Building Nexcast - An Inside Look at Growing a Startup Business

Hi guys and gals! Sorry about disappearing for a hot second, right after we launched our beta... Yeah so about that, as they say here in Los Angeles, we got axed. Well I guess they say that everywhere, but you get the point. In this week's episode we dig in to the reason we've been gone and how we almost became reality tv famous. True story. Unfortunately for us, this unfortunate turn of events forced us to rethink our entire codebase and unfortunately slowed us down RIGHT after we started beta testing. Hope you enjoy our unfortunate story!

We're back!! We've been hard at work trying to get our private beta out, so apologies for the delay. This week we take another intermission from our story to interview one of the world's biggest tech podcasters, who happens to be 19 and lives in the U.K. (neither of those are typos...). Harry Stebbings is nothing short of a podcasting extraordinaire. We got the chance to ask him a few questions about his story and how he built his podcast from basically nothing. Listen in for a fascinating interview with a rare talent and an incredibly interesting podcaster, Mr. Harry Stebbings. Check out the site at http://BuildingNexcast.com Get early access to the app by adding your email to http://nexcast.co Let us know your feedback and suggestions on Twitter @buildingnexcast Or just email us at hi@nexcast.co

We see what happened in the lost weeks without a mobile developer and check in with our new pal Taku. We used to be moving like a glacier, but now we’re on train full speed ahead to beta town. Check out the site at http://BuildingNexcast.com Get early access to the app by adding your email to http://nexcast.co Let us know your feedback and suggestions on Twitter @buildingnexcast Or just email us at hi@nexcast.co

I blow in a call to my friend who made a deal with Mark Cuban on Shark Tank to get some advice on how to sort this equity split out. Then it was time to have the dreaded follow up with Troy. We then have some catastrophic news that we somehow take in stride.  Check out the site http://BuildingNexcast.com Get early access to the app by adding your email to http://nexcast.co Let us know your feedback and suggestions on Twitter @buildingnexcast Or just email us at hi@nexcast.co

Splitting up something that’s worth nothing has never been harder. We take some advice from a Stanford class called How to Start a Startup on how to best divide ownership of our company that currently has no real value. The potential of it being worth millions causes a lot of debate. It seems like Farhan doesn’t think Troy should have equal ownership because he doesn't know exactly what he is contributing. I talk to everyone individually and then we try to hammer it out as a group. Marife makes a return and plays therapist. Check out the site at http://BuildingNexcast.com Get early access to the app by adding your email to http://nexcast.co Let us know your feedback and suggestions on Twitter @buildingnexcast Or just email us at hi@nexcast.co

We have to make a couple big decisions as things start falling into place for our team. We have gotten a lot of positive feedback on bringing discussion threads into our app, a feature that we have been planning all along. Engaging with podcasts hosts and other listeners seems great - we just have to fend off the trolls. Check out the site at http://BuildingNexcast.com Get early access to the app by adding your email to http://nexcast.co Let us know your feedback and suggestions on Twitter @buildingnexcast Or just email us at hi@nexcast.co

Our journey thus far has been full of surprises, but this we couldn't make up if we tried. In this week's episode we find ourselves on the other end of the negotiating table with a gang of teenaged gamers from the Philippines. They've got our Twitter handle, we need to convince them to give it to us. We get advice from someone who has been in this situation before, but these teen gamers won't be easily convinced... Special thanks to TechCrunch "journalisting" extraordinaire @Haje Jan Kamps. Check him out on TC, here and on medium. Get early access to the app by adding your email to http://nexcast.co Let us know your feedback and suggestions on Twitter @buildingnexcast Or just email us at hi@nexcast.co  

Not quite as easy as finding a date - we explore the CTO matching services available to non-technical guys like us. We get swindled, have a few laughs, and surprise, surprise, discover that the dating app comparison isn't too far off. Will we ever get lucky again? Tune in to find out... Check out the site at http://BuildingNexcast.com Get early access to the app by adding your email to http://nexcast.co Let us know your feedback and suggestions on Twitter @buildingnexcast Or just email us at hi@nexcast.co

