I Keep Thinking Podcasts Are a Way of Making People Present
Recorded in Chinese
Continuing my thoughts on memorable guests and the sense of presence in podcasts, I imagine a person becoming an entry point to an institution and question why some founders are discouraged from speaking publicly.
00:01 I had to pause the recording
00:04 because something interrupted me.
00:05 Now I will continue.
00:07 When I reached my fourth "why,"
00:09 I asked why,
00:13 after making so many episodes,
00:15 only
00:18 a few guests stayed in my memory.
00:23 I thought about it.
00:25 Maybe it was not that
00:29 the field did not interest me,
00:31 or the people did not interest me.
00:33 Maybe the problem was the process design,
00:39 or that the questions did not go deep enough.
00:46 I am not really sure.
00:49 Whether an episode
00:52 leaves a deep impression on me
00:54 definitely depends on things like
00:56 my
00:59 prior knowledge,
01:02 or where
01:04 my curiosity is focused.
01:06 Take overseas e-commerce.
01:07 Before making that episode,
01:09 I had recently
01:13 been learning about SEO
01:17 and GEO.
01:21 Those are also related to overseas operations.
01:24 So overseas e-commerce and operations
01:27 are connected in some way.
01:28 That made it memorable to me.
01:32 At the same time,
01:33 the guest also had a lot of charisma.
01:36 I mean,
01:38 I do not know what she looks like,
01:39 but just from hearing her voice,
01:42 you know she is a very charismatic person.
01:45 I wonder whether anyone else hears
01:48 someone's voice and thinks,
01:51 I'd like to meet them.
01:52 I do feel that way.
01:55 Especially when someone expresses themselves well,
01:58 and thinks clearly,
02:00 whether answering a question
02:04 or describing their product,
02:07 the whole line of reasoning stays clear
02:10 and flows naturally,
02:12 without too many verbal habits.
02:14 When that happens,
02:15 I form a very positive first impression.
02:20 That may also affect my judgment of them.
02:25 Well, there is no need to dwell on this.
02:27 Everyone feels differently
02:29 about each person.
02:30 There are as many views as there are people.
02:32 So this "why"...
02:35 why so few guests
02:37 left a deep impression on me...
02:39 is hard to fully explain.
02:41 But before ending this topic,
02:45 I want to talk about podcast content
02:49 and why it is
02:52 a good platform for VC.
02:55 Zhuang Minghao once mentioned this.
03:00 I forget whether it was on his own podcast
03:03 or on Startup Insider.
03:05 He roughly said that he thought
03:09 neither Weibo nor WeChat public accounts
03:16 could build a VC brand well.
03:18 Taking everything together,
03:20 podcasts are a very suitable medium
03:22 or platform.
03:26 How should I put it?
03:28 At the end of last year, I was also wondering
03:31 what kind of thing a podcast really is.
03:34 It is an audio product,
03:36 and now it is moving from audio to video.
03:41 To me, it feels more like...
03:44 it creates a sense of presence.
03:46 It makes people present,
03:50 whether the people talking
03:54 or the listeners.
03:57 If listeners are not present,
03:58 we do not know what was really said.
04:01 It may go in one ear and out the other.
04:04 If the speakers are not present,
04:09 the conversation will not be very good.
04:12 So this sense of presence
04:13 is a very important quality to me.
04:17 And also...
04:23 It is actually a...
04:26 How should I put it?
04:27 If I want to invite someone to talk with me,
04:32 and I visit them specifically
04:34 just for that conversation,
04:36 then the atmosphere may...
04:41 while talking with me,
04:43 they may feel constrained
04:45 and may not naturally
04:49 want to share more.
04:50 But if we do it through a podcast,
04:54 I have a reason to invite them.
04:57 I can say I want to record a podcast
05:00 about a certain topic.
05:02 As the conversation flows,
05:05 they may unconsciously share many things
05:08 they would not say in a private conversation.
05:11 There is an idea that
05:15 podcasts may naturally
05:16 bring the two speakers closer,
05:18 or narrow the distance between them.
05:21 I think that is also quite remarkable.
05:27 Of course, for some people,
05:29 the sense of presence is frightening.
05:33 For example, introverts
05:35 may feel less at ease facing a camera
05:38 or talking
05:39 with another person.
05:42 It depends on the person. Mm.
05:46 Anything else?
05:47 Oh.
05:48 My notes mention another point:
05:52 building a public-facing personal brand.
05:59 How should I put it?
06:01 Sometimes I think
06:02 about the managing-partner role
06:03 I mentioned at the beginning.
06:07 If this person
06:09 is very willing to step forward and share
06:14 things like observations about trends
06:16 or sectors,
06:19 they can become the public face
06:22 that the VC firm puts forward.
06:24 From time to time,
06:27 someone could interview them
06:30 and let them share observations
06:32 from inside the organization,
06:33 including trends and similar things.
06:36 Of course,
06:37 anything shared publicly
06:41 must be something that can be shared.
06:43 More internal
06:44 or private
06:45 would certainly be kept back.
06:46 I think this kind of person
06:48 gives VC content
06:50 or brand-building a strong anchor.
06:56 When we mention certain VC podcasts
06:59 or
07:01 certain brands,
07:03 we often
07:05 think of one particular person.
07:09 That person's influence as a public figure
07:13 almost overshadows
07:15 the organization itself.
07:18 We first encounter the person,
07:21 and then learn about the organization.
07:23 The person is the entry point,
07:26 and the organization is
07:28 what we see after entering.
07:32 It is like why
07:34 some shows usually
07:36 leave contact information at the end.
07:41 If they want to recruit talent,
07:44 they can use that point
07:46 to connect with the people
07:51 or talent resources they want.
07:53 If a VC firm has
07:57 a person it puts forward publicly,
07:59 who occasionally does interviews,
08:04 shares observations about trends,
08:07 shares opinions,
08:09 or discusses what is happening now,
08:15 then this person can also serve
08:17 as the kind of point I just described.
08:20 They first put something out,
08:23 so people learn about them,
08:26 and then become an entry point
08:28 to the organization behind them,
08:32 the VC firm behind them.
08:37 I do not know whether
08:38 this path would work,
08:40 but it seems like a good thing
08:44 to try.
08:47 But I have noticed,
08:49 especially
08:52 among startups,
08:55 that some early-stage founders
08:58 are told by investors,
09:01 "Attend fewer public events.
09:05 Just focus on building your product."
09:09 When I hear opinions like this,
09:11 I feel a little confused.
09:14 Why are they
09:18 so wary of it?
09:23 Building the product well is certainly
09:25 what the founder needs to do now.
09:27 But why not allow them
09:30 to do public promotion or appearances?
09:34 Today, independent media
09:36 and social media are
09:37 important platforms for spreading influence.
09:39 Many people are doing similar things.
09:42 In a recent interview I heard,
09:44 the guest worked in embodied AI.
09:49 They ran their own WeChat public account
09:51 and social media accounts.
09:54 Some team members
09:56 found them through those accounts
09:58 and then joined the team.
10:00 Social media and public events
10:04 give teams
10:07 and founders
10:08 a good way
10:13 to let others know about them,
10:16 or a so-called entry point.
10:18 Without that method
10:19 or entry point,
10:20 how do they
10:22 attract the talent they want,
10:24 or build
10:27 a narrative space for their product?
10:33 I have not figured it out.