Ken Miller @Podium.page/@Fathom.fm. Growth is everybody’s job in SaaS team

saas.unbound is a podcast for and about founders who are working on scaling inspiring products that people love brought to you by https://saas.group/.

In this episode #44, we are talking with Ken Miller, Co-Founder of Podium.page (https://podium.page/), streamlining your podcast production with AI-powered tools for time-saving, high-quality content creation, and Fathom.fm (https://fathom.fm/), the AI-powered podcast player from the future. We discuss the roadmap for both Podium.page and Fathom.fm, how Podium was initially supposed t be a feature not a standalone product but took off so successfully that the team decided to grow it separately. Ken discusses the role of AI for SaaS businesses and why slapping an AI API on a product may not be the most sustainable strategy. Ken talks about Reddit and how it’s often overlooked and feared because of the strict rules. He shares his approach to Reddit and how it helped Podium get traction and customers. He also shares his vision about growth being everyone’s job and how drilling the growth strategy into team’s members’ brain is a great way to boost it.

(0:00:05) – Podium and Fathom.fm

Ken Miller, co-founder of Podium and Fathom.fm, chats about his journey to building two amazing AI tools for podcast creators. We explore how Ken’s background in engineering led him to build Podium, which saves podcast creators hours every week, and Fathom.fm, an AI podcast player for the future. We also discuss how the macroeconomics of the podcast industry has shifted over the past two years, and how this shift led to the development of Podium.

(0:15:16) – Implications of AI on Startups 

We explore the ever-evolving landscape of technology and how it affects entrepreneurs. We discuss the potential challenges faced by those who have been working on something for years versus those who have access to AI solutions.
Finally, we examine this new node in the podcasting value chain which is Podium, where audio is run through multiple neural networks to construct an input for chat GPT.

(0:26:37) – Marketing Challenges and Growth Strategies

The importance of occupying nodes in a value chain and how having a foothold in two nodes can create a halo effect is discussed. The benefits of keeping the Fathom Player going, such as refining the neural network and creating a better discovery experience, are explored. The importance of focusing on growth, using AARRR (Awareness, Activation, Retention, Revenue and Referrals) and how Ken’s team works together to review the funnel every day.

(0:40:31) – Podium’s Twitter Marketing and Partnership

We discuss the importance of marketing in the podcast industry and how Twitter has been an effective tool for Podium. We explore how word of mouth and referrals have been a major factor in the success of the platform, and how their partnership with Buzzsprout has been a major boost to their user base. We also discuss the challenges of adapting hundreds of hours of audio into a book form, and how Podium is refining their algorithms to make the process easier.

(0:54:39) – Growth Hacks and Strategies for Startups

Building a successful startup involves more than just having a brilliant idea. We discuss the importance of having a good relationship with competitors, the value of everyone on the team being responsible for growth, and how customer service is vital for success. We also explore the hack of utilizing the R package system to increase SEO and how connecting to the people using the product can be beneficial.