From Idea to Launch: The Untold Story Behind the Podcast Analytics Startup Podder

In this episode of Prometheus Chats, Damion interviews Christian Sørensen, founder and CEO of Podder, a platform that provides analytics for podcasts.

Christian discusses starting Podder in late 2020 after initially wanting to build an advertising marketplace for podcasts. However, they soon realized there was a lack of reliable data in the podcasting industry to power something like that. So they pivoted to focus entirely on collecting and analyzing podcast data to provide insights to podcasters.

Some challenges Podder faced included the decentralized nature of podcast listening across many platforms, GDPR compliance as a European company, and gaining credibility as newcomers to the industry. But Christian says they overcame these by staying small and nimble as a team, ensuring their platform was privacy-compliant, and persistently engaging with podcasters to keep learning and improving.

Christian also reflects on the pivots and emotional rollercoaster of entrepreneurship and says the most exciting success so far has been recently feeling like they really “found their groove” in solving podcasters’ problems after talking to enough users and honing the product. 

Knowing that artificial intelligence is the clear topic du jour,  that Damion and Christian discuss how Podder is looking to leverage AI/ML to enhance their platform and workflows without aiming to replace human roles. 

Overall, an insightful look into Podder’s founding story and Christian’s entrepreneurial journey building a startup in the podcast analytics space. He shares the challenges they faced and the importance of continuously engaging with customers, learning, and adapting.