Richard, welcome to the 850,000 episode of the Audi in Ford Advisors. Here we are at Check. The audience is growing and it's wonderful to see. Yeah, it's millions, millions, and we're just a cherished entertainment brand out there in the world. Good for us, good for us. Yeah, and every so often your sponsor swallows you whole.
Oh, our sponsor is called Aboard. It's an amazing piece of web software and coming on mobile where you can organize anything and collaborate with your friends, collect links from all over the internet. It's pretty great as a sponsor. You and I are also the co-owners, we're the co-founders. Yes, we are. Yes, we are. And so we're going to make some changes. I want to get into the why, so what are the changes? The Zionion Ford podcast is going to be called
the aboard podcast. No, we're not going to talk about a board for 30 minutes every time we record the podcast. In fact, the spirit of the podcast is unchanged. We already do that for like six hours a day in the office and we don't need to share that. We don't need to. I will say this. I think I think it's going to be a lot of fun to track because we are cool with being somewhat transparent about the journey we're on as a startup in a strange time to have a startup.
I think we're going to, you know, I think we've built something that isn't just a peace attack, but it's something that I think can amplify cultural pockets in the world in your ways. And I want to, and I think we're going to use this same platform to visit those places. I love, love, learning about weird, detailed worlds that have very specific opinions and emotions about certain things. Yeah, I think, look, transistors or like stereo headphones, fan fiction, people who collect,
you know, bottles. I love the passion. Passion for anything, right? Is worth exploring and talking about. And so this podcast is going to change. There's another thing that's changing, Paul, which is you're going to find us on YouTube and you get to see our faces. Oh, did we decide that? Did we just lose 30% of our audience? Yeah, it's pretty rough. No, look, I think I want to take everybody on a step back, right?
So we started Ziyadi Ford advisors. We had run an agency together and we realized we really liked working together and we wanted to build this new thing. But we wanted to have like a little voice of our own. And I think there was a point with the agency is it got bigger. We didn't feel that we could have that voice in quite the same way, right? You just sort of, yeah, it became bigger than us. And that's good. That was good. So Ziyadi Ford advisors is like, all right, we've moved on
from that. We're going to advise, but I'm going to tell you something. We've had this conversation. I don't know if we have that much more advice to give. What does that mean? Like I think like, you know, if you go back to I was looking back, you know, getting nostalgic, looking at the yearbook of our of our work together here on Ziyadi Ford, it kind of boils down the like two or three things like organizations are complicated and dynamic. And you have to take
them a step at a time. Don't expect people to change because of what's in your head, you know, it's a lot of stuff like that. I don't think people isn't to us for advice. No, I think they wait. They happen to get some advice. I don't think they, and I don't think people I think, you know, I've been observing, you know, as we wait into like the YouTube world and whatnot, I think people that I think the subject matter is actually secondary. I think the connection with
the personalities is what people connect to. And the more niche it is, and we are our niche, like we're not mainstream. I think we're going to talk more openly about other things. I'm going to rant about some sports moment in the in a future podcast. There's no doubt about that. Thank you. Well, that takes a lot of pressure off of me. Yes. Yes. And yes, exactly. I'll explain all the rules of the game. But I don't think it's about it. But I think it's about listening in.
I do. I really think it's about like, okay, they're they seem to be the more open you are about your anxiety about something or why you got something wrong. The more relatable you are. And I think if you go on YouTube and you you could follow any influencer in any pocket, it could be interior design, it could be architecture, it could be anything. And what you find is you're getting to know the person like in a real way, it's not just, oh, I need an answer to something. This is a funny
thing with all this stuff, right? Because it's like, are you kind of when you make something like a podcast or and I write all this stuff? People are always eyeing you and going like, have you set yourself apart? Are you just have you decided that you're a little better? And the lesson over and over is that you kind of have to communicate. They're like, no, and then you have to throw parties. And then people come, they come to the parties and they're like, this is weird. It's like being on
a podcast, what I'm talking to you. And you're like, yep, it is. But it's us. I am literally a random guy that you connected to and so is rich. And then everybody kind of has appetizers and a couple drinks. And it's normal, right? Like I think where it gets pathological is a lot of people, you know, like our audience knows us. They really do. They kind of get a kick out of us. They see that we're once again headed down into the capitalist hurricane to see what comes out on the other
side. And yeah. So we'll, here's the promise, right? The promise is, well, we can be transparent and vulnerable. We will. Like I'll, you know, if I go on superman jar, I'll lose, you know, 9,000 pounds and become a human praying mantis. I'll tell you about it. And yeah, rich is a little more private than I am. But you know, we talk about. No, no, I, but I'm, I think you've talked about brain surgery. I'm sure you do. That is true. You also have, you also just have less drama than