We're taking a hot second to try something new. As you may recall, Part 1 of this epic journey got started in Silicon Valley, where Brian pitched the company for the first time ever at Blab. There were both highs and lows, good points and not so good points, but we ultimately decided to highlight the rough parts of that experience to showcase the realities of pitching a startup. You know, to keep it real real. Well in today's episode, we explore the power of framing and interpretation as we present the same episode in a new and positive light. With a bunch of unreleased recordings from that trip, we tell the story that we originally decided not to tell. The good stuff. And with everything that we've endured so far, we figured some positive energy is a bit overdue. Get early access to the app by adding your email to http://nexcast.co Let us know your feedback and suggestions on Twitter @buildingnexcast Or just email us at hi@nexcast.co  

We ask a bunch of random people what they think of podcasting and get some surprising answers... The one thing that's clear is that podcasting can be different things to different people. And that podcasting needs all the support it can get to break out into the mainstream.   To learn more and see all the extra content please go to http://buildingnexcast.com Get early access to the app by adding your email to http://nexcast.co Let us know your feedback and suggestions on Twitter http://twitter.com/buildingnexcast Or just email us at hi@nexcast.co  

There are no sure things when you're bootstrapping a startup. We learn that lesson the hard way when we lose a very important member of the team. At this point, our chances of success look pretty grim. I'm going to have to dig deep to figure out a way out of this mess. Fortunately, I get some good advice from an old friend, Ethan, who always seems to be working with awesome startups. Maybe talking to a good developer will help us find a good developer..? At the end of the day, I have to take responsibility for our team. I learn what it means to dig deep when there doesn't seem to be a clear answer ahead.   To learn more and see all the extra content please go to http://buildingnexcast.com Get early access to the app by adding your email to http://nexcast.co Let us know your feedback and suggestions on Twitter http://twitter.com/buildingnexcast Or just email us at hi@nexcast.co  

Telling your own story can be hard. Making a good podcast about that story is even harder. I get some great advice from some friendly folks as I look at the tech and podcast communities and learn what makes them special. Our podcast journey began in a Slack community called Maker Hunt where people from the http://producthunt.com community gather to chat, network, and help each other out. I talk to the creator of this cool corner of the internet Eric Willis. He tells me how he first got connected with Product Hunt and became the community manager there. I then talk to Josh Muccio who is the host and producer of the podcast version of Shark Tank called The Pitch http://thepitch.fm. He gives me a reality check and gets me to take this whole podcasting thing a lot more seriously. He introduces me to The Intern podcast http://theintern.fm which tells the personal tale of Allison Behringer as she begins a new tech job in New York city. Once again I get hit with the realities of telling a story in this medium. The tech community turns out to be very unique and people are surprisingly giving of their time. We also get an interesting email from our developer, Anthony. You’re going to want to stay tuned for what’s next...   To learn more and see all the extra content please go to http://buildingnexcast.com Get early access to the app by adding your email to http://nexcast.co Let us know your feedback and suggestions on Twitter http://twitter.com/buildingnexcast Or just email us at hi@nexcast.co  

Startup life ain't easy... No more prancing Pikachu and gleeful little gumdrops in this episode. Things start to get serious when we start falling behind...   To learn more and see all the extra content please go to http://buildingnexcast.com Get early access to the app by adding your email to http://nexcast.co Let us know your feedback and suggestions on Twitter http://twitter.com/buildingnexcast Or just email us at hi@nexcast.co

“So you spent the first few years trying to pitch this idea to podcast celebrities, trying to get a business model and totally get ignored. Then you bail on a startup that you’d sunk a year into and about 10 grand on. Then you magically built this team, one person off of a reddit thread, and the other by doing a bait-n-switch on a legitimate programmer who just happened to have the exact skill set you were looking for?” That recap from Marife says it all... Next we listen in to how we named our podcast in one of our rare team recordings. This may seem like things are going well, but everything isn't cotton candy and smiling baby Pokemon in the near future... To learn more and see all the extra content please go to http://buildingnexcast.com Get early access to the app by adding your email to http://nexcast.co Let us know your feedback and suggestions on Twitter http://twitter.com/buildingnexcast Or just email us at hi@nexcast.co

Part 1 of the epic journey in building the podcast app and platform, Nexcast, begins with a trip to Silicon Valley. Brian Sanders, the CEO and host of the show, travels to San Francisco to pitch his company for the first time ever. The pressure of this challenging start is heightened by visiting the headquarters of two of the biggest tech companies in the world, Apple and Facebook, and seeing what the team is up against.  To learn more and see all the extra content please go to http://buildingnexcast.com Get early access to the app by adding your email to http://nexcast.co Let us know your feedback and suggestions on Twitter http://twitter.com/buildingnexcast Or just email us at hi@nexcast.co