Guy Raz has built an incredible personal brand by helping entrepreneurs tell their story via his podcast How I Built This, which happens to be a personal favorite. What I did not appreciate, and what the terrific article cited here exposed, was that he spends an extraordinary amount of time researching candidates for the show before asking them to come on. Initially his idea was to identify people who shared positive values and treated people well, and expose their deepest emotions. According to Mr. Raz, “no stories captured the human experience as much as clawing out a living.” A couple quotes from the article sum it up perfectly:
“The question from everyone was, ‘What makes this different from Bloomberg and CNBC?’” Mr. Raz said. “And the case I was making was: I’m not looking for news, I’m not interested in your fourth-quarter strategy, I’m looking to get into your heart and mind.”
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By creating a safe space for entrepreneurs to share their stories of ascent, Mr. Raz has become one of the most popular podcasters in history. That history is short, but in this new land of aural opportunity, Mr. Raz, 44, has a claim to be king. According to NPR, where he works on contract, he is the only person to ever have three shows simultaneously in Apple’s top 20 podcasts.
The article cited is well worth the read. Click below for more.