Why are you laughing at? I wish I could have recorded the entire thing. Let's do that again. Why are you smiling? Why are you laughing again, sorry? I can't just, I'm not a monkey. I can't just go out and be an automatic and shit. Maybe that's the skill I should pick up. Okay, take guys. I wanted to give a quick update where things are with the podcast. So some of you might know we started this podcast all the way to December 2020 and then we took a break back in June of 2020.
And then it was for almost a year, we thought he was gonna die in the quiet, but then he came back. So then we started back up in June of 2023, so almost after a year. And then things really ramped up in November of last year where we decided to, okay, you know what, we should really double down on this podcast. And then finally, I guess another milestone was in June of this year where we started doing like weekly episode releases.
Which has been, that's been huge. Ron, I would talk about the numbers, but then from the effort perspective of that, that was really a test of, okay, do we have like a system set up in place, right? We're not, we're not fucking, we're not. We're not, we're not. We're not. But I did think that was cool because we didn't need like a system in place in terms of like scheduling things in advance, really cut down the time to do stuff.
Like we haven't, I guess one thing we haven't done well is the outsourcing, which I think so given that we haven't, we don't have the outsourcing set up. I thought it was pretty, it was a nice moment. Yeah, for people who actually asked me, how do I get the time to do the podcast? I want to say thanks to Guang, he takes care of a lot of stuff from scheduling to doing all the amazing audio and video edits.
And also if my audio comes out only on one side of the year, I blame Guang for that. He's also like, bro. I did a better job of catching that earlier. He does it, he works out my machine so. One thing which I would say is I think doing this podcast alone, if I was doing this alone, this would have stopped maybe some time in two months after we started.
We're doing this with Guang has been has made this a lot more fun has also encouraged us to keep going and double down on the podcast as well and come up with a system that works well. I'll let Guang talk about some of the optimizations he made in terms of how things are structured today.
But since we move to a weekly cadence from a monthly cadence are monthly downloads have doubled since our all time high before 24 and now we are getting almost like 4000 downloads a month, which is pretty amazing. In terms of what's working well, the weekly cadence of course, it's a lot of work, but it has allowed us to iterate really quickly and act on feedback.
I feel we got better at interviewing guests though I think that's a subjective opinion. Overall, it's been easier to record the podcast as long as saying before the recording. We've become better at just winging it in case we're not perfect, but hey, we're always prepared. I did feel before we would do all this preparation and then sometimes we get stripped up in it. I remember there were like many times where we felt like we had a schedule and then we need to stick to it.
So even when we wanted to take interesting sidetracks we're like we got five more topics we need to go through it was like a checklist. I think the weekly, sometimes I guess we had to do two in a week and then that really made us realize it's all let's not do that. Let's actually have a process where we actually enjoy the conversation and go on these tangents.
Yeah, I think the nerves have gone down significantly where we are way more relaxed during the conversation, which I think results in a better episode, but at least if not that it is at least a lot more fun for us than it used to be in this weekly release has shown a serious traction on YouTube, by the way, which and the increase in download is very encouraging. Like I go to YouTube just to check how many subscribers we have.
It's pretty cool to see that we hit 1100 plus subscribers at this point. So thank you everyone for listening to our episodes glad you're enjoying it and please continue giving us feedback if there's something we can improve on. I would also say that inviting new guests have become easier. I think we've loved all the guests we have hired on the show in terms of just the title and kind of quote and quote internet popularity of a guest.
I think this year we've had the most internet famous guests and they've been really kind to say yes to come on the podcast and very generous with their time. So thank you, thank you, thank you so much for coming on our show and really, really appreciate it and shout out to Guang for his awesome audio and video editing skills. Go ahead.
Thanks. Yeah, like a little bit on that did feel like the more we finally to me, I think this happened maybe two to three months ago, where we were doing like a flurry of reach out.
And these are all cold, whether they're emails or like Twitter or DMs, but we finally got to the point where we've had enough like internet famous people on the podcast where now when you guests, like when we reach out to them, we don't have to do this before back in the days, like we had to write like a very long email about.
Oh yeah, these are like the topics I really want to discuss and then just to show that we are legit and then we're not going to waste their time versus now I feel like we finally had the enough like a compounded momentum such that people look at it and it's oh yeah, like they recognize this person that you know. So he makes the whole process much easier. I don't know in my head, he's like the rich gets richer situation which.
I think we're not rich. So I don't know what this analogy but yeah, and then what's the other thing? I think one part which has been super cool is when we reach out to a guest and they say, oh yeah, I really love your podcast and this is a potential guest who we have never spoken with the four like we don't know them personally and they recognize the podcast and respond with that in the email.
Whether they come on the show or not is a different question, but just the fact that they're able to recognize that it's super cool. That is very encouraging. All right, bro, I think that have like twice. Okay, that is so like wow, yeah, no, we're not quite. No, no, but yeah, but it is more than zero. Two is more than zero.
