690 downloads, no big show

690 downloads since January. Honestly, I wasn't expecting that at the start. With No Bullshit Founders we just wanted to do what we'd been missing ourselves: honest insight into what really happens when you found a company. No glossy stories, no serial-exit romance, no guests claiming to have built three unicorns in a single episode.

That isn't a number you splash across a podcast-charts press release. For us it still feels big. Because behind every download there's a person who voluntarily listened to our conversations, often for more than forty minutes, often on the way to work, often between two meetings. And because, when we record, we keep touching topics that LinkedIn would rather look away from.

Why we started without a script

When we kicked off in January there was no grand plan. No sponsoring, no publisher tie-in, no PR agency. We had two microphones, a few topics and the idea that there are too few formats in Germany where two founders just talk without playing roles. Not "dear listener, today we'll explore the question of…" but: "Hey, we made this mistake last week, let's pull it apart."

In the first episodes, for example, we talked about the AI Act, about the reality of German e-commerce, about the quiet death of brands that never had a content plan, and about how hard it is to stay reliable as a father and founder at the same time. Some episodes turned out polished, others are conversations where we're still sorting our own thoughts. I think both are legitimate.

What I take from 690 downloads

What surprised me: the people who listen to us get in touch. Not in droves, but consistently. They send LinkedIn DMs about specific minutes, pick up a topic, sometimes argue back. That's a different kind of feedback than I'm used to from blog posts or LinkedIn updates. Voice carries something text can't, and the podcast feels like a very calm, very direct channel to people who are sitting in similar situations themselves.

Second: I notice that the format itself is changing me. If you have to sort your thoughts in front of a microphone once a week, you become more precise. I catch myself phrasing things more clearly in client conversations because I know I'll think the same sentences through again on Wednesday for the podcast. That's a side effect I hadn't reckoned with.

Third: niche beats reach. If I made a podcast for everyone I'd probably be further along on the numbers, but interchangeable on the substance. The price for the niche is that the growth curve isn't linear. The reward is that the listeners count.

Between podcast, OnlyOle and the AI Act

This year I've got several parallel building sites. I've started OnlyOle as a 1:1 format, I keep working on concrete projects at my agency, and the podcast has given me a new audience window. That sounds like a lot, and it is. But the topics feed into each other. What we discuss on the podcast flows back into the agency. What I learn in client conversations becomes podcast material at some point. What I untangle with an OnlyOle client over a morning often resurfaces weeks later as an episode.

So I'm not taking this milestone as a marketing moment but as an interim stop. 690 downloads aren't a goal, they're a receipt confirming we're on the right track without getting loud. And honestly, that feels rather fitting for a podcast with "No Bullshit" in its name.

If you fancy a listen: a new episode every week, mostly under an hour, rarely with a guest, often on a topic that's being talked-up elsewhere. And if at some point you have feedback that hurts, even better. That's exactly why we do this.