Should you start a founder podcast? AI just made it easier

Back before podcasts, launching your own radio station was prohibitively expensive. You needed equipment, audio engineers, money, and a broadcasting license. That was the studio era.

Then came podcasting. Suddenly, any founder with a microphone and a computer could share their ideas. The format took off. Now we’re in the home studio era. But there’s still one big barrier.

Just because software has made it easier to record doesn’t mean episodes are any easier to produce. An hour-long show can still take days or weeks of editing. Today, lots of founders start podcasts, but few see it through the first season.

But what if that changed? What if you didn’t need to edit? What if you didn’t even need to show up to record? Might you finally start and continue that podcast?

In this article, we discuss the emerging field of AI podcasting and how it could help you build your founder brand. We share the story of Pilot customer Pierson Marks, Co-Founder of the AI podcasting studio Jellypod, about why he believes that this next wave of podcasting will dwarf those that came before.

$7.3 billion sales, but that’s not the point

Podcasts took off because they gobbled up otherwise unfilled space in people’s lives, and because there’s something uniquely personal about the format. Listening to someone’s voice hour after hour creates what social scientists call parasocial relationships, where listeners feel personally attached to the host. 

To loyal listeners, it’s as much about feeling like they’re spending time with you as it is about the topic.

This partly explains why there are now 500 million listeners globally and why the market is expanding at a rather unheard of 27% CAGR, which is on par with AI (28%). Podcasts generated $7.3 billion in sales in 2024, according to Bloomberg. However (cue record scratch), people spent around $31 billion making those podcasts. 

So if podcasting isn’t a money-making endeavor, why do so many entrepreneurs do it? Because of the branding. Because smart founders use that airtime to sell something else.

Listeners are also willing to spend an extraordinary amount of time with podcasts compared to other media. The average podcast episode is 41 minutes long, and many top podcasts are multiple hours long. This is attention you simply cannot buy.

For a founder, that can make it a useful part of their branding initiative for several reasons:

• It’s a rare, free channel—It costs nothing to host episodes.
• It helps you sharpen your story—Podcasting gives you hours of practice.
• It establishes your credibility—Having a podcast confers authority.
• You reach your ideal buyers—Listeners are a self-selecting, targeted group.
• It gives you constant feedback— People comment on YouTube and social media.
• It produces content—Your team can repurpose the audio endlessly.
• It creates partnerships—Your podcast is a platform for featuring others.
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This is not to say that every founder should have a podcast. Lots of listeners aren’t interested in the “random talking heads” type of show where two people gab about nothing in particular. A good show takes planning as well as hosts with some charisma. And as we’ve said before, when building a founder brand, do what feels natural. If podcasting truly feels painful, and you really hate hearing yourself on tape, there’s probably another channel that better suits you. 

Unless, of course, AI could assist. 

Pierson Marks, Co-Founder of Jellypod, believes that the untapped market for those who have the ideas but not the inclination, time, or willingness to learn audio editing is far larger.

What does it take to run a successful podcast?

There is running a podcast and then there is running a successful podcast, and the two are not the same. We would advise against starting your podcast before you have a solid concept and can explain what listeners will gain from it. You may have great information, but it needs to be packaged in a way that’s easy to consume, with a title they’ll immediately “get.” 

Said another way, if you don’t give more than you get, people won’t bother to tune in.

To run a truly successful podcast, you need: 

1. A clear concept

A podcast is a product that just happens to be free. All the product principles apply. Who is it for? What value do listeners get? How do you convey that value? The concept is the most important piece to get right. A cheap logo and long name are unlikely to interest people enough to give it a listen. 

Here’s an exercise to help you clarify. Fill in these blanks:

This is the [category] podcast that [action] [type of listener] to [action]

E.g. This is the DevOps podcast that shows ops people how to advance in their career.

Now try writing 10 versions of that. Whichever part feels hard to write may be an area you need to research further.

A concept consists of:

• An elevator pitch (see example above).
• A podcast name.
• A landing page.
• Episode cover art.‍

2. Someone to run the show

A  showrunner handles the logistics of your podcast and acts as a sort of executive producer, scheduling the talent and managing the video editors or graphic designers. When launching a startup, perhaps this person is you. Or you can hire an agency like Share Your Genius or Sweet Fish Media. An agency will guide you through this entire process and help with branding, graphic design, and planning episodes. 

If you are your own showrunner, it means you should at least try to plan out your podcast season in advance. The more work you’ve put into your concept, the easier it will be. For example, if your concept is that you’re the B2B marketing podcast that takes demand marketers into the room where difficult decisions are made, planning should involve drafting a list of potential marketer interviewees. 

Your showrunner needs to:

• Plan a season of episodes.
• Know how to use audio/video editing tools such as Descript, Riverside, or Capsule (or use an AI tool).

3.  A scripted outline ‍

Writing out your scripts will help you plan, but they are not intended to be read aloud word for word. Podcasts should never feel rehearsed—listeners can tell, and it sounds boring. Instead, format your scripts as bulleted outlines so you know how you want the show to go. Include a list of questions for your guest, and know generally, from your research, what the narrative arc is going to be. Some podcast hosts have a pre-recording call with the guest to discuss the script and test-run some questions. 

If you are using an AI podcasting tool, this step is very different. You are prompting the AI. It’s the same script outline, but then the tool and AI host and guest generate that conversation as a file for you to review. 

4.  Consistent promotion 

You must work hard to get your podcast out into the world. This takes real work, and there are no shortcuts, but the harder you’ve worked on the concept and episodes, the easier it becomes over time. If your podcast is good enough that people want to share it, eventually, it can start to promote itself. Though this may take years to show results. 

Part of distribution is learning. Listen to what you’re hearing from the audience—including silence—and solicit continuous feedback from those around you. 

Should you start a podcast?

As a founder, you’re likely sitting on a rare source of stories and information that others would love to hear. If those stories are interesting to your buyers, that’s a promising fit for a founder podcast. And if this all sounds great but you can’t imagine doing all this work, perhaps AI podcasting is worth a try. This is not to encourage or discourage you—it is one strategy of many. But unlike in prior eras, with AI, it’s now cheap enough to test out over the weekend.

If you aren’t sure, you can always say you’re only planning to release one season. That way, if it’s unsuccessful, you can stop it, just as planned. But if it is a surprise success, you launch a second season. Though if you take one thing away from this article, let it be this: For your podcast to work, you need to be generously sharing useful information. Remember, just because it’s easy doesn’t mean it’s good.