TWiVC is a new podcast from the folks that brought us This Week in Startups, along with a few other noteworthy programs (these are also available through the iTunes Podcast directory). They are on their third week, and have already grown to 25,000 listeners. But, I thought I’d write a short post to help them “get the SEO juices flowing.”
First off, I’d just like to say that my new obsession is podcasts. They are a great way to discover new music (I’m still a huge Pandora fan – but PodRunner helps me survive my now weekly runs along the Hudson), and there are many easily downloadable and free programs that cover almost any interest. And yes, most are FREE, including the aforementioned. My walks to work are now much more efficient so thank you Apple for access to the great content (Apple really takes it to heart when I give them a shout out on my blog).
TWiVC is an hour program that covers the past week’s transactions and happenings within VC. The hosts are Jason Calacanis and Mark Suster who have a wealth of knowledge and great first hand vignettes that make the program very enjoyable (I’ll let it slide that neither of them knew who FirstMark Capital was). Jason’s ADD approach to the show makes it quite entertaining as he is constantly voicing whatever opinions are on his mind and dishing out random facts. His no-apologies style of commentary, and Mark’s insight make this my new favorite podcast!
If memory serves, the first week or so was very Twitter heavy, but overall the content has been great and sheds a lot of light on the trends within investments which are very closely tied to the trends within startups generally. This is also a great tool for learning about how some of these companies have evolved, as well as how a VC like Mark would think about certain companies and how the VC process works generally.
My one “value add” – it would be great to have a deal sheet of sorts that accompanies the broadcast (basically the cheat sheet that Mark reads off which I assume includes a listing of recent deals, post money valuations, investors, previous investors, what the companies do, etc). It’s tough to try to go back into the podcast and dig up this information if you do forget the name of a company, investor, etc.
Overall TWiVC is a great program and what I would consider necessary listening for anyone interested in learning about trends within VC/Startups. The content is a solid channel for learning about ventured backed companies you may not have heard of. And, I think that Jason’s energy and personal stories can be quite inspiring. Please let me know what you think!