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Lenny's Podcast / episode intelligence

Building Anchor, selling to Spotify, and lessons learned | Maya Prohovnik (Spotify’s Head of Podcast Product)

28 Sept 2023 25 published claims 2 attributable people
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Speakers in the public record

Maya ProhovnikLenny Rachitsky

Claim mix

belief 10recommendation 4evaluation 4preference 4commitment 2uncertainty 1

Evidence policy

Every row below preserves an exact excerpt. Identified speakers are linked; unresolved voices are labeled and excluded from people counts.

Claim ledger

The useful parts, with receipts.

25 published records

02 / belief

I think people think that we had some secret backdoor deal with Apple for distribution, but we just had college students making Apple podcast accounts and then submitting hundreds of thousands of podcasts through these accounts, and I think that was a really big part of why we got so much hosting market share so quickly because it was such an insane benefit over the other platforms which otherwise had been commoditized at that point.

“I think people think that we had some secret backdoor deal with Apple for distribution, but we just had college students making Apple podcast accounts and then submitting hundreds of thousands of podcasts through these accounts, and I think that was a really big part of why we got so much hosting market share so quickly because it was such an insane benefit over the other platforms which otherwise had been commoditized at that point.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

04 / evaluation

Honestly, you should ask people that even if you don't work in work in podcasting, because it tells you so much about candidates, and one thing that I feel very strongly is that the most important thing is that you're hiring passionate people, not people who are passionate necessarily about the thing that you're doing, but about anything.

“Honestly, you should ask people that even if you don't work in work in podcasting, because it tells you so much about candidates, and one thing that I feel very strongly is that the most important thing is that you're hiring passionate people, not people who are passionate necessarily about the thing that you're doing, but about anything.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

05 / belief

I just watched this crazy movie from the '80s that was made the same year Home Alone was, this just got featured on a podcast, so I think everybody's talking about it now, but it's a horror movie about a kid who's home alone, and then he has to fight Santa Claus in a home invasion situation.

“I just watched this crazy movie from the '80s that was made the same year Home Alone was, this just got featured on a podcast, so I think everybody's talking about it now, but it's a horror movie about a kid who's home alone, and then he has to fight Santa Claus in a home invasion situation.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

06 / belief

We're really focused on making sure that creators of all shapes and sizes can make a living off of their work. And then I think in general, we're working on so many cool things at Spotify to make podcasts a more interactive format, something that allows you to get to know your audience and connect with your fan base.

“We're really focused on making sure that creators of all shapes and sizes can make a living off of their work. And then I think in general, we're working on so many cool things at Spotify to make podcasts a more interactive format, something that allows you to get to know your audience and connect with your fan base.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

08 / belief

I think what's interesting with startup life is eventually if things work out well, you'll either end up working for a larger company, that's a likely scenario if things tip go great or you're running a public company, which is also extremely painful and stressful.

“I think what's interesting with startup life is eventually if things work out well, you'll either end up working for a larger company, that's a likely scenario if things tip go great or you're running a public company, which is also extremely painful and stressful.”
Speaker
Lenny Rachitsky
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

09 / belief

My mom always told me that my generosity would be rewarded, so anytime that I was nice or thought of someone else before me, she always made sure that I got some little reward or got to go out for ice cream or something, I think that really worked on me.

“My mom always told me that my generosity would be rewarded, so anytime that I was nice or thought of someone else before me, she always made sure that I got some little reward or got to go out for ice cream or something, I think that really worked on me.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

12 / uncertainty

Also, if you're nervous, you can put your hands above your head that'll help the blood, I don't know, it helps it go into your head or something.

“Also, if you're nervous, you can put your hands above your head that'll help the blood, I don't know, it helps it go into your head or something.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

14 / belief

I just cannot get that done if I'm running through my to-do list in my head. So I think that was a big unlock for me when I realized that I just needed to, anytime I'm stressed, honestly, if I just sit and make a list of all the things I have to do, I'm like, oh, it's four things, I can get those done, it's okay.

“I just cannot get that done if I'm running through my to-do list in my head. So I think that was a big unlock for me when I realized that I just needed to, anytime I'm stressed, honestly, if I just sit and make a list of all the things I have to do, I'm like, oh, it's four things, I can get those done, it's okay.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

16 / preference

Reframing that anxiety to understand that the thing your body is doing is surging you with adrenaline to help you. And so letting that feeling wash over you instead of fighting it, I think has been so effective for me because otherwise, it can feel like a panic attack.