I think one thing which has been continuing to work well even before we move to the weekly cadence and just doubled on the podcast overall is powerful research before the episode. And I think that is continuing to pay off. This is something that we consistently get good feedback on from the guests themselves where they have a better time on the podcast because when they're talking to us, they can recognize that we have done our research.
I think that is something we want to have as a differentiated as well, where we want to be really well prepared in the conversation. Not just for the guest to recognize that, but it makes it easier for us to. Yeah, and shout out to Rana who has done an amazing job like doing the research and getting into all the fun stuff.
I remember, yeah, before we used to do more of this sort of like together, I guess it was like awkward sharing because then I think we'll hit on similar things and then we need to versus now. Rana has taken over the research tasks and yeah, there's been so many times in the conversation where he asks something and then. Oh, yeah, I saw you doing this. I was like, whoa, that's so interesting.
The prep you start talking and then I'll be like, oh, that's a great thing we need to like, yes, please ask that. Yeah, good job. Thanks, thanks Juan. Juan is never nice to me like this when we are not on podcast when we're recording. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Not to be private.
Just to pay back the compliment, the research has been much easier because Juan's been working on this amazing podcast research tool where before we are recording an episode, it sent me a PDF file with pretty much a summarization and topics of previous transcripts of the podcast that the guest has been on. So there's a video document with different topics we can potentially get into and linking to direct codes of that guest from a previous show that they came on.
And I think that as context makes it super easy to do the research and I'm hoping Juan actually publishes that tool at some point so that others can benefit from it too. I'm talking to us about this. Like I need like public accountability. That's like what motivates me to get off my lazy ass. So I appreciate you calling it out and I will need to watch that yet. So I think Juan is committing to publishing that tool by the end of November this year, which is we can't see the effort.
We can't see the effort of the podcast, but yes, if you and I will indeed get that thing out before end of November. So in terms of things that didn't work quite well, one thing at the start was when we really started thinking about growth. I think we were a bit naive in thinking about right because like after many months now, what I realized is like the keys,
it's like what Lenny says, right? Like consistency and quality. Like those are the two like the biggest drivers versus I think when we started out, it was more about trying to paint lipstick on a pig's sort of thing where to me, so sorry. So for context, we did a lot of like short form video on like different platforms. So on TikTok, Instagram, like YouTube shorts and Twitter for a little bit.
We run the experiment for maybe three or four months. Maybe a little bit longer than that. But yeah, the results were just like pretty bad. And then I think it makes sense, right? It's very hard. Like you have to have like really good quality content in order to actually pull someone off of the platform that they were using to go listen to a podcast.
I think it's crazy hard. So even if we're getting like a lot of likes, a lot of subs or whatever, but it's just not the medium that people are like really engaged in. So yeah. So then we give up on that. But but YouTube I think was like an interesting channel because it is very much like people watch like long videos on there as well, even though I think that was a bit surprise because it's not like super like it's not very flashy.
Right. But and actually I do it myself. I think the diary of the CEO. I think it's like they're super polished. It's a little bit click a baby. I guess sometimes but but then I actually watch through like some of the stuff. So then I'm like, OK, I think this is like a reasonable channel.
And for folks who want to know more about the editing process, I think Wang has a newsletter. I encourage folks to check that out. He actually has a really nice post there where he talks about how he went from like various iterations of what our YouTube thumbnails look like and starting from the ones which looked like a PowerPoint presentation to now something that actually looks like a YouTube thumbnail.
cringe. No, that is super nice. I found it not just entertaining, but also educational to read that and one like as well. So yeah, do check it out. So yeah, so on that note, we're taking a so another short break. Why you ask? I'll let Ronnick.
Because we're lazy in broadcasting is to I mean that plus I'm expecting a baby. That's a primary reason for this every person I speak with who have kids. They tell me I shouldn't expect to get much sleep in the first three months and I'll be more or less was on me. And I'm learning a lot of new words about babies and how they behave and act. And I think that's going to keep me a little occupied and you want to bring good conversations to this podcast. You don't want to see me groggy.
Point being, we'll take a short break. And once we are settled in this new lifestyle, little bit will come back and thank you all for your continued support. We'll you back soon with more episodes. Until then, take care and we'll see you on the other side.
And by the way, funny story. The first time I think during a podcast recording where you were telling the guests is all hey, but away, right? We're expecting a baby. I thought it was so funny I controlled myself so hard to not make a joke. Be like not like we, Ronnick. Ronnick, I just friends. Just that's fine. EvenOSW said, hard seem like that. Yeah, so I shan't you be like, what? Anyways, so yeah. Oh, she's gonna find this particular video so cringeworthy. Excellent, that's what I'm here for.
Oh, do you whole week. Alright, thanks guys. See you in a couple of months. Sing it later, folks. Hey, thank you so much for listening to the show. You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and learn more about us at softwaremissadventures.com. You can also write to us at helloatsoftwaremissadventures.com. We would love to hear from you. Until next time, take care.