A Fun Moment in Podcasts

I was delighted to learn that WaitWhat, the startup company that makes my podcast Masters of Scale, is up for a few Webby Awards. There’s a popular choice vote that finishes tomorrow, Thursday. Initially, I resisted posting about it and encouraging people to vote; it felt too self-serving. But then I found out that Jessi Hempel is also up for a Webby as well -- and I realized that posting about the Webbys was actually an opportunity to spread the word about some of the podcasts I enjoy listening to, and also give thanks to the incredible WaitWhat team for making Masters of Scale so much fun to be a part of.   

Jessi’s podcast, a spin-off from her newsletter Jessiwrites, is called Hello Monday. Her podcast always reveals something personal, human, and important. I particularly liked Jessi’s discussion with LeVar Burton, about how to weather storms and challenges. (And also, I admit it, I loved Levar's work on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the sense of hope and optimism the entire show brought to science fiction.) You can vote for Jessi at the Webby’s here: Hurrah Jessi!   

Next, the Masters of Scale team did just a magical job producing a live version of our podcast down in Los Angeles with Robert Smith, the chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners who inspired the nation last year around this time with his commencement speech at Morehouse College, which he capped with a pledge to pay off the student loans of all 396 of Morehouse's new graduates. When he appeared on our show, he gave a great talk on philanthropy, software businesses, Trojan horses -- and we even had a choir on-hand to perform Robert Man!, a rousing remake of Elton John's timeless ode to space travel that the WaitWhat team transformed to tell the story of Robert's amazing career. You can vote for Robert at the Webby’s here: Hurrah Robert!  

Finally, there’s my classic Masters of Scale podcast. The entire WaitWhat team puts in heart, soul, blood, tears, and very late nights to make it magical. I just do the interviews and guide the content. I would never have the chance to learn from all the guests on the show that I engage with without June Cohen and her team. Vote for Masters of Scale here.  

Podcasts are these fun, intimate conversations. And Jessi is amazingly thoughtful. Robert was instructive and inspiring. And the whole team at Wait What is trying to reinvent the medium. So, I’m encouraging your potential Webby vote -- not so much for me -- as for them. And, FWIW, Caterina Fake also does a great podcast with Waitwhat, Should this Exist?  You can vote for her too: Hurrah Caterina!