In early 2019, Mike Maples Jr.—co-founder of Floodgate Fund, a tech-focused venture capital firm—noticed the industry at large using compelling content to captivate the attention of budding entrepreneurs. While widely respected for his expertise on how startups become companies, Maples Jr. sought us and our unique expertise to help expand his audience with a bold content strategy.
- Thought Leadership
- Content + Digital Strategy
The biggest problem was standing out in a crowded space. There's such a glut of content that Techcrunch's VC beat writer Katie Clark compiled a massive two-page list of VC-focused content. "Proof there are too many VC newsletters and podcasts," she wrote, adding, "(Yes I know I contribute to this)." Differentiating Floodgate Fund’s content hinged on finding a unique insight.
To support, we researched the market landscape and identified the opportunity. Most entrepreneurial podcasts are either lengthy Q&As or short "thought starters." No VC podcast did both.
Seizing the opportunity, we created Starting Greatness, a bi-weekly interview podcast that pairs an interview led by Maples Jr. with legendary Silicon Valley entrepreneurs like Mark Cuban, Reid Hoffman, and Marc Andreessen—with a shorter episode called "Lessons of Greatness" in which Maples Jr. explores an important takeaway from the interview. Our role didn't end with the big idea—we continue to produce the podcast, providing editorial direction, audio engineering, and marketing strategy.
Starting Greatness premiered its first season on The Tim Ferriss Podcast to great success. The show quickly made it onto iTunes's list of "Best Technology" and "Best Business" podcasts. It was a "New & Noteworthy" podcast for months.
Within the first year, listeners downloaded the show over 500,000 times and gave over 300 reviews, with a 4.8 out of 5 average rating. On Twitter, the show routinely generates positive social chatter through searches for "@m2jr podcast," and has been covered on CNBC. Starting Greatness stands out in a crowded market, ranking among the top 1% of podcasts by total listens.
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