 - When in doubt, write a doc 38:07 - Readers gonna read Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Wee-oo wee-oo wee-oo... we've got an important announcement to make! Bulders Gonna Build podcast: Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube Newsletter on Substack: www.buildersgonnabuild.com Give it a rating, a follow and repost to help us out! Chapters 00:00 - Emergency Announcement: Podcast Split 00:57 - Introducing Builders Gonna Build Podcast

What was 2023 like to Metacast, what's ahead for us in 2024, and our favorite podcast recordings of 2023. Chapters 02:39 - Year 2023 in review 18:59 - Could we have shipped Metacast faster? 23:45 - Our plan for 2024 31:36 - Our favorite behind the scenes episodes of 2023 39:04 - Books and podcasts recommendations Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

To close off 2023, Arnab and Ilya sat down for a lighthearted review of our favorite books, podcasts, products and experiences of 2023. Chapters 01:51 - A lesson in geology 03:16 - Our top books of 2023 23:46 - Our favorite podcasts of 2023 41:04 - Our favorite products 49:34 - Experiences of the year 2023 Show notes Books Arnab’s The Ministry for the Future: A Novel by Kim Stanley Robinson Project Hail Mary: A Novel by Andy Weir Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you by Rob Fitzpatrick Bobiverse by Dennis E. Taylor By His Bootstraps by Robert Heinlein Seveneves by Neal Stephenson Ilya’s The Three-body Problem trilogy by Cixin Liu Books about Apple and simplicity Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products by Leander Kahney Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making by Tony Fadell Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success by Ken Segall Creative Selection: Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs by Ken Kocienda Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon by Dr Joe Dispenza Music, addiction, etc. It's So Easy: and other lies by Duff McKagan How To Be A Man (and other illusions) by Duff McKagan Slash by Slash and Anthony Bozza Podcasts Get the Metacast podcast app to open links or reach out to us at [email protected] to get early access if the app is not yet public by the time you’re reading this. Ilya’s Metacast: Behind the Scenes Mark Cuban: “And for that reason I’m out” on "The Really Good Podcast" Bobbi Althof interviews Drake (bootleg video) E235: The Man That Makes Millionaires: How To Turn $1,000 Into $100 Million!: Alex Hormozi on the "The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett" podcast Arnab’s The Bing Who Loved Me + Elon Rewrites the Algorithm on the "Hard Fork" podcast Las cartas de papá on "Duolingo Spanish Podcast" Show 69 - Twilight of the Aesir & Show 70 - Twilight of the Aesir II on "Dan Carlin's Hardcore History" Products Metacast podcast app - the best podcast app. Ever. Period. Duolingo Learn Spanish with Paul Noble for Beginners – Complete Course: Spanish Made Easy with Your Personal Language Coach by Paul Noble What ayahuasca feels like: It opens the heart of darkness | Paul Rosolie and Lex Fridman Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Alex Rechevskiy, PM career coach, tells us about his time as a PM at Google, his solopreneur coaching practice, and Comment Armor, his YouTube spam comments management startup. Chapters 01:46 - Why product management is hard? 07:27 - Alex' solopreneur coaching business 19:30 - Experience working at Google as a PM 41:18 - Building social media following 44:11 - Preventing spam in YouTube comments with Comment Armor 58:01 - Book recommendation Show notes Alex on LinkedIn Alex’s website Alex on YouTube Alex on X/Twitter Cracking the PM Interview Krazam video on Microservices Krazam video I Have Delivered Value... But At What Cost? Not Boring newsletter Hooked by Nir Eyal Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

