Leaving IB to start a company

For SMEs, not VC-funded behemoths: 

I'm running a podcast and have received my first legit ad sponsorship offer (I don't know why that company reached out, but they did, so good for me). Podcast is not a business in any traditional sense, but I've learned the following things:

1. You can treat podcasting as an espresso of the two core things in a lot of online businesses these days: product and marketing. Running a podcast can be your part-time gig and upfront cost is low (mic, headphone, and pop filter). You need to nail both the content AND the marketing. If you only got content, your subscription won't grow at a pleasant speed (guilty); if you only got marketing, your customer retention rate will be low / churn will be high. You need both, and you might need to spend some bucks to fund marketing. 

2. It's better if you have a team. My buddy almost became a music major so he knows more about sound editing than I do. I read and write a lot so I contribute more to episodes, show notes, etc. You need to be on the same page and your product/business is only as good as your weakest aspect. For example, said buddy is kinda moody these days and it takes a toll on the quality of episodes. 

3. It takes a lot of passion and spontaneity. I do 100% of the marketing. He doesn't do anything. Does this mean I got to blame him? Yes (are you expecting a no?), but I still produce marketing contents on my phone when I wait for comments or have slow days. If you don't take initiative, your business is going to die. 

4. Growth is really the bread and butter of software/SaaS companies. Podcasting is actually a lot like SaaS, although there are some big differences. 

5. Monetization. Lots of platforms are exploring podcasting monetization right now, like Apple and Spotify. It's not a very mature industry yet, and it's full of opportunities. I personally know people with 100K+ subscribers. That is a big podcast. They have 5-7 ad sponsors and they run a (small?) podcasting studio. They haven't taken the leap of faith to become full-time (yet). Don't know much about such a possibility, and don't think ad sponsorships are gonna offer a lot of $.

6. My investment banking skillset gives me ~0 relevant, transferrable skills when I try to create content or market the product. This is not like a growth story pitch to IPO investors: in a roadshow, you know the strengths and weaknesses or your client, but in this case, you need to figure our who your customers are, what they like and don't like, and what you are actually offering.

I personally think consultants might have more exposure when it comes to starting companies, but could be wrong.