What can a start-up learn from a comedian?
Why did I start a series of youtube videos on free advice to make you smarter?
Why is it Adam Hunter’s fault?
Calm down and I will explain.
A few weeks ago, after Adam’s latest show, we were talking about my idea to do a podcast. I’m always looking for new ways for people to learn about our company and our games. I said to him that we were considering a podcast but it takes so much work and we are really pressed for time with getting games out, collecting data, writing grants and a hundred other things that go into running a gaming start-up.
Adam said,
No, no it’s the easiest thing in the world to do a podcast.
I said,
Yeah, the podcast recording part of it isn’t that much time. It’s the editing it for hours so that you don’ t sound like an idiot. Sure, YOU can just sit down and talk for 30 minutes, an hour, but I can’t.
And he said,
It’s like anything else, you get better with practice. Sure, your first podcasts won’t be that good, but you get better.
When I thought about it, he had a really good point. Just like writing software, writing grants or writing a blog, you get better with practice and I bet Adam is right that the same is true of pod casting. It takes a little more effort to set up a podcast on iTunes, so I thought I’d practice by doing daily 5-minute video blogs, since I already had a youtube channel just kind of sitting around there.
So, I started this series Five Minutes of Free Advice to Make You Smarter. It’s all right but I’m not quite ready to start challenging This American Life as a top podcast yet. On the other hand, when I look at the code I wrote today and what I wrote three years ago, there’s a dramatic difference.
So … stay tuned.