ML146: Sam Sethi on Applying Second Curve Thinking to Your Career and The Future of Podcasting & Voice Technology
Learn how to apply second curve thinking in your career to stay futureproof, how podcast listening habits differ across the world and what's on the way from the cutting edge of podcasting and voice technology.
Sam Sethi is an award winning radio presenter, podcaster and entrepreneur. He's been immersed in the tech industry for some time, starting his career at Microsoft before moving onto Netscape and Gateway Computers. He has also started and sold three successful startups and was a renowned blogger who started Techcrunch Europe.
Right now he's focused on podcasting and voice technology - he runs his own podcast Sam Talks Technology where interviews entrepreneurs, helps produce and create podcasts and Alexa skills for clients and is running a series of online events about the podcasting industry.
In this episode we discuss:
- How to apply second curve thinking in your career to stay futureproof
- The future of podcasting and how listening habits differ across the world
- Why smart speakers are an intermediate technology and what's on the way from the cutting edge of voice tech
As you can probably tell from recent episodes, I'm becoming increasingly curious about the future of podcasting and voice tech and Sam was the perfect person to get into the weeds with on this as well as providing some great insights on career, lessons from the army and much more.
Show Notes
- Introducing Sam [00:42]
- What was school like for Sam as the only Indian kid in an exclusive English grammar school? [02:24]
- How did Sam discover his interest in technology after serving in the British Army? [04:37]
- What are the things that public school can teach you? How do those things come into play when transitioning to being part of the army? [05:50]
- Where did Sam’s career in technology start? How did his schooling and his service in the army pave the way for his involvement in a multinational technology company? [07:38]
- Can you hone the ability to see trends and capitalize on what’s happening and what’s next? What are the skills that support second curve thinking? [10:12]
- What are the positive and the negative things that Sam learned from working in the United States? [15:21]
- What is hindering UK companies from achieving global dominance the way US companies do? [18:27]
- What was the catalyst behind Techcrunch Europe? [20:25]
- How does podcasting differ from blogging? [23:56]
- What are the two business models of podcasting? What is the ‘walled garden’ strategy that podcasting hosts and streaming platforms are now adopting? [25:52]
- With many podcasting successes under his belt, what piece of advice can Sam give to people looking into starting their own podcast? [29:04]
- What are the things that Sam is currently considering at this point of his podcasting career in technology? [30:59]
- How can Spotify lead the way in paid podcasts for the Western audience? [33:39]
- Where does Sam see voice technology in the next 10 years? How does COVID accelerate the use of this technology and its future in advertising? [38:36]
- What is the role of keywords in the future of voice technology and voice commerce? [39:36]
- Rapid fire questions for Sam [43:28]
- Closing statements [44:57]