“Reframing that anxiety to understand that the thing your body is doing is surging you with adrenaline to help you. And so letting that feeling wash over you instead of fighting it, I think has been so effective for me because otherwise, it can feel like a panic attack.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

18 / recommendation

I would not recommend listening to my podcast unless you are a Big Brother super fan, and I actually started that one because I wanted to get the other end of the spectrum where something we were really focused on with Anchor at the time was first time creators really growing the pie of podcasters and specifically we had this theory that podcast creation of the future would be mobile first and we had this really high-powered mobile app, and so I was like, I'm going to make a podcast that's fully mobile, not highly edited, not worry about making something that sounds like a traditional podcast.

“I would not recommend listening to my podcast unless you are a Big Brother super fan, and I actually started that one because I wanted to get the other end of the spectrum where something we were really focused on with Anchor at the time was first time creators really growing the pie of podcasters and specifically we had this theory that podcast creation of the future would be mobile first and we had this really high-powered mobile app, and so I was like, I'm going to make a podcast that's fully mobile, not highly edited, not worry about making something that sounds like a traditional podcast.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

19 / evaluation

I think we used to put a lot more emphasis on things like delightful animations or fun little Easter eggs, and I am not sure when or where that got lost, but it feels like product management as a role has gotten formalized and become a little bit more scientific, I'm generalizing, but I think a lot of product managers can be so focused on using the right frameworks and making sure that they have the right roadmap and all of this stuff.

“I think we used to put a lot more emphasis on things like delightful animations or fun little Easter eggs, and I am not sure when or where that got lost, but it feels like product management as a role has gotten formalized and become a little bit more scientific, I'm generalizing, but I think a lot of product managers can be so focused on using the right frameworks and making sure that they have the right roadmap and all of this stuff.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

20 / preference

I write everything down because I think I'm one of those people I remember things best when they're written down and then I obsessively put things on my to-do list.

“I write everything down because I think I'm one of those people I remember things best when they're written down and then I obsessively put things on my to-do list.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

21 / preference

I always listen to the podcast that my team makes, so it's like I know they're going to get at least one listener. And then I think also I try, I think because I understand a big part of building tools for podcasters is understanding all the barriers to entry.

“I always listen to the podcast that my team makes, so it's like I know they're going to get at least one listener. And then I think also I try, I think because I understand a big part of building tools for podcasters is understanding all the barriers to entry.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

22 / evaluation

If all you see as a user is you're hitting a button and then 24 hours later you're somehow magically on Apple Podcasts, that was so much easier than manual distribution was at the time. And I think that was a really big part of why we got so much hosting market share so quickly because it was such an insane benefit over the other platforms which otherwise had been commoditized at that point.

“If all you see as a user is you're hitting a button and then 24 hours later you're somehow magically on Apple Podcasts, that was so much easier than manual distribution was at the time. And I think that was a really big part of why we got so much hosting market share so quickly because it was such an insane benefit over the other platforms which otherwise had been commoditized at that point.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

23 / preference

I guess the lesson is you have to be able to tell the signal through the noise, and even if you've got lots of vocal users asking for something, we used to have this rule, the 80/20 rule, where it's like you can't just build for that 20, I don't think we made this up by the way.

“I guess the lesson is you have to be able to tell the signal through the noise, and even if you've got lots of vocal users asking for something, we used to have this rule, the 80/20 rule, where it's like you can't just build for that 20, I don't think we made this up by the way.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast

24 / evaluation

I now am so excited to be part of a large organization and building things at this scale, but I really would've loved to been able to talk to someone about it or understand that there were other people going through that kind of thing. So I don't know if you want an example of how it's not all rainbows and sunshine, I definitely think there were some dark times there and I've since learned everyone goes through that just because I think just by definition, all the reasons that you start a company, that means your personality is someone who wants to be having that direct impact and having your own ownership and being able to make things move quickly, and that is just so different once you join a large organization.

“I now am so excited to be part of a large organization and building things at this scale, but I really would've loved to been able to talk to someone about it or understand that there were other people going through that kind of thing. So I don't know if you want an example of how it's not all rainbows and sunshine, I definitely think there were some dark times there and I've since learned everyone goes through that just because I think just by definition, all the reasons that you start a company, that means your personality is someone who wants to be having that direct impact and having your own ownership and being able to make things move quickly, and that is just so different once you join a large organization.”
Speaker
Maya Prohovnik
Publisher
Lenny's Podcast
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