This is a re-run of our "very second episode" originally published on Jan 11, 2023. For our second episode (and the very first one with a guest!), we sat down with Brian McCullough, creator of the ⁠Internet History Podcast⁠, one of Ilya’s all-time favorite podcasts. Brian’s current podcast is ⁠Techmeme Ride Home⁠, a popular daily summary of tech news that has over a million downloads every month. Brian is also an investor running the ⁠Ride Home Fund⁠ and a resident at TED (check out Brian’s ⁠talk⁠). Brian is on Twitter as @brianmcc (⁠https://twitter.com/brianmcc⁠). Chapters 00:00 - Rerun intro and a year of podcasting 03:47 - Cold open from original episode 04:12 - Welcome and how we discovered Brian 06:53 - Brian's background and career journey 08:35 - From film school to the dot-com bubble 12:27 - The dot-com bubble explained 15:06 - ResumeWriters.com and riding out the bust 18:24 - Resume Writers takes off 24:34 - Why Quentin Tarantino as a role model 26:48 - The birth of Internet History Podcast 29:09 - Writing a book and the podcast as research 34:10 - Launching the podcast and early growth 37:30 - Writing a book in the open 39:05 - The publishing industry and book economics 41:01 - Leveraging guests to grow your audience 43:03 - The snowball analogy 46:06 - Early validation and finding your niche 48:55 - Research and interviewing techniques 54:43 - Bringing it up to the present day 58:34 - Growth through prominent guests 1:00:04 - Techmeme Ride Home is born 1:03:10 - The art of interviewing 1:08:26 - Performing a script vs. reading it 1:11:10 - Daily workflow of a daily podcast 1:14:18 - Recording gear and GarageBand 1:19:00 - The Porta-Booth and sound quality 1:21:00 - Audience forgiveness on audio quality 1:26:49 - Podcast advertising and CPM economics Show notes Software Descript -- a tool that can help you edit audio similar to editing text in a word processor. SquadCast -- a powerful tool for recording interviews. It saves high quality audio locally and uploads files to the cloud, so you can download and process them later. Zoom -- video conferencing and audio recording. GarageBand -- the audio editor that comes for free with MacOS that Brian uses for podcast editing. Libsyn -- a podcast hosting platform we mentioned in the conversation. Gear Shure SM7b -- a kick ass condenser mic for podcasters and radio hosts. It's pretty much the golden standard in the industry. It's expensive and also requires an audio interface because it only has an XLR output (no direct connection to your computer's USB port). Blue Yeti -- an inexpensive USB mic that has multiple recording modes (e.g. cardioid, condenser, etc.) Arnab recorded this (and other) episodes using a Blue Yeti mic. Brian was also using a Blue Yeti for this recording! Harlan Hogan's Porta-Booth -- the foamy thing that helps prevent the room echo during recording that Brian uses for recording Techmeme Ride Home in the home office. Podcasts The Tim Ferriss Show WTF with Marc Maron Dan Carlin's Hardcode History This American Life (Ira Glass) Comedy Bang Bang The Rest is History Arsecast Nerd Poker Flop House Black Check with Griffin and David Random Mentions Quentin Tarantino and his movie Pulp Fiction Packy McCormick's newsletter Turner Novak AngelList Full show notes with links: ⁠https://www.metacastpodcast.com/p/002-brian-mccullough-internet-history⁠ Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Geoff Roberts, co-founder of Outseta, on a compensation model that allows employees earn founder-level equity. Chapters 01:06 - Intro of Geoff and Outseta 03:42 - How Outseta got started 10:50 - Current state of Outsetta business 18:35 - Customer acquisition through content marketing, affiliates and partnerships 33:27 - Compensation philosophy 40:57 - Cash vs. equity 48:18 - Voting rights, scaling, and risks of Outseta's model 1:01:52 - Hiring 1:03:35 - Mechanics of the ledger and corporate structure 1:07:15 - Book recommendation Show notes Outseta All-in-one membership software Geoff’s Twitter/X: @geofftroberts Geoff's LinkedIn Outseta blog Outseta operating agreement Metacast Ep. 36 - Building a startup with contractors with Melissa Kwan, co-founder & CEO of eWebinar No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram Reinventing Organizations Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Metacast co-founders discuss benefits and risks of building a startup in public. Chapters 02:06 - The "build in public" movement 08:46 - Why we share what we do? 22:59 - Downsides of building in public 33:49 - Book and podcast recommendations Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Arnab and Ilya discuss different approaches to building products from the angle of do-what-you-want platforms vs. opinionated products. Chapters 00:29 - Lego Blocks vs. Model Airplanes 01:38 - Prioritizing Simplicity for Metacast 05:15 - User Needs, Complexity, AWS Explained 08:39 - Platform Growth and Service Bloat 13:30 - Avoiding Customization Pitfalls 16:09 - Apple's Complex, Simple Ecosystem 18:45 - Apple Apps vs. Notion Flexibility 23:21 - Word's Complexity and Clippy 27:06 - Metacast Playlists and Super Apps 30:41 - Startup Product Philosophy: Model Airplane 33:12 - Cautionary Tales of High Growth 36:12 - Listening: Fall of Civilizations 38:36 - Listening: Navigating Societal Polarization 42:56 - Podcast Outro and Feedback Show notes Insanely Simple WeCrashed Super Pumped Blackberry Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Fall of Civilizations Hardcore History What Now? Podcast Industry News The Metallica Podcast Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Dave Thomas, co-author of The Pragmatic Programmer and Agile Manifesto, on the true spirit of being agile (vs. "doing agile"), common mistakes engineering teams make, and common practices of successful teams. Chapters 00:23 - Dave's background 08:45 - The genesis of The Pragmatic Programmer 12:47 - People don't know what they want, importance of feedback loops 20:24 - Doing Agile vs. being agile 24:43 - Practices of successful engineering teams 34:42 - Being pragmatic at an early stage startup 42:07 - Things that are still true 24 years after the book was published 53:32 - How does a book define its author's identity? Show notes: The Pragmatic Programmer book: https://amzn.to/47ewEnU The Pragmatic Bookshelf: https://pragprog.com/ The Agile Manifesto: https://agilemanifesto.org/ Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Arnab and Ilya reminisce about their first social media experiences with ICQ and Orkut, discuss fixing X-Twitter, read an eulogy for Threads, and strategize about becoming social media influencers. Chapters 03:12 - First experiences with social media 10:52 - Reddit 16:19 - Threads 18:35 - Misuse of Instagram as a text blogging platform 21:25 - Can existing social networks be replaced? 23:47 - The hard life of a social media influencer 25:28 - X / Twitter 29:04 - AI content creation 32:23 - Value of being an influencer 37:10 - Downvotes and dislikes 40:25 - Engagement pods 42:07 - LinkedIn Lunatics 43:43 - Our social media strategy 54:05 - Book and podcast recommendations Show notes: Problem Solvers episode "Why LinkedIn Doesn't Want You Going Viral": http://entrepreneurproblemsolvers.libsyn.com/why-linkedin-doesnt-want-you-going-viral Alex Hormozi on Diary of a CEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3e73Qn6NOo LinkedIn Lunatics Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/LinkedInLunatics/ Death's End by Cixin Liu: https://amzn.to/3QN162F How to be a man (and other illusions) by Duff McKagan: https://amzn.to/49o2DUh The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: https://amzn.to/3seGzuq Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Jennie Buechner is a Senior Software Engineer and the first hire at Metacast. We discussed leaving Amazon to join an early stage startup and how we thought about equity compensation when we can't afford to pay a salary yet. Chapters 02:04 - Jennie introduces herself 03:57 - ChatGPT introduces Jennie, Ilya and Arnab 07:29 - Explaining the number 42 10:38 - Leaving Amazon 20:46 - Joining Metacast 28:08 - Working for equity without a salary component 45:57 - Living off savings 49:29 - Jennie's role at Metacast Show notes: Metacast Ep. 17: From Teacher to a Software Engineer at Amazon: https://www.metacastpodcast.com/p/017-from-teacher-to-software-engineer-amazon The Good Enough Job: https://amzn.to/3Qo0GOS Joel Spolsky on Equity for Startups: https://gist.github.com/isaacsanders/1653078 Buffer’s Equity Formula: https://buffer.com/resources/buffer-open-equity-formula/ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: https://amzn.to/3seGzuq Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