I do. I'm like a writer, really. It's just you don't have. Yeah. I mean, you're, I mean, there's drama. And then there's mellow drama. Yes. I have a little mellow drama. No, you're actually, you're, you're, but you are a bit of an open book. I think I am too. I just don't, I don't know if I have a lot of, I'm not, I'm not, I don't find comfort in sharing my pain with others. I find comfort in, in administering pain. That's usually the difference between me. We just,
we just had that meeting. Oh, it was pretty great. The, let's take a minute because our tendency is always to be like, to be a little ironic, a little detached. We should talk for a minute about, like, we're actually not doing this lately. We talked about this for a month more. But the reality is, if we start the board podcast, which we need to do. So a, ideal one was we should not be the face of our product in any way because we're old and grumpy. And nobody wants old grumpy
people to be the face of the product. And that is true. But we're also kind of the best ones for right now until it's time to step back. So we leaned in that way. Part, I, I think, I think it's us. I also think that and I'll share, I'll share this here. I mean, we've built a product that I think can, can improve people's lives. We're seeing it. Like people connect to it and they like it. And, but we have bigger ambitions, they're already, they're already forgetting that, like, we created
it that there's a company that's good. That's great. Right. For granted. They take it when they run with it, right? And that's a great thing. At the same time, look, we have, we like to go into pockets of the world that you software and tell them there's a way better way, right? Like, that's actually, it's a nerdy. It's this, it's where business and software intersects for us. True. And it's, and we like it. And we like to go into these traditional places like, I mean, five industries
converge in New York City. And we like to visit all of them. We love, we love you all, right? Yep. And so who's going to do that? We have big ambition. There's big ambition behind this product. And so, yeah, can others tell the story about how this thing is just great for renovating your house better than us? Absolutely. Because you don't want me renovating your house, actually. That'll be me there. You actually want my wife renovating your house, but you don't want me.
That's right. And, and, but do you want to solve a problem and save tons of money in your company? Then we are the ones to talk to, right? And we've built a tool that's really the sort of the final distillation of a lot, everything we've learned throughout our careers, right? I'm not pitching right now. It's just literally what, how we think about things. No, no, which is why like after a lot of conversation, we're like, we shouldn't try to have two,
three media properties coming out of our little office here. We should focus on one thing and do it well. Exactly. Will we sometimes hijack the podcast and talk about some ridiculous TV show or some, the Super Bowl? Yes, we will. No, don't. It's not going to be like, check out this feature. It'll be like, all right, how's it going? Yeah. Yeah. What are you going to be fun? And you're going to get to see our faces and we're going to figure out YouTube. That'll have those
stools. That alone will be seven hours of conversation on the podcast is what the hell is you just what is YouTube, right? Yeah. And look at YouTube is an incredible resource and there's a lot of good stuff in there. Did they tell you a while? What the pandemic hit didn't take you a while to just get used to seeing your face on the screen all the time. It did. I don't like it. I don't like my face. I don't like my face. I think, you know, I have a large head. I can't wear hats really.
You know, my daughter came to me and she's like, I love your big giant head, which was. It was nice, but it was like, are you are you saying flawed? Yeah, and she's not really a daughter anymore. The I looked, when I when I realized what I, you know what I really hate. So I'm used to it now. Like I'm looking at you as we're talking because I'm home a little sick and so we're, I stay at home today. And I'm looking at you and I see my own head and out of the corner by a peripheral
vision, right? And what the worst does though is when you record it and then you see that like that playback starts in the browser when somebody's like, Hey, here's the recording in the meeting and you see your own face like, that's what I sound like to myself. Yeah, it's from like a like a pirate. Yeah, but you know, we are not excited for celebrity here. Let's go. Let's get out there. Let's become influencers. It's our time. Yeah, we got it. We got a green screen. We got good microphones.
It's going to be fun. Yeah, it's going to be really exciting. All right. So let's stop elaborating this. Thank you, everyone for paying attention to the Ziyadi Ford. We are not going to throw you many curve balls, but the cover is going to change and it'll have an emoji on it. So just you know, that don't until then sign up at a board.com. Tell us what you think. Mobile is very close. If you are interested in the mobile app, also reach out to us. Sign up for the newsletter.
It's great. It's written by Paul Ford. It was a very good writer. Well, we're going to we're going to broaden it to other voices, but I will definitely be in there twice. Yes. Okay, great. Yeah. Um, uh, Paul, see you on the other side, my friend. Welcome to the board podcast, Rich. Let's make it freaking amazing. Okay. Yeah, I'll talk to you soon. Okay. Have a lovely week. Bye.