How to Start a Podcast (Then vs Now) w/ Alex Goldman
Episode Description
Today's bonus episode we invited Alex Goldman on to dive into his journey in the podcast space. From hosting one of the most popular podcasts online, to starting new with his current project Hyperfixed. How he got into podcasting in the first place, what it's like starting from scratch, and what he thinks about putting his podcast on YouTube.
Chapters 00:00 - Intro 01:30 - Alex Introduction 02:15 - How Reply All Started 06:00 - How Reply All gained popularity 17:10 - How do you measure a successful episode? 19:49 - What is Alex's new show Hyperfixed about? 22:18 - Difficulties of launching a new podcast 28:52 - How we choose ads 29:35 - Why Alex doesn't post to YouTube 40:51 - How to grow premium subscribers 45:19 - Waveform's constant problem 49:15 - Alex reacts to weird tech products 01:05:14 - Rapid fire questions
Links: Hyperfixed Podcast: https://www.hyperfixedpod.com/ Amityvilleville Podcast: https://www.radiotopia.fm/podcasts/amityvilleville Cake Episode: https://www.hyperfixedpod.com/listen/hyperfixed/the-lords-work A Story About a Mouse That's Also About Everything: https://www.hyperfixedpod.com/listen/hyperfixed/a-better-mousetrap
Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/mkbhd
Intro/Outro music by 20syl: https://bit.ly/2S53xlC
Waveform is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Brief Summary
Alex Goldman discusses the evolution of podcasting and his creative process on Hyperfix.
Key points
- Podcasting Origins. Alex Goldman shares his journey into podcasting and the creation of Reply All.
- Creative Collaboration. Exploring the importance of collaborations in early podcasting.
- Measuring Success. The hosts discuss how they gauge the impact of their creative work.
- The Challenge of Launching a New Podcast. Launching a new podcast after a successful run can be daunting due to industry changes and audience saturation.
- The Pressure of Algorithms. The conversation explores the impact of algorithm changes on content creation and audience engagement.
- The Evolution of Social Media. Social media is evolving to mimic Tik Tok's format, leading to a loss of variety.
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Episode highlights
- Podcasting OriginsAlex Goldman shares his journey into podcasting and the creation of Reply All.“Waveform doesn't exist without his work.”0:56Oct 6, 2026
- Creative CollaborationExploring the importance of collaborations in early podcasting.“Collaborating was a huge deal unlike the way that it is now.”7:46Oct 6, 2026
- Measuring SuccessThe hosts discuss how they gauge the impact of their creative work.“When people come up to me and say, 'I loved that one video...'”17:21Oct 6, 2026
- The Challenge of Launching a New PodcastLaunching a new podcast after a successful run can be daunting due to industry changes and audience saturation.“The podcast industry is just totally different now.”22:29Oct 6, 2026
- The Pressure of AlgorithmsThe conversation explores the impact of algorithm changes on content creation and audience engagement.“YouTube decided they're really scared of Tik Tok and drastically changed.”25:26Oct 6, 2026
- The Evolution of Social MediaSocial media is evolving to mimic Tik Tok's format, leading to a loss of variety.“Tik Tok is a crab and people like Tik Tok.”35:00Oct 6, 2026
- The Struggle of Self-PromotionGrowing a premium subscriber base requires relentless self-promotion, which can be uncomfortable.“It's really hard to just be over and over again just be like, 'Yeah, you know, you guys really got to sign up for this.'”41:00Oct 6, 2026
- YouTube Chapter IssuesThe podcast faces ongoing issues with YouTube chapters breaking regularly, causing frustration.“Why do they break every week?”47:00Oct 6, 2026
