Amardeep Parmar is the founder of The BAE HQ, a platform that connects British Asian entrepreneurs. In 2022, he launched The BAE HQ podcast — a series telling the stories of British Asian founders and operators. It wasn’t his first foray into the world of podcasts. During the pandemic, Amar found success in interviewing entrepreneurs — like the founders of Netflix and Twitter — on how they got to where they are today.
Now, 127 episodes in and with more than 100k listens, Amar shares his top tips for starting a podcast that can support your brand.
Don’t launch a podcast
Most people shouldn't launch a podcast. Too many people get caught up in trying to be the next Steven Bartlett instead of questioning how this fits into the wider company strategy.
To make it work, you need to have a clear idea of how it fits into your overall strategy:
- How does this help the company?
- How does it drive the mission forward?
- Who are we actually trying to reach? (are you trying to get investors to trust you, potential talent to know about you or customers to understand you)
- Is this the best use of our time? Do we have the capacity to take it on as a marketing and content play for the business?
- What would success look like to us?
Understand why the podcast format is right for you
LinkedIn and Twitter are great attention grabbers and are easily consumable. You can see this as top of the funnel marketing. Podcasts and longform video are the best forms of content to help build deep trust for your brand and position you as an expert in your industry or area of expertise. Potential customers, partners and investors can really get to know you and what you stand for.
Record episodes no one will listen to
Record five episodes that you’re never going to release. If you’re interviewing guests, ask five people you know to record with you. These are test runs that will help you find your voice, hosting style (if you’re interviewing people), get used to using certain tools and get you comfortable speaking into a microphone. It also takes away the pressure of starting — overplanning at the start is just procrastination.
Make key decisions before you start
- Do you want guests? If you don’t have guests, you need to be an exceptional host with confidence and charisma. There’s less competition in this type of podcast space.
- Do you want a co-host? It’s great to have someone to bounce off of and bring different viewpoints to the conversation. However, in startup world, getting calendars to align can be a nightmare.
Don’t try to create an epic drama
You aren't Joe Rogan, and it’s unlikely people will take a chance on your new five-hour episode when they could binge the new season of their favourite Netflix series. A happy medium for a podcast that is starting out is 20-30 minutes — it’s long enough to get good info in and short enough to listen to while you commute. There isn't a right answer though — just remember that the longer the episode is, the more attention you’re asking of your audience and the more you have to deliver.
Pay an editor
Startup founders do not have the time to learn how to edit. Unless you’re a full-time content creator, bring in someone with the expertise to take this on.
On the subject of... podcast creation
1. How to start and scale a podcast.
2. What are the best AI tools for podcasting?
3. Don’t just record a podcast. Ensure you turn it into other forms of content to make it a worthwhile endeavour.
