There are a few misconceptions about podcasting I've discovered, in my research and experience.

My overarching thesis on podcasting is that—perhaps more than any other medium—it's a war of attrition.

Most podcasters fail because they quit. One study in 2018 found that about 80k podcasts (~12% of the sample) only ever published one episode.

But parasocial audio is addictive & podcast subscriptions are sticky, so consistency and persistence is rewarded disproportionately.

In my case, the early days were extremely discouraging, which is why you should have zero instrumental motivations for at least the first 50 episodes.

I'm still relatively a small fry (~80th percentile globally), but for an unabashedly personal and weird brand, I'm pleased.

Podcasts are characterized by power laws (tiny number with huge influence, massive number with near-zero influence).

Power laws are weirdly counter-intuitive, even if you're smart and understand them.

Namely, you can feel both powerful and invisible at once...

It's easy to grow your podcast to "above average" influence. Average is 150 downloads per episode. Sheer consistency can get you this, even if your podcast sucks.

But growing a podcast to the 99th percentile, can feel impossible (36k/episode).

So what's "good?"

The first key milestone for new podcasters is: unsolicited positive feedback from strangers. Of any kind, in any volume, on any channel.

If this isn't enough to keep you going, you're an arrogant bastard.

This can come well before 500 downloads per episode. Extremely doable.