What features do you build first - table stakes or what makes you differentiated? What's the difference between an MVP and an MLP? Is it worth applying to YC? ...and a few recommendations of books and podcasts that we're into these days. Chapters 03:40 - Differentiating features vs. table stakes features 06:58 - MVP vs. MLP 14:00 - The MAYA principle 16:57 - We applied to YC 23:31 - Building a landing page with Carrd 26:22 - Chaos engineering for customer empathy 31:56 - The Three-Body Problem trilogy 35:28 - Elon Musk's biography 38:50 - Blackberry 41:37 - Podcasts we listen to 45:00 - Remembering Reply-All Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

A conversation with founders of Tramline, a CI/CD platform for mobile apps that we use for releasing Metacast. We talked about release standards (or lack thereof) for mobile and how Tramline solves this problem. We also dug into the founding story of the company, how they sold to first customers, fundraising from angels, and a few more topics. Get tramline at https://www.tramline.app/ Tramline on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tramlinehq Pratul Kalia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pratulkalia/ Nivedita Priyadarshini: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nid90/ Akshay (kitallis) Gupta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kitallis/ Chapters 10:48 - How Tramline was started 16:40 - The world without Tramline 24:43 - Incumbents and competitors 32:29 - Why offer open-source in addition to a commercial product? 38:57 - Who does what in the company 41:00 - Positioning Tramline to first customers 51:02 - Fundraising in a "slow VC" mode 58:25 - AngelList's RUV 1:00:30 - Future of Tramline 1:03:14 - How can startups leverage development agencies in India? 1:10:27 - Book and podcast recommendations Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

How living on a work visa affects your risk appetite? How does immigration change you? What are some gotchas? Today, we talk about our immigration journeys and discuss these important questions. Chapters 03:42 - Musings about languages and automatic translations 08:48 - Our immigration journeys 15:52 - US immigration challenges for Indians and Chinese 17:52 - How living on a work visa affects your risk appetite 31:38 - Immigration changes your perspective on life 34:43 - What we're reading and listening these days Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

A discussion with Wharton professor Karl Ulrich on teaching entrepreneurship, value of MBA, working at the MIT AI lab in the 1980s, and a career as a professor and founder. Chapters 03:42 - Karl introduces himself 06:17 - PhD at the MIT AI Lab 12:57 - First job as a professor 16:34 - Entrepreneurial trends at Wharton 22:11 - Can entrepreneurship be taught? 30:53 - Innovation tournaments 36:08 - Do innovation labs in big companies work? 40:45 - Starting the Semester in San Francisco program 47:35 - Is it worth to do an MBA? 53:22 - Karl's companies 56:54 - The Xootr story 1:05:43 - Podcast and book recommendations 1:08:24 - It's never too late to start a company Show notes Innovation Tournaments by Karl Ulrich and Christian Terwiesch: https://amzn.to/3ZEFrN3 Innovation Tournament Handbook: https://amzn.to/46hV5QQ Xootr kick-scooter: https://xootr.com/products/xootr-kick-scooter-mg Karl on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ktulrich Karl's website: https://ktulrich.com/ Make It Clear by Patrick Winston: https://amzn.to/3ZJfgoh How to Speak video by Patrick Winston: https://youtu.be/Unzc731iCUY Unicorn's Shadow by Ethan Mollick: https://amzn.to/46g0GY5 Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Today we're reflecting on our previous episode (ep. 36 with Melissa Kwan) and are talking about the collaboration between business and technical functions in a company - both in our startup as well as reminiscing about our days in AWS. Chapters 00:33 - Teaser of the next episode 02:45 - Update on the podcast 10:38 - Reflection on the latest episode with Melissa 15:55 - CEO vs. CTO role a.k.a. Product vs. Engineering 27:16 - Book and podcast recommendations Show notes Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson: https://amzn.to/3ZvLnbc Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson: https://amzn.to/3Rw32xr Lex episode with Walter Isaacson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGOV5R7M1Js Hard Fork episode about the Elon Musk book: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/casey-v-kevin-on-us-v-google-walter-isaacson-on-two/id1528594034?i=1000627978267 Dinosaur "rap" (reference to Howdytoons): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VML3OWyQ9a0 Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

We sat down with Melissa Kwan, a 3x bootstrapper, to talk about her entrepreneurial journey, working with contractor developers, getting first customers, developing social media presence, and going to Burning Man in 2023. Show notes Melissa's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissakwan/ eWebinar: https://ewebinar.com/ The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs (book): https://amzn.to/3t4sK20 Stay in touch: Chapters 00:19 - Introduction 03:16 - Becoming an entrepreneur 07:06 - Starting the first company 07:53 - Appreciating coding as a non-technical founder 09:39 - Working with contractors 21:41 - Journey prior to founding eWebinar 28:03 - Splitting equity between co-founders 35:38 - Working with customers 39:28 - Developing social media presence 45:59 - Getting onto other people's podcasts 50:52 - Going to Burning Man in 2023 55:35 - Living as a digital nomad 56:32 - Parting advice 58:25 - Book recommendation Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

Today, we discuss positioning the startup to the outside world in social media and software that we use to build our software. We go into detail of our CI/CD pipeline for the mobile app and our project management practices. As usual, brace yourself for a lot of tangents! Chapters 02:53 - Positioning ourselves into the outside world 23:01 - Processes in our startup Show notes https://tramline.app - a CI/CD orchestration tool for mobile app development https://bitrise.io - a tool for building mobile apps in the cloud Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn

In this episode, we break down the process of how we wrote The Pragmatic Podcaster book, discuss how writing is similar to programming, talk about tools (Adobe InDesign, Kindle Create), describe the process of getting an e-book and a print version on Amazon, and muse about Google Ads that didn't generate any sales for us. Chapters 02:38 - How did the book start 04:57 - "Day 0 - Day 1 - Day 2" framework for creating software and podcasts 08:00 - The process 12:14 - ChatGPT for writing a book?? 13:36 - Learnings from writing a book 16:03 - Writing out of coffee shops 19:34 - Walks full of guilt 23:33 - Book writing tools 30:58 - Tools for designing the cover 33:12 - Publishing the book on Amazon and Gumroad 36:58 - Selling the book with Google Ads 42:18 - Podcast recommendations 50:45 - Kid music recommendations & AI music Show notes Make It Clear by Patrick Winston: https://amzn.to/3sPKRIz How To Speak by Patrick Winston: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unzc731iCUY Download the Metacast podcast app for free iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/metacast/id6462012536 Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.metacast.podcast.player Get in touch Contact us: [email protected] Ilya's LinkedIn Arnab's LinkedIn