Neil Cybart

@davidgoffin I know. Even considering that aspect, they seem high for what it is.

@neilcybart No one ever pays the published rates

What company is going to pay $5M for a midroll ad for 4 Acquired episodes four years out from now? Joe Rogan midroll is reportedly $100K. Marketers, help me out here. What am I missing?

@MarchMadnessMBB Oh please. For a legitimate debate, you need two sides with valid arguments. 2024 UConn would have steamrolled them.

Settle the debate 🗣️

@TrevorGirlDad @Shwinnabego How are people discovering it?

@neilcybart @Shwinnabego It’s a niche podcast in the smart manufacturing space.

As someone who creates a lot of b2b content and does a ton of partnerships/sponsorships, here are a few things worth concluding and (not) concluding from this: - you cannot look at the listener volume and work backwards into the pricing on a CPM basis. The $$ paid here is exclusively a result of the audience, which is executives, c-suite, of high value audiences. So 1 million listeners a month here is not priced the same as 1 million listeners on Call Her Daddy. There will be an order of magnitude difference in ad pricing. - b2b and fintech niches are the highest value niches to create content in whether shortform of longform. Any day of the week it is better to be a fintech creator with 50,000 followers than a lifestyle creator with 500,000 followers. For the former you can likely do a sponsored 60s Instagram reel for $15-20k with the right partner, because they only need a couple of conversions to make the math work. If you are in the former category your metric isn’t audience growth so much as it is audience trust. - to the above point: all pricing is reverse engineered from LTV. A single customer for a wealth management platform might be worth $100,000 over the course of a lifetime, vs. a single customer for a greens powder. That’s why the former will pay $1m to be on the acquired podcast, but Athletic greens can only pay a fraction of that to be on a podcast with 10x the listener base - if you think the spend is reckless here (it’s not) remember that there’s tons of spend you never see: ads, out of home, conferences, horrible perf marketing. Podcast and creator gets more scrutiny/ misunderstanding because the numbers get shared publicly.

Today’s Above Avalon Daily email: There Isn’t a MacBook Neo “Dilemma” aboveavalon.com/dailypremiumup…

@_samcalhoun I think you meant to say “Uconn has been targeting centers in the transfer portal..." Very low odds Eric would transfer if he thought he had good odds of getting a starting role or heck even 20 min a game.

UConn will be targeting centers in the transfer portal now that they have none on roster. There is still the option for Reibe to return, but getting a center is now the Huskies’ No. 1 priority. Already was important with the Tarris Reed Jr. graduating.

@DaveBorges One aspect that wasn’t in your piece: I suspect Kimani is the backup/interim coach in the event of an emergency. Every program needs emergency succession plans ready to implement. Would place him in a slightly more important role from UConn’s perspective.

Kimani Young is “super-excited” for Luke Murray getting his first head coaching job. Why he’s OK that his opportunity hasn’t come … yet. ctinsider.com/sports/uconn-m…

People, especially adults, still gravitate to compelling storytelling. We saw it with Caitlin Clark’s senior year. I think we saw it with this year’s Final Four on the men’s side w/ UConn/Braylon Mullins. The lose-and-go-home aspect of March Madness drives compelling stories.

While everyone has been focused on iPhone Air demand, the sleeper story this iPhone cycle may end up being how well the base iPhone is performing. I discussed the topic in greater detail below:

Yesterday’s Above Avalon Daily email: - New iPhone Demand Clues - iPhone 17 Sales Strength - iPhone Air Popularity by Country aboveavalon.com/dailypremiumup…

NEW ESSAY: Acquiring TBPN Is an OpenAI Hail Mary Pass insideorchard.com/essays/acquiri… Ahead of an IPO, OpenAI acquiring TBPN as a way to speak to consumers differently is a Hail Mary pass with low odds of succeeding.

It’s a very interesting scenario that got a whole lot more intriguing *after* The Shot. In some ways, Braylon can become the face of college basketball next year AND improve his draft stock to be Top 10 in a weaker draft class. If UConn’s official stance is “if you like it here, give it one more year,” I think he stays.

Dan Hurley on @dpshow: "What I’ll tell Braylon and his family is, 'Do you like college?' Some are in a rush to get to the NBA because they don’t like being in a college program. [...]The world has changed. There’s not this pressure to go to the NBA because of the money situation. Players like Braylon probably make more money at UConn next year than he would if he was the 15th pick."

1) If Acquired is a b2b podcast, then the definition of “b2b” has become watered down to include any podcast / publication that does business analysis. I don’t think they analyze Coca-Cola with the goal of being some kind of boutique M&A bank highlighting potential acquisition ideas to other companies. 2) Making sponsorship bids public is historically a form of marketing done by the podcast/publication - both as a way of trying to generate legitimacy - the reason publications still show ad spots despite apparently being bought - but also to generate FOMO among potential advertisers. I don’t think it’s any different in this case. 3) The reason that particular table is generating so much buzz is the numbers and the timeframe are so extreme versus any other podcast. So far the explanation most people have run with is - it’s just that good of a podcast and it’s an outlier. OK. Personally, I’m intrigued to know what kind of company is willing or even thinking of taking out a $5M skippable mid-roll ad on a podcast three years out.

@TrevorGirlDad @Shwinnabego What’s the podcast?

@Shwinnabego We run a B2B niche podcast and charge $1,250 episode. 250-500 listeners per episode but LTV for those listeners is hundreds of thousands. We know we're charging too little and working to increase it.

@myanTokenGeek @bearliu Wow, great reply. You guys need to learn when you don’t know what you are talking about, it’s best to just not say anything.

@neilcybart @bearliu 嘴这么欠。你是 Cook 的小号吧？不骂你的话你能送我一台 MacStudio 不？🤣

@bearliu @myanTokenGeek You folks are hopeless. Just going back and forth with each other talking out of your butt.

@myanTokenGeek 一颗保质期虽然漫长但也逐渐逼近的苹果

苹果这种体量的公司，感觉资源可以做地球上任何事。 结果： 1. 游戏搞半天不成 2. Siri 是个大白痴 AI 一塌糊涂，真是奇怪了。

A question that I receive: “Will there be another Apple?" The short answer: No. The longer answer for why Apple will never be replicated is discussed in the newest Above Avalon Daily update (linked below). It’s a subject that I've never seen discussed before, so check it out.

I’m surprised you peg them as the best podcast out there. I figured you would be into a different kind of podcast - more technical. I’ve never really complied a list of top podcasts but they wouldn’t come close to being on the list. I guess that’s the good thing about podcasting - so many out there to suit drastically different tastes.

@neilcybart Also, look into it more, as that Jaime Diamond interview was in Radio City Music Hall. I'm sure they didn't rent Radio City Music Hall out themselves as it was a JP Morgan sponsored event put on for them. Their sponsors clearly go big working with them.

@Chancellorpen So you are saying these ad rates going out to 2029 are a way to entice JP Morgan to buy the podcast outright?

@neilcybart JP Morgan payments that target extremely valuable business people. Successful businesspeople on average are more interested and listen to more podcasts, Acquired is the luxury product there. This will not change

@Chancellorpen What companies are going to take out multi-million podcast ads that are more than any other podcast in the world, years in the future?

@neilcybart Enterprise deals are worth a lot. Not all listeners are worth equally.

Also, I just looked at their most recent ad buyers. I’m left with more questions. JPM has been their big sponsor - and Jamie got an interview out of it - so pay to play. Whatever. But the other sponsors are AI mania companies and other randoms. No way these companies are booking 4-5 years out. There’s something about this that doesn’t pass the smell test for me.

I’m skeptical those are paid rates because they are so extreme. It’s many multiple times the most popular podcast in the world. Just doesn’t add up. I’ve always thought these public rate documents are more marketing than anything else. Sort of like speaker fees. Also, are you implying companies would consider paying it in an effort to unofficially get an episode done about them? Seems like a major conflict though